Before answering the questions which you may care to ask, I should like to take this opportunity of describing the origin of the two committees of which I am chairman, outlining the activities in which we are engaged, and presenting the facts with reference to the source of our funds and the nature and extent of our expenditures.

The C. I. O. Political Action Committee was established by the executive board of the C. I. O. at a meeting of that body in this city on July 7, 1943.

The formation of this committee has been criticized and condemned in some quarters as a novel and dangerous departure from the traditional pattern of American political life. It has been suggested that the participation of organized labor in politics is an alien practice, inconsistent with American concepts of the democratic process.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Organizations of men and women, united by a common interest, for the advancement of their own and the general welfare through political action are as old as our Nation. The most casual study of our history discloses that organizations of workers, like organizations of farmers and businessmen, have long been concerned with and have actively participated in politics. The activity of such groups in shaping the course of their Government is essential to the functioning of our democracy.

Experience early taught organized labor that it cannot discharge its obligation to protect and promote the welfare of its members as workers and citizens through the processes of collective bargaining alone. The struggles of labor on the economic front have always been interwoven with its efforts in the political field for social legislation to protect the immediate economic interests of its members, as well as in such broader fields as education, public health, taxation, and business regulation.

Labor's participation in political activity has grown with the growth of the organized labor movement itself. Moreover, our national experience since 1929 has served to teach labor and all Americans that in this complex modern industrial society of ours, the national well-being is increasingly dependent upon the wise and progressive exercise of the powers of Government.

Today all thinking Americans recognize that we stand at a crossroads in history. One road leads forward to the extermination of fascism and all its evils; to an era of international cooperation that can give us an eduring peace; to the utilization of our rich resources for the benefit of all our people, giving them full employment, real security and a more abundant life. The other road leads backward along the way we have come. It leads to renewed international rivalry and conflict, inevitably ending in war; to unemployment, insecurity, and misery here at home. The road that we take will be largely determined by the character, the program, and the policies of our national Government and of the men and women who compose it.

The choice is not a partisan choice. This is not a contest between Republicans and Democrats. Nor is it a contest between workers and farmers or businessmen. This is an issue which should unite-not divide the American people, whatever their party affiliation and whatever their station in life.

It was to make possible the maximum contribution of the C. I. O. in promoting and consolidating unity behind a program that will take us along the road of peace and plenty, that the C. I. O. Political Action Committee was organized.

For many years each of the affiliated unions of the C. I. O. have conducted their own programs of political activity and political education. It is the function of our committee to coordinate and make more effective the work which our constituent unions have heretofore carried on independently.

While the decisive questions which confront labor and the Nation today provided the immediate occasion for the organization of our committee, we have not organized for 1944 alone. On the contrary, the executive board of the Č. I. O. has established the committee on a permanent basis to serve as its continuing agency for the coordination and direction of its political activities.

We conceive of our task as that of political education in the deepest and most practical sense of that word-education in the full and enlightened exercise of the responsibilities of citizenship.

Our committee is a nonpartisan organization. Our purpose is to assist in welding the unity of workers, farmers, and all other progressives on the basis of a constructive and forward-looking program, and in support of candidates, irrespective of their party labels, who support that program.

We are not interested in establishing a third party, for a third party would only serve to divide rather than to unite the forces of progress. We are not an appendage of either major political party. Nor, as has sometimes been charged, have we any desire or ambition to "capture" either party. Like every other organization concerned with the affairs of Government, we seek to influence the thinking, the program, and the choice of candidates of both parties. And that kind of activity is of the very essence of our two-party system.

The C. I. O. Political Action Committee was organized-as I stated-in July 1943. The C. I. O. met in convention in November of that year. Between these dates, the committee, its program and its objectives, were the subject of full and widespread discussion within the international and local unions of the C. Î. O. at local meetings and regional conferences. Other groups, including State and local representatives of the A. F. L., the Railroad Brotherhoods, farm organizations, and church groups, were invited to and did participate in these discussions. This preparatory work all preceded the setting up of any formal organization by the committee.

The plans and the program of the committee were the subject of detailed discussion at the Sixth Constitutional Convention of the C. I. O. at Philadelphia in November. At the conclusion of that discussion, the convention adopted a statement on political action approving the formation of the committee and outlining its tasks for the future.

I should like to present to the committee a record of the proceedings of the convention, containing both the discussion and the statement to which I refer.

Shortly after the convention, the committee began to set up its organization. We have established a national office in New York

City and 14 regional offices. We now employ approximately 135 fulltime staff members, of whom 75 are employed in the national office and 65 in our regional offices. For your information I offer a list of these regions and the names of the directors in charge.

Regional directors, Congress of Industrial Organizations Political Action Committee

In addition to the full-time employees of the committee, it is assisted by representatives designated by the international unions who devote part of their time to the work of political action, largely within their own organizations.

The work of our committee falls into three related categories:

First, it is our purpose to bring the issues which face the Nation and the world in these critical times to the attention of the American people. It is our purpose to assist in teaching them that the character of their Government-the kind of men whom they elect to represent them-will determine how these issues will be resolved.

We are focusing public attention on these questions through the publication and distribution of pamphlets and other literature and through conferences and meetings, large and small, which are being held throughout the country. As an example of such a meeting, I should like to call your attention to the 2-day conference on full employment called by the committee in New York City in January of this year. The conference, attended by some 300 representatives of labor and nonlabor groups, was devoted to a detailed examination of the problem of providing full employment in post-war America. The conference heard presentations of the problem and proposals for an approach to its solution from leaders of labor, Government, agriculture, small business, and the professions. I am submitting to you a copy of the proceedings of this conference. I am confident that you will find it full of stimulating and productive ideas and thoughtful proposals.

As an example of our literature in this field, I should like to submit copies of pamphlets which we have recently distributed entitled "Jobs for All" and "This Is Your America." In addition, we have prepared two manuals, one for speakers and one on the use of the radio, which I am also submitting to you.

As a result of a full discussion and exchange of ideas both within and outside of the C. I. O., the committee, in June of this year, prepared a draft of program for 1944. That program was submitted to a meeting of the executive board of the C. I. O. on June 16, where it was fully discussed, amended, and approved. It was then presented to a meeting of some 300 C. I. O. leaders and representatives from all parts of the country and was unanimously adopted by that body. This program represents the collective thinking of the C. I. O. as well as of the many other groups and organizations which participated in the discussions which preceded its formulation. We believe it is a thoughtful and constructive program. It is a program designed to assure full and uncompromising victory over the enemy; to realize a just and lasting peace based upon the friendship and collaboration of the freedom-loving nations of the world, and to secure our goal, here at home, of full production and full employment, with security, freedom, and equal opportunity for all of our people, regardless of race, creed, or national origin.

As the program itself states, it is not a narrow labor program. It is not framed in the interest of any special group. It is offered as a basis for unity and common action by all Americans in every walk of life, regardless of formal party affiliation.

We presented this program to the conventions of the two major parties. We are also presenting it to the American people for their thoughtful consideration and action. I should like to submit copies

to you.

We do not think it sufficient merely to bring issues to the attention of the people. We also believe that it is one of our important functions to show people how they can participate in deciding those issues in their own best interest.

We have no illusions that we can "control" the vote of a single American-within or without the C. I. O. We are neither so arrogant nor so foolish as to make that attempt. Like all Americans, we take pride in the stubborn independence which is one of the happiest characteristics of our people. It is because we know that neither their thinking nor their voting can be controlled by anybody or from any source that we have such unshakable confidence in their good sense and their sound judgment. We know that when enough Americans vote they will vote right; that their collective judgment will prove to be a sound judgment. We believe that on those occasions when the democratic process failed to return a progressive verdict it was because too few Americans participated in rendering that verdict. Therefore, we are concerned in doing what we can to insure the exercise of their franchise by the greatest possible number of our citizens.

It was for this reason, among others, that we urged a simple Federal ballot for the men and women in our armed forces. It was for this reason, among others, that we supported legislation eliminating the poll-tax restriction on the right to vote. It is for this reason, too, that we are centering our effort on a campaign to register every eligible

voter. It is not our concern how they register-whether as Republicans or Democrats. But we are interested in assuring the largest possible ballot in 1944. We are concerned with the decline in the total vote from 50,000,000 in 1940 to 28,000,000 in 1942. We would like to see that trend sharply reversed, and we are doing all we can to help reverse it.

In connection with our registration campaign, we have distributed a number of posters, as well as three pamphlets in a series entitled "Every Worker a Voter." I should like to submit copies of these to the committee.

The registration campaign which we have initiated has carried far beyond the confines of the C. I. O. In many cities throughout the country, we act merely as one of many participants in this effort, working in close cooperation with other labor groups as well as with civic, businessmen's, and other organizations.

I now turn to a third phase of our activities. As I have indicated, our first concern is to bring the issues at stake to the attention of the people. Our second concern is to secure the widest possible participation in the determination of those issues through the use of the ballot. Our final concern is to bring to the American people the record of the candidates who solicit their support, to assist them in using their ballot intelligently and effectively.

Here I should like to emphasize one point. The national office of our committee has not and will not endorse senatorial, congressional, State, or local candidates. That is not our job. It is the job of the local voters and their organizations. As I have frequently stated on other occasions, we have no purge list, either public or secret. We have never attempted to impose our will upon the local organizations of the C. I. O. That policy was adopted by our committee at the outset. It has been adhered to rigorously. It will not be departed from.

This does not mean that our national office has not frequently been consulted by State and local organizations of the C. I. Ó. with reference to endorsements. It does not mean that we have refrained from making available to them the facts upon which to base an intelligent judgment. On the contrary, we believe that it is one of our important functions to keep them informed of the voting records of candidates who solicit their support.

But the final choice remains with the C. I. O. organizations in the State or congressional district concerned. It is usually made in collaboration with bodies of the A. F. of L., the railroad brotherhoods, farm organizations, and other groups.

The only candidates who have been endorsed by our national committee are Roosevelt and Truman. In the case of President Roosevelt, that endorsement was not made until May 17, when substantially all of the C. I. O. international unions and the great majority of its State councils had already acted, so that the action of our committee merely recorded the unanimity of their opinion.

In addition to the activities of the committee which I have described, we have made a few modest contributions in connection with the primary campaigns of candidates after consultation with the local organizations of the C. I. O. I shall discuss these contributions a little later in my statement.