Hearings relating to revision of H.R. 9120 and H.R. 5751, to amend the Subversive activities control act of 1950. Hearing

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HEARINGS RELATING TO REVISION OF H.R. 9120

AND H.R. 5751, TO AMEND THE SUBVERSIVE

ACTIVITIES CONTROL ACT OF 1950

HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES
HOUSE OE REPRESENTATIVES

EIGHTY-SEVENTH CONGEESS

FIRST SESSION

SEPTEMBER 13, 1961

Printed for the use of the Committee on Un-American Activities

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
75251 WASHINGTON : 1961

COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES
United States House of Representatives

FRANCIS E. WALTER, Pennsylvania, Chairman
MORGAN M. MOULDER, Missouri GORDON H. SCHERER, Ohio

CLYDE DOYLE, CaUfomia AUGUST E. JOHANSEN, Michigan

EDWIN E. WILLIS, Louisiana DONALD C. BRUCE, Indiana

WILLIAM M. TUCK, Virginia HENRY C. SCHADEBERG, Wisconsin

Feank S. Tavknner, Jr., Director
Alfred M. Nittle, Counsel
John C. Walsh, Co-counsel
QwENN Lewis, Administrative Assistant

n

CONTENTS

September 13, 1961: Testimony of : Page

Nicholas deB. Katzenbach (Department of Justice) 128

Louis J. Doyle (Post Office Department) 131

D. L. Ritger (Bureau of Customs) 132

Appendix 135

in

Public Law 601, 79th Congress

The legislation under which the House Committee on Un-American
Activities operates is Pubhc Law 601, 79th Congress [1946]; 60 Stat.
812, which provides:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States
oj America in Congress assembled, * * *

PART 2- RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Rule X

SEC. 121. STANDING COMMITTEES
*******

17. Committee on Un-American Activities, to consist of nine Members.

Rule XI

POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMITTEES
3|: H: H: !^ 4: ^ 4=

(q)(l) Committee on Un-Amoiican Activities.

(A) tin- American activities.

(2) The Committee on Un-American Activities, as a whole or by subcommit-
tee, is authorized to make from time to time investigations of (i) the extent,
character, and objects of un-American propaganda activities in the United States,
(ii) the diffusion within the United States of subversive and un-American propa-
ganda that is instigated from foreign countries or of a domestic origin and attacks
the principle of the form of government as guaranteed by our Constitution, and
(iii) all other questions in relation thereto that would aid Con2ress in any necessary
remedial legislation.

The Committee on Un-American Activities shall report to the House (or to the
Clerk of the House if the House is not in session) the results of any such investi-
gation, together with such recommendations as it deems advisable.

For the purpose of any such investigation, the Committee on Un-American
Activities, or any subcommittee thereof, is authorized to sit and act at such
times and places within the United States, whether or not the House is sitting,
has recessed, or has adjourned, to hold such hearings, to require the attendance
of such witnesses and the production of such books, papers, and documents, and
to take such testimony, as it deems necessary. Subpenas may be issued under
the signature of the chairman of the committee or any subcommittee, or by any
member designated by any such chairman, and may be served by any person
designated by any such chairman or member.

Rule XII

LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT BY STANDING COMMITTLES

Sec. 136. To assist the Congress in appraising the administration of the laws
and in developing such amendments or related legislation as it may deem neces-
sary, each standing committee of the Senate ami the House of Representatives
shall exercise continuous watchfulness of the execution by the administrative
agencies concerned of any laws, the subject matter of which is within the jurisdic-
tion of such committee; and, for that purpose, shall study all pertinent reports
and data submitted to the Congress by the agencies in the executive branch of
the Government.

RULES ADOPTED BY THE 87TH CONGRESS
House Resolution 8, January 3, 1961

:i! iff ^ * ^ * ^

Rule X

STANDING COMMITTEES

1. There shall be elected by the House, at the commencement of each Congress,
(r) Committee on Un-American Activities, to consist of nine Members.

Rule XI

POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMITTEES

18. Committee on Un-American Activities.

(a) Un-American activities.

(b) The Committee on Un-American Activities, as a whole or by subcom-
mittee, is authorized to make from time to time investigations of (1) the extent,
character, and objects of un-American propaganda activities in the United States,

(2) the diffusion within the United States of subversive and un-American propa-
ganda that is instigated from foreign countries or of a domestic origin and attacks
the principle of the form of government as guaranteed by our Constitution, and

(3) all other questions in relation thereto that would aid Congress in any necessary
remedial legislation.

The Committee on Un-American Activities shall report to the House (or to the
Clerk of the House if the House is not in session) the results of any such investi-
gation, together with such recommendations as it deems advisable.

For the purpose of any such investigation, the Committee on Un-American
Activities, or any subcommittee thereof, is authorized to sit and act at such
times and places within the United States, whether or not the House is sitting,
has recessed, or has adjourned, to hold such hearings, to require the attendance
of such witnesses and the production of such books, papers, and documents, and
to take such testimony, as it deems necessary. Subpenas may be issued under
the signature of the chairman of the committee or any subcommittee, or by any
member designated by any such chairman, and may be served by any person
designated by any such chairman or member.

27. To assist the House in appraising the administration of the laws and in
developing such amendments or related legislation as it may deem necessary,
each standing committee of the House shall exercise continuous watchfulness of
the execution by the administrative agencies concerned of any laws, the subject
matter of which is within the jurisdiction of such committee; and, for that pur-
pose, shall study all pertinent reports and data submitted to the House by the
agencies in the executive branch of the Government.

HEARINGS RELATING TO REVISION OF H.R. 9120 AND
H.R. 5751 TO AMEND THE SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES
CONTROL ACT OF 1950

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1961

U.S. House of Representatives,
Committee on Un-American Activities,

Washington, D.C.
executive session

The Committee on Un-American Activities met at 10 a.m., in room
216, Old House Office Building, Washington, D.C, Hon. Francis E.
Walter (chairman of the committee) presiding.

Members present: Representatives Walter of Pennsylvania; Doyle
of California; Scherer of Ohio; and Schadeberg of Wisconsin.

Also present: Frank S. Tavenner, Jr., director; Alfred M. Nittle,
counsel; John C. Walsh, co-counsel; and Robert F. Guthrie, House
legislative counsel's office.

Departmental representatives: Louis J. Doyle, General Counsel,
and Sidney W. Bishop, Acting Assistant Postmaster General, Post
Office Department; Nicholas deB. Katzenbach, Assistant Attorney
General, and Charles F. Simms, Office of Legal Counsel, and Nathan B.
Lenvin, Chief, Registration Section, Internal Security Division, De-
partment of Justice; D. L. Ritger, Assistant Chief Counsel, Bureau of
Customs, Treasury Department.

Chairman Walter. Gentlemen, at the outset, I want to express the
appreciation of those of you who participated in the drafting of this
proposed amendment. This is a very serious problem. There is a
growing public demand that we do our duty with respect to the influx
of tons of unwanted brainwashing material.

I think, and I say this knowing a little bit about the parliamentary
revision, that the way to handle this is to come up with what you
think is adequate. I know the problem.

I talked with Bob Kennedy and I talked with Mr. White at length
and I know how difficult enforcement was under the bill that we have
on the calendar. However, we have a place on the calendar and it
seems to me that the way to handle this whole thing is to get together
on a proposal and then have a conmiittee print prepared.

Mr. Tavenner. Mr. Chairman, I should like to clarify certain
points and also state certain matters of background for the record.
The committee has for some time been gathering data and holding
hearings on the subject of Communist propaganda. These hearings
have been printed and made public. In the 86th Congress, the chair-
man introduced H.R. 2232, an omnibus bill, which included in section
311 thereof the provisions contained in the original bill, H.R. 5751,
introduced by the chairman on March 31, 1961, in the 87th Congress.

119

120 AMEND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES CONTROL ACT OF 195 0

H.R. 5751 proposed certuin ainendnients to the Foreign Agents
Registration Act of 1938. Among the amendments proposed to that
act were those to section 1(b) and section 3(d), which were Hkewise
presented to the Congress in this session in a separate bill, H.R. 470,
referred to the Judiciary Conmiitlee. H.R. 470 passed the House on
May 1. Therefore, these particular amendments no longer concern us.
However, the remainhig provisions of H.R. 5751, which dealt
with the major problem confronting us, and sought to extend the
coverage of the Foreign Agents Registration Act to certam agents of
foreign powers acting without the United States, have raised serious
practical and legal problems. Moreover, later evidence coming to
the attention of this committee has pointed up the necessity of ex-
tending the coverage of the labeling and disclosure principle of the
Foreign Agents Registration Act to situations where the agency
relationship was not involved. This is particularly evident in the
extension recently of the Communist propaganda technique of dis-
seminating propaganda directly to residents of the United States
and not through the intervention of resident agents. Particularly
since uistrumentalities of foreign propaganda not withhi the juris-
diction of the United States present obvious problems of control, it
has become apparent that the legislative effort would have to have
broader coverage and be less restrictive in operation.

After study and consultation, the connnittee prepared H.R. 9120,
introduced by the chairman September 11, 1961, as a basis for solution
of the difficult problems involved. H.R. 9120 adopts the principle
of disclosure utilized in the Foreign Agents Registration Act and seems
to be a practical solution toward coping with present major propa-
ganda efforts of the Communist world. In the case of foreign agents
resident within the United States, the duty of disclosure can be, and
is by that act, imposed upon the resident agent. But, in the case of
propaganda transmitted by first-class mail without the intervention
of a resident agent, there would be no coverage under this act and
therefore the disclosure will have to be accomplished through other
ineans. H.R. 9120 accomplishes this through the disclosure duties
imposed upon the Postmaster General.

The committee may later offer additional legislation to plug the
propaganda loopholes as the situation develops. Meanwhile, today,
we have called in the representatives of the Departments of Justice,
Post Office, Treasury, and State for the purpose of ascertaining their
views on the approach adopted in H.R. 9120. Since H.R. 9120 is
certainly germane to H.R. 5751, adopting the same principle and in
fact extending its operation, I understand, Mr. Chairman, that it is
your suggestion that we work out a final revision of H.R. 9120 to be
incorporated as an amendment to H.R. 5751. In such case, follow-
ing your suggestion, we anticipate striking everything after the
enacting clause of H.R. 5751 and substituting such revised provisions
of H.R. 9120 as may appear most appropriate and effective. But
actually the new bill should have a different title from the title under
the old bill.

Chairman Walter. We can amend the title as weH.
Mr. Tavenxer. I now ask that the bills H.R. 5751 and H.R. 9120
be set forth in full in the record.
(The bills referred to follow) :

AMEND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES CONTROL ACT OF 1950 121

tH.R.f5751, 87th Cong., 1st sess.)

A BILL

To amend tlie Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950 so as to require tlie registration of certain additional
persons discminating political propaganda within the United States as agents of a foregin principal, and
for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
America in Congress assembled, That section 20 of the Subversive Activities Control
Act of 1950 is amended by inserting "(a)" immediately after "Sec. 20." and by
adding at the end thereof the following new subsections:

"(b) Section 1(b) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended
(22 U.S.C. 611(b)), is amended by adding at the end thereof the following now
clause :

" '(6) an individual domestic partnership, association, corporation, orga-
nization, or other combination of individuals, supervised, directed, or
controlled by a government of a foreign country or a foreign political i)artv'

"(c) Section 3(d) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 613(d)) is amended to read" as
follows :

" '(d) Any person engaging or agreeing to engage only in private and non-
political financial or mercantile activities in furtherance of the bona fide trade or
coinnierce of such foreign principal or in the soliciting and collecting of funds
and contributions within the United States to be used only for medical aid and
assistance, or for food and clothing to relieve human suffering, if such solicitation
or collection of funds and contributions is in accordance with and subject to the
Neutrality Act of 1939 (22 U.S.C. 441 and the following), and such rules and regu-
lations as may be prescribed thereunder;'.

"(d) Section 4(a) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 614(a)) is amended to read as follows:

" '(a) Every person within the United States who is an agent of a foreign
principal and required to register under the provisions of this Act who im{)orts or
causes to be imported, or who transmits or causes to be transmitted in the United
States mails or by any means or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce,
any political propaganda shall, not later than forty-eight hours after the beginning
of the importation or transmittal thereof, send to the Librarian of Congress two
copies thereof and file with the Attorney General one copy thereof and a statement,
duly signed by or on behalf of such agent, setting forth full information as to the'
places, times, and extent of such importation or tranmittal.

"(e) Section 4(b) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 614(b)) is amended to read as follows:

" '(b) It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States who is an
agent of a foreign principal and required to register under the provisions of this
Act to import or cause to be imported, or to transmit or cause to be transmitted
in the United States mails or by any means or instrumentality of interstate or
foreign commerce, any political propaganda unless such political propaganda is
conspicuously marked at its beginning with, or prefaced or accompanied by, a
true and accurate statement, in the language or languages used in such political
propaganda, setting for that the person importing or transmitting such political
propaganda or causing it to ])e imported or transmitted is registered under this
Act with the Department of Justice, Washington, District of Columbia, as an
agent of a foreign principal, together with the name and address of such agent of
a foreign principal and of each of his foreign principals; that, as required by this
Act, his registration statement is available for inspection at and copies of such
political propaganda are being filed with the Department of Justice; and that
registration of agents of foreign principals required by the Act does not indicate
approval by the United States Government of the contents of their political pro-
paganda. The Attorney General, having due regard for the national security
and the public interest, may be regulation prescribe the language or languages
and the manner and form in which such statement shall be made and require
the inclusion of such other information contained in the registration statement
identifying such agent of a foreign principal anrl such pt)litical propaganda and its
sources as may be appropriate.'

"(f) Section 4 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 614) is amended by adding at the end
thereof the following new subsection:

" '(e) Any person not within the United States who used the United States
mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce witliin
the United States to circulate or disseminate any political propaganda shall be
regarded, for the purposes of this Act, as an agent of a foreign principal who is
acting within the United States. This subsection shall have no application to
any such person outside the United States when his use of the United States mails

75251—61 2

122 AMEND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES CONTROL ACT OF 195 0

or a means or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce within the United
States is confined to the transmittal of political propaganda to a person registered
under tlie terms of this Act.' "

Sec. 2. The Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950 is further amended by
inserting, immediately after section 20 thereof, the following new section:

"comptroller of foreign propaganda

"Sec. 20A. There is hereby established, in the Bureau of Customs of the
Department of the Treasury, the Office of the Comptroller of Foreign Propaganda
to be located at tlie seat of the Government in Washington, District of Columbia!
Such Office shall be headed b.v a Director, who shall be appointed by the Secretary
of the Treasury and who shall have rank and compensation equal to that of the
Deputy Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs. The Director shall be a citizen
of the United States, qualified by at least five years' experience in the import
control of political propaganda, and shall maintain close liaison with the appro-
priate committee of Congress in order that they may be advised regarding the
control of Communist and other foreign propaganda brought to, and sought to be
disseminated in, the United States. He shall perform those functions with respect
to the control of Communist and other foreign propaganda which are vested in
the Secretary of the Treasury, to the extent that the performance of such functions
may be delegated to him by the Secretary, and he shall perform such other func-
tions as the Secretary may prescribe."

[H.R. 9120, 87tli Cong., Istsess.]

A BILL To amend the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950 so as to require the Postmaster General
in certain cases to give notice of the use of the mails for the dissemination of Communist propaganda

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Slates of
America in Congress assembled, That the Subversive Activities Control Act of
1950 is amended by inserting immediately at the end of section 10 thereof, the
following new section:

"notice of subversive mail

"Sec. 10 a. (a) As the result of evidence adduced before various committees
of the Senate and House of Representatives, the Congress finds, and the Com-
munist parties of the world united in the world Communist movement avow,
that the world Communist movement adheres to the doctrines and practices of
Marxism-Leninism. Marxism-Leninism adopts the principle that the end—
which is the establishment of Conununist totalitarian dictatorship in countries
throughout the world — justifies any means for the accomplishment of that end,
and expressly repudiates the spiritual and moral compulsion for truth and decency
to whicli the United States and other free societies adhere. Marxism-Leninism
expressly in doctrine and practice suboixlinates morality to the interest of its
revolutionary movement, and deliberately employs the instrumentality of propa-
ganda in such interest without regard for the truth or falsity of the propaganda.
The objective of Communist proi)aganda is to create within non-Communist
societies such a degree of social fission and confusion as will advance the policies
and goal of the world Communist movement. It is further found that the postal
services of free societies are used as an instrumentality for the dissemination of
such propaganda, and vast ((uantities thereof are conveyed, unsolicited, to re-
cipients in the United States, frequently disguised as to origin and character,
raising questions in the minds of the recipients as to its purpose and origin, and
in some instances alarming persons resident in the United States who are concerned
because of its receipt.

"(b) In the case of all mail originating from without the United States and
transmitted through the United States postal service, and which contains, or
which the Postmaster General has reason to believe may contain. Communist
proj)aganda, the Postmaster General shall give written notice by mail, in the form
of a letter hereinafter set forth, to the addressee of such mail.

"(c) Such notice shall be prepared by the Postmaster General, and shall be
transmitted to the addressee under such circumstances and in accordance with
such rules and regulations as the Postmaster General shall prescribe for the
effective administration and execution of the duties imposed by this section.

AMEND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES CONTROL ACT OF 1950 123

"(d) The notice shall include a copy of subsection (a) of this section, and shall
also include but shall not be limited to the following language:

" 'The United States postal service is being utilized, in certain instances,
by the world Communist conspiracy to transmit, unsolicited in most cases,
propaganda which originated abroad, as well as within the United States.
You may, or may not have been, in receipt of such propaganda. Much of
this propaganda is transmitted through first-class mail. Having a regard
for the preservation of the ])rivacy of your mail, first-class mail is not opened
for inspection by the postal service. This propaganda is frequently not
marked as to origin or character. It has raised questions in the minds of
the recipients thereof as to its purpose and significance.

" 'Propaganda is regarded by the Communists as an imjiortant and
necessary means for achieving world subversion, and recently this propaganda
effort has been intensified with the result that millions of pieces of mail are
being disseminated within the United States by the world Communist
movement.

" 'To clarify any question as to the character and origin of such mail, this
letter is forwarded for your information.' "

Chairman Walter. As I stated yesterday, we are to prepare a bill
designed to deal with certain aspects of the rather complex problems
arising by reason of the influx of millions of pieces of Conmiimist
propaganda which have their origin abroad and are now— disguised
as to character and origin — disseminated in great part by first-class
mail within the United States.

This bill is proposed to amend the wSubversive Activities Control
Act of 1950 so as to require the Postmaster General in certain cases to
give notice. ;

Within recent months we have observed an accelei'ation of the Com-
munist brainwashing effort directed at the free world and particularly
to residents of the United States.

This increased tempo of Communist propaganda activity, I believe,
bears a close relation to the rising temperature of the international
situation, which, in turn, is a consequence of the growing power and
arrogance of the Communist bloc.

Communist propaganda items from abroad transmitted through the
U.S. postal service have increased in the year 1960 to an astounding
137 percent over the year 1959, whereas, the increase in the year 1959
over the year 1958 was only 18 percent.

During the year 1959, the U.S. customs service processed over 6
million packages of Communist propaganda, containing over 10
million items of printed matter.

In 1960, over 14 million packages were processed, containing in
excess of 21 million items, such as newspapers, magazines, books,
pictures, and posters. During the 2 months of Febi'uary and Marcli
1961, over 102,000 packages of magazines and 11,000 packages of
newspapers were addressed to the United States from Connnunist
Cuba, which is now the base of Conmiunist operations hi this hemi-
sphere.

The extraordinary Communist effort in the field of propaganda is
further attested by a report of the U.S. Office of Education indicating
that in 1959 the Soviet Union published over 30 million books, con-
taining 830 titles, in 26 foreign languages, for dissemhiation to non-
Communist countries and which were either distributed free or sold
far below cost mainly to Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

In the above figures of packages of Communist propaganda entering
the United States, I did not include in that number the millions of
pieces of first-class mail, contaming Communist propaganda, also

124 AMEND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES CONTROL ACT OF 1950

rocoivcd I'roin abroad. Such iii;ul is not opciicd for inspection, and
presents certain obvious problems.

It is significant that tlic Conununist conspiracy is now extensively
utili/.ing fii-st-class mailing privileges as a means for disseminating
their poison and fiction. I have received reports and complaints
from all areas of the United States.

Many people have become annoyed, and some confused, and others
alarmed. A good bit of this mail is addressed to foreign-language
groups, wJio sense the possibility of blackmail or harm. The extent
of the effort clearly attests the importance with which the Commu-
nists regard this propaganda campaign.

George V. Allen, formerly Director of tlie U.S. Information Agency,
previously estimated that the amount expended by the Communists
in the year 1957 for propa^janda in the non-Communist world was
between $500 and $750 million.

Present estimates of the amount being expended in this field indi-
cates that the amount may well exceed $2 billion.

How docs one cope with this propaganda? Does one collect and
destroy such items of propaganda piece })y piece? Is this presently
practicable, or even desirable? Curiously, Lenin long ago pointed up
tlie absurdity of such an effort.

In his notorious theoretical document "What's To Be Done,"
Lenin laid down the basic doctrine for the conduct of Communist
propaganda, and agitational activities.

While stressing the importance of the distribution of "illegal liter-
ature" by his band of secret Communist revolutionaries, he amused
himself by pointing out the difl^culties which the opponents of commu-
nism would find in coping with it.

He|said :

Thn police will soon come to realize; tiv" folly and futility of setting the whole
jiulicial and administrative machine into motion to intercept every copy of a
publication that is being broadcast in thousands.

Now I would point out that the success of such "illegal literature"
depends upon the people to whom it is addressed. Lenin must have
assumed the existence of an unsophisticated audience. That will not
be the case in the United States.

The antidote for the poison of Conununist propaganda is knowl-
edge and truth. We shall counterattack in that way. As Justice
Holmes once remarked, "The remedy for speech is more speech," and
I believe that applies in this situation. I have no real fear that this
absurd Communist propaganda will seduce anv appreciable segment
of our people, or lead them from tbe path of reason and loyalty — if
our people are adequately informed as to its nature, orfgin, and
character.

In the Internal Security Act of 1950 (title I, cited as tlie "Sub-
versive Activities Control Act") we there had to deal with the
prol)lems involved in the dissemination of Communist propaganda
within the LTnited States by Communist action and front groups.

Under section 10, these problems were met in part simply by re-
quiring Communist organizations, against whom a final order to
register is in effect, to label all publications transmitted in the mail
as being disseminated by a Communist organization, and to announce
the sponsorship of any radio or television broadcast conducted by
them.

AMEND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES CONTROL ACT OF 1950 125

We there felt that if our people were informed of the nature, origin,
and contents of sucJi propaganda activity, they would be able to judge
and deal witji it. Tjie bill H.R. 9120 we consider today, in fact and
in effect also supplements section 10 of the Internal Security Act.

While section 10 requires the labeling of Communist propaganda
disseminated by internal Communist organizations, we extend the
disclosure process to publications transmitted by mail from without
the United States to persons resident here.

Moreover, I believe that it is important to strengthen the democratic
process, which I believe is tlie natural effect and result of this type of
disclosure and information statute.

If our people ai'e informed of the natm'e and techniques of Com-
munist propaganda — and this is a responsibility of the educational
process and the free press — we shall not need fear that our people will
become infected. Knowledge is the most eft'ective immunization
against the propaganda virus.

I believe that when all our people understand the degraded and
corrupt tactics of Marxism-Leninism, the Communists will find their
propaganda effort to be waste of money and paper. They will not
undermine our society: they shall only destroy themselves.

Mr. ScHEKER. Did the Justice Department draft this language in
H.R. 9120?

Mr. Tavenner. No. This was drafted by the cominittee staff.
This follows the procedure of the Internal Security xict of 1950 which
does make certain findings and we thought that the connnittee thought
that the Congress should at this time reassert and reaffirm those very
findings.

Mr. Scherer. Is this language from tlie Internal Security Act or
something similar to it?

Mr. Tavenner. No. What we did is reaffirm and reassert it by
reference. We do not do it by copying tlie whole thing in here again.
We did, however, extend the statement pertaining to Marxism-
Leninism.

Chairman Walter. Let's look at section 10(A), subsection (a).
Perhaps this might better be included in the report on the amended
bin.

Mr. Scherer. Do you think it should be put in a report?

Chairman Walter. Yes; it belongs in a report.

Mr. Scherer. What does this bill do primarily?

Mr. Tavenner. This bill requires the Postmaster General to send
a notice to everyone — to the recipients of all of this Communist Party
propaganda of a character that we set forth here in section D.

Mr. Scherer. Does somebody have to evaluate this propaganda
upon receipt?

Mr. Tavenner. Let me explain the procedure that was followed.
The procedure that was followed was that the Post Office Department
selected all of this material tlvey had reason to believe was coming
in from Soviet bloc countries and which contained this propaganda.
They have turned it over to Customs. Customsjmade a probably
more minute investigation of it but they did not open, of course,
any first-class mail.

Then, then would advise the Postmaster General and the Post-
master Gener. ! would write letters to the addressees as to whether or
not they wanted this material.

125 AMEND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES CONTROL ACT OF 1950

wSo the ])rocedure that, was followed was far fi-oiii beinji; an effective
procedure. However, this has the advantage of saying we are not
trying to keep the American pubhc from receiving this information
but we are advising them of the nature of it, the general nature of it,
the source of it.

Mr. ScHEKER. Do you feel this is more effective than putting teeth
into the Foreign Agents' Registration Act as proposed in 11. R. 5751?'']

Mr. Tavenner. I do not thiidv there is any doubt al)Out it.

ChairniiU) Walter. On page 2, you have spelled out what the
notice should contain. I believe the details of the notice should be
left to the Postmaster General, as the particular situation may warrantf
from time to time.

Mr. Tavenner. I would like for the representatives present in
behalf of the Department of Justice, the Post Office Department, and
the Customs Bureau of the Treasury Department to state their names
for the record. We will first begin with Justice.

Mr. Katzenbach. Nicholas de B. Katzenbach. I am accompanied '
by Mr. Charles F. Sknms, attorney in the Office of Legal Counsel and
Mr. Nathan Lenvin, Chief of the Registration Section of the Internal
Security Division.

Mr. Tavenner. Post Office Department.

l\Ir. Doyle. Louis J. Doyle, General Counsel, accompanied by
Sidney W. Bishop, Acting Assistant Postmaster General, Bureau of
Facilities.

Mr. Tavenner. Customs.

Mr. RiTGER. Donald Ritger, Assistant Chief Counsel, Bureau of
Customs, Treasury Department.

Mr. Tavenner. This same group has met and discussed prior to
this the problems relating to H.R. 5751.

In connection with these matters, the Departjuent of Justice,
through the letter of Byron R. White, Deputy Attorney General,
bearing tlie date of June 12, 1961, set forth the objections to H.R.
5751, and the matters and questions raised by this letter were discussed
recently in a staff conference held by those present. H.R. 9120 has
been prepared by the staff of the Committee on Un-American Activi-
ties and is being presented at this time for hearing and discussion. I
would like first to call ui:)on the Department of Justice to express such
views as it is advised should be expressed regarding its provisions and
whether or not it is considered by the Department of Justice that such
a bill should be substituted for H.R. 5751.

Mr. Katzenbach. Mr. Tavenner, I have prepared a very short
statement here which supports the general objectives of H.R. 9120
prior to our discussion this morning. I think it might be helpful if I
simply submitted that for the record. It expresses the support of the
Department of Justice for a program of this kind and points out very
briefly that other approaches have serious legal and constitutional
difficidties.

.^The comments in this statement would be applicable as well to the
points that I would raise with regard to this revision this morning.
That is to say, the statement makes the point that we regard it as
unwise in the statute to attempt to tie the notice which is proposed
therein to any finding on the part of the Postmaster General that the
material mailed from abroad may contain Communist propaganda.
This appears to put the Postmaster General in the i)osition of evaluat-
ing material rather than deliverin"- it — dcliverino- the mail.

AMEND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES CONTROL ACT OF 195 0 127

Tlierel'orc, we believe that it would be preferable to give the Post
master General a somewhat broader authority to publieize by postei'
and by notice the I'act that mail received from abroad may be of this
kind without in any way characterizing or attempting to characterize
the particidar mad as being Commimist propaganda and without
being required by the statute to make any such judgment whatsoever.

Otherwise, we fear that it may raise thoughts at least that the
Postmaster General is engaged in the business of censoring, character-
izing mail and some people may even believe that he is opening nuiil
and reading their mail, and this, of course, woidd l)e offensive to most
people.

Apart from that, the only additional comment that I would make
would be that we believe that the particular form of tlie notice should
be left to the discretion of the Postmaster General. It is perfectly
appropriate for the Congress to suggest in general the contents if it
so desires but it seems to me in a program that is being legislated the
Postmaster General should have the discretion from time to time to
change the language in order to meet new contnigencies and new de-
velop:nents and this would give a more flexible program of hiforma-
tion.

Mr. Tavenner. Let me interrupt you at this point. If you will
examhie the revised bill, you will see it does provide specifically that
which is required as stated in that section.

Mr. Katzenbach. That is right, but it does insofar as it makes it
mandatory to mclude certain provisions of law which if that is the
desire of the Congress to have included in the notice, I would not
object to but would simply make the comment that perhaps the
longer the notice, possibly the less effective it may be. I think the
committee should give that point consideration and make its own
jud'^_;ment in that regard.

I do have one comment with regard to the notice as set forth in
paragraph d of the revised form and that is with regard to the last
eight words in the second paragraph, "except as may be otherwise
authorized by law." While I would support this language in the
statute itself, I have some concern that its inclusion in the notice may
lead people to believe that there is in fact a Government program of
censorship whereby mail is opened, inspected, and censored and I
would propose the elunination of that particular language even from
the notice, as suggested by the statute, but not from paragraph f, let
me emphasize, of the legislation itself.

I believe those are all the comments I can make in addition to this
short statement that I have prepared and which is directed, as I said,
to the original H.R. 9120, as introduced, which I submit for the
record, should you wish it.

I have talked informally with the representatives of the Department
of State who are unable to be here this morning. They feel that
H.R. 9120 in general is an internal matter without great foreign policy
significance. They do point out as this committee would be well
aware that anything done in this area will of course be publicized in
the worst possible light by the Communist press. That is to say to
the extent possible, it will be characterized as a program of censor-
ship, opening of mail, surveillance, and so forth. They felt for this
reason wliile these comments will be made in any event in all likhhood,
it is desirable in the legislation to include the provisions which now

128 AMEND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES CONTROL ACT OF 1950

appear in the provision explicitly stating that this is not the purpose
and objective of the Act,

Mr. Tavenner. I would like to confirm that statement. I re-
ceived a call just a little while ago from the State Department ex-
pressing the same views and asking that I transmit them to the chair-
man of the committee and express their regret at not being able to be
represented here this morning.

It is noted on page 4 of your report that you make reference to
adding a provision specifically disclaiming that the new legislation
confers any new authority upon the Postmaster General to open,
inspect, or censor the mail. Tliis provision does appear, does it not,
in the revision of H.ll. 9120?

Mr. Katzenbach. That is right, Mr. Tavenner.

Mr. Tavenner. Mr. Chairman, I^suggest that the report from the
Department of Justice be made a part of the record.

Chairman Walter. The report of the Department of Justice will
be read into the record.

REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Mr. Katzenbach. I appreciate this opportunity to appear before
this committee in connection with its consideration of H.R. 9120.

During recent years, large quantities of unsolicited Communist
propaganda have been mailed into this country. I know of no author-
itative estimates of the precise magnitude or recent trend of those
importations. There is some indication that in recent months the
amount of printed matter so imported is less, but tliis may have been
compensated for by an increase in other means such as first class mail.
In any event, accurate figures would t)e difficult to arrive at.

Communist propaganda, is not, of course, accurately labeled as
such or described as to its origin or character. If it originates from
behind the Iron Curtain, then one can indulge in presumptions in this
respect. But often tliis is not the case, and insofar as its origin is
evident to the recipient, there may be nothing to indicate its true
nature save an examination of its contents. And as tliis committee
knows, it would be extremely difficult to formulate a program, com-
patible with our Constitution and our traditional concepts of a free
exchange of ideas and information, wJiicli attempts to label written
material as Comiiiumst propaganda.

The great l)ulk of Communist propaganda is unsolicited, and there
is no connection between its receipt in this country and any sympathj^
whatsoever by the recipient to (Jommunist goals or objectives. I am
sure that the committee would agree that it is important in any
legislative program by the Congress in this resj^ect to avoid any
inference that recipients are in any way associated with, or sympa-
thetic to, the international Communist movement. After all, such
propaganda, to be most efl^ective, must be aimed at those who do
not already have views or opinions of a Communist nature. Its
objective often is to confuse specific issues, obfuscate facts, and cause
doubts among people completely loyal to the United States.

I am confident that this barrage of Communist propaganda con-
stitutes no real threat to our form of government and that it in no
way compels us to abandon our traditional concepts of free speech
and free press. I am sure that the members of this committee agree

AMEND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES CONTROL ACT OF 1950 129

that the American people will not be influenced by Communist
propaganda no matter how insidious that propaganda ma}^ be. At
the same time it is often possible to promote Communist causes with
arguments which, to the nonexpert, are difficult to tie to the Com-
munist movement. For this reason, it seems to me that we should
publicize the existence of such propaganda — without characterizing
specific instances — so that persons receiving unsolicited mail from
abroad will be aware that it may have originated as a part of the
Communist effort. To do so seems to me completely consistent with
our basic constitutional principles and has the merit of indicating
that the Government, whde aware of the efforts of the Communist
Party and its sympathizers, has confidence in the judgment of the
American people.

H.R. 9120 is designed to accomplish this purpose. It would require
the Postmaster General to provide recipients of foreign mail, which
contains or appears to contain Communist propaganda, with a state-
ment concerning Communist activities and objectives, and a notice
of the probable character or origin of the mail involved.

I agree with the purpose and approach of H.R. 9120 — which seeks
to inform the American public while avoiding all semblances of
censorship, prior restraints, or withholding of mail. I believe,
however, that this proposed legislation could be made less burdensome
and more flexible without impairing its basic purpose. Specifically,
I feel that it would be advisable to revise subsection (b) so as to
v^est the Postmaster General with greater discretion in determining
when and to whom notices will be sent. Similarly, it would keep the
Post Office Department out of the difficult business of characterizing
political information.

I would add a provision to that subsection specifically disