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TO AMEND THE PERNICIOUS POLITICAL ACTIVITIES

ACT OF 1939

FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1944

UNITED STATES SENATE,

SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON

PRIVILEGES AND ELECTIONS,

Washington, D. C.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:30 a. m., in the committee room, room 104-B, Senate Office Building, Senator Carl A. Hatch (chairman) presiding.

Present: Senators Hatch (chairman), Mead, and Butler.
Also present: Senator Guy M. Gillette.

Senator HATCH. The committee will be in order.

We have under consideration today three bills, S. 592, S. 593, S. 594, which I will ask be inserted in the record at this point. (S. 592, S. 593, and S. 594 are as follows:)

[S. 592, 78th Cong., 1st sess.]

and

A BILL To amend the Act entitled "An Act to prevent pernicious political activities", approved August 2, 1939, as amended, with respect to the circulation of matter concerning candidates for election to Federal offices

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Act entitled "An Act to prevent pernicious political activities", approved August 2, 1939, is amended by inserting after section 2 the following new section:

"SEC. 2a. (1) It shall be unlawful to print, type, write, mimeograph, multigraph, lithograph, photostat, photoengrave, or otherwise cause to be published or to distribute, display, or otherwise cause to be circulated, whether for sale or otherwise, any book, pamphlet, circular, card, dodger, brochure, poster, handbill, or paper concerning a candidate for election to the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, or Member of the House of Representatives, or for election to any office at any election to be held in Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico, while he is a candidate for election to such office, which shall contain (1) any matter of a character tending to incite arson, murder, assasination, or riot, or (2) any matter of a fraudulent or scurrilous character tending to incite hatred against any religious sect or creed or against any race.

"(2) It shall be unlawful to print, type, write, mimeograph, multigraph, lithograph, photostat, photoengrave, or otherwise cause to be published or to distribute, display, or otherwise cause to be circulated, whether for sale or otherwise, any book, pamphlet, circular, card, dodger, brochure, poster, handbill, or paper concerning a candidate for election to the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, or Member of the House of Representatives, while he is a candidate for election to such office, unless such book, pamphlet, circular, card, dodger, brochure, poster, handbill, or paper shall conspicuously display the name and address of (1) the person, firm, corporation, association, or committee by whom it was printed, typed, written, mimeographed, multigraphed, lithographed, photostated, photoengraved, or otherwise caused to be published, or (2) the person, firm, corporation, association, or committee at whose instance it was printed, typed, written, mimeographed, multigraphed, lithographed, photostated, photoengraved, or otherwise caused to be published.”

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AMEND PERNICIOUS POLITICAL ACTIVITIES ACT OF 1939

[S. 593, 78th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To amend the Act entitled "An Act to prevent pernicious political activities", approved August 2, 1939, as amended, with respect to the limitations on political contributions and expenditures

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 13 (a) of the Act entitled "An Act to prevent pernicious political activities", approved August 2, 1939, as amended, is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 13. (a) It is hereby declared to be a pernicious political activity, and it shall be unlawful, for any person, directly or indirectly, to make political payments in an aggregate amount in excess of $10,000, during any calendar year, or to make political payments to or on behalf of any one committee, organization, or candidate referred to in paragraph (4) of subsection (b) of this section in an aggregate amount in excess of $5,000, during any calendar year: Provided, That the provisions of this subsection shall not be applicable with respect to

"(1) Contributions or expenditures made by any committee, association, or other organization, the principal activities of which are engaging in furthering, advancing, or advocating the nomination or election of candidates for political office or the success of any political party;

"(2) Expenditures (but not contributions) made by any candidate for political office in furthering, advancing, or advocating his own nomination or election; or "(3) Expenditures made by any person for his own personal subsistence and traveling expenses, or for stationery, postage, or telephone or telegraphic services, for his own personal use."

(b) Section 13 (b) of such Act, as amended, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraphs:

"(3) The term 'expenditure' includes a payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit, or gift of money, or anything of value, and includes a contract, promise, or agreement, whether or not legally enforceable, to make an expenditure.

"(4) The term 'political payment' means any contribution or expenditure made for the purpose or with the intention of furthering, advancing, or advocating or made to or on behalf of any committee, or other organization, the principal activities of which are engaging in furthering, advancing, or advocating, (A) the nomination or election of any candidate for nomination for or election to the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner from any Territory or possession, or (B) the success of any national political party.' SEC. 2. Section 5 of the Act entitled "An Act to extend to certain officers and employees in the several States and the District of Columbia the provisions of the Act entitled 'An Act to prevent pernicious political activities', approved August 2, 1939", approved July 19, 1940, is hereby made, and shall be known as, section 20 of the Act entitled "An Act to prevent pernicious political activities", approved August 2, 1939, as amended.

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SEC. 3. Section 20 of such Act of August 2, 1939, as amended, is hereby made section 21 of such Act of August 2, 1939, as amended; and such section is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 21. (a) The aggregate amount of the expenditures made, during any calendar year, by any political committee, or other committee, association, or organization, for the purpose, in whole or in part, of influencing or attempting to influence the election of any or all persons who have been nominated as candidates for the offices of Fresident, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, and Delegate or Resident Commissioner from any Territory or possession, shall not exceed the aggregate amount of the expenditures which all such candidates have authorized, in writing and within the limits of subsection (b), such committee, association, or organization to make on behalf of their candidacy. The aggregate amount of the contributions received by any political committee during or in connection with any political campaign shall not exceed the amount of the expenditures which such committee is authorized, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, to make during the calendar year in which such campaign occurs. "(b) No candidate to whom section 309 of the Corrupt Practices Act, 1925, is applicable shall authorize expenditures by one or more political committees, or other committees, associations, or organizations, on behalf of his candidacy amounting to more, in the aggregate, than the amount of the expenditures which such candidate may lawfully make under the provisions of such section 309, and the amount of the expenditures which any candidate may lawfully make under the provisions of such section 309 shall be reduced by the amount of the

expenditures which such candidate authorizes any one or more political committees, or other committees, associations, or organizations to make on behalf of his candidacy. No candidate for the office of President shall authorize expenditures by one or more political committees, or other committees, associations, or organizations, on behalf of his candidacy amounting to more, in the aggregate, than $2,000,000. No candidate for the office of Vice President shall authorize expenditures by one or more political committees, or other committees, associations, or organizations, on behalf of his candidacy amounting to more, in the aggregate, then $1,000,000. No candidate for the office of Presidential elector shall authorize any political committee, or other committee, association, or organization, to make expenditures on behalf of his candidacy: but any expenditures which any committee, association, or organization is authorized to make on behalf of the candidacy of candidates for the offices of President or Vice President or other offices may be made on behalf of candidates for the office of Presidential elector.

"(c) For the purposes of this section, any contribution received and any expenditure made by or on behalf of any political committee, or other committee, association, or organization, with the knowledge and consent of, or in accordance with the written authorization of, the chairman or treasurer thereof shall be deemed to be received or made by such committee, association, or organization. Any person who, for or on behalf of any political committee, or other committee, association, or organization, receives any contribution, or makes any expenditure, which such committee, association, or organization may not lawfully receive or make under the provisions of this section shall be deemed to have violated the provisions of this section, unless (1) such contribution is received or such expenditure is made with the knowledge and consent of, or in accordance with the written authorization of, the chairman or treasurer of such committee, association, or organization, and (2) such person believes that such contribution may lawfully be received or that such expenditure may lawfully be made. Any violation of this section by any political committee, or other committee, association, or organization, shall be deemed also to be a violation of this section by the chairman and treasurer thereof, and by any other person responsible for such violation. Terms used in this section shall, unless the context otherwise indicates, have the meaning assigned to them in section 302 of the Federal Corrupt Practices Act, 1925; and the penalties provided in such Act shall apply to violations of this section."

[S. 594, 78th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To protect the integrity of the democratic process by requiring disclosure of persons writing, publishing, and circulating scurrilous literature in connection with political campaigns; to deny the use of the mails to such literature and to prohibit its importation into the United States, in default of such disclosure; and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all published matter which exposes, or tends or seeks to expose, to public hatred or contempt any group or class of persons, comprised of or including persons who are citizens of the United States or subject to the jurisdiction thereof, because of race, religion, descent, or nationality, and which is designed to influence any election at which any person is to be elected to the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, or Member of the House of Representatives, or any election to be held in Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico, or which relates to any candidate or issue in any such election, shall plainly disclose the name and address of every person, corporation, and government writing, financially or otherwise supporting, printing, publishing, or knowingly circulating such publication. In the case of any such corporation, such disclosure shall include the names of all officers and every stockholder owning more than 1 percentum of the stock thereof, or, if there be no stockholders, of all members. In the case of any periodical which has been accorded second-class mailing privileges, the maintenance of a list of such names and addresses subject to public inspection at the principal office of such periodical shall be deemed a compliance with the requirements of this section.

Sec. 2. Any published matter described in section 1 of this Act which does not include the disclosures therein required shall be deemed indecent matter within the meaning of section 211 of the Criminal Code, as amended (18 U. S. C. 334), and shall be deemed an immoral article within the meaning of section 305 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (46 Stat. 688; 19 U. S. C. 1305); and the provisions and penalties of such sections shall be applicable with respect thereto.

SEC. 3. There shall be established, within the Department of the Interior, an office to be known as the Office of Minority Relations, which shall be authorized to investigate the activities and connections of all persons and corporations, which write, publish, financially or otherwise support, or circulate, matter described in sections 1 and 7 of this Act. In connection with any such investigation, the Director of the Office of Minority Relations shall be empowered to administer oaths, and to require by subpena or otherwise the attendance of witnesses and the production of papers. The said Director shall be appointed, for a term of five years, at an annual salary of $8,000, by the President of the United States, from a list of at least three nominees submitted by the chancellor and the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. The remaining personnel of such office shall be selected in accordance with the civil-service laws and shall be subject to all restraints against political activities by civil-service employees.

SEC. 4. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any funds in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, such sums not in excess of $500,000 in any one fiscal year, as may be necessary for the expenses of the Office of Minority Relations.

SEC. 5. The Office of Minority Relations shall secure and compile information with respect to matter of the character described in sections 1 and 7 of this Act; collaborate with administrative agencies of the respective States and Territories and of the Federal Government in securing such information; bring such information to the attention of institutions and organizations, public and private, which are prepared to analyze and expose such matter or the activities and connections of the persons responsible for it; and make public the data so acquired.

SEC. 6. Any person who writes, publishes, or knowingly circulates any matter in violation of section 1 of this Act shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine of not more than $10,000 or to imprisonment for not more than five years, or to both.

SEC. 7. All published matter which is imported into the United States or is deposited in the United States mails, which expose, or tends or seeks to expose, to public hatred, or contempt any group or class of persons, comprised of or including persons who are citizens of the United States or subject to the jurisdiction thereof, because of race, religion, descent, or nationality, shall plainly disclose the name and address of every person, corporation, and government writing, financially or otherwise supporting, publishing, or knowingly circulating such publication. In the case of any such corporation, then such disclosure shall include the names and addresses of all officers and every stockholder owning more than 1 per centum of the stock thereof, or, if there be no stockholders, of all members. In the case of any periodical which enjoys second-class mailing privileges, the maintenance of a list of such names and addresses subject to public inspection at the principal office of such periodical shall be deemed a compliance with the requirements of this section. Any published matter described in this section which does not include the disclosures herein required shall be deemed indecent within the meaning of section 211 of the Criminal Code, as amended (18 U. S. C. 334), and shall be deemed an immoral article within the meaning of section 305 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (46 Stat. 688; 19 U. S. C. 1305); and the provisions and penalties of such sections shall be applicable with respect thereto.

SEC. 8. If any portion of this Act, or the application thereof to any circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of this Act, or the application thereof to other circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.

SEC. 9. This Act may be cited as the “Propaganda Exposure Act, 1943".

Senator HATCH. Which bill do you want to take up first, Senator? Senator GILLETTE. I want to take up first S. 593, which deals with the campaign expenditures problem.

If it is all right with you, Mr. Chairman, as long as we are making a record I think it would be just as well if I make just a brief historical statement as to this matter.

Senator HATCH. I think it would be very good if you would, Senator. Senator GILLETTE. The facts are, of course, familiar to you, but for the purpose of the record I think they ought to be referred to, at least briefly.

In 1940 there was the usual, customary Committee on Campaign Expenditures set up by the Senate, of which I had the honor to be

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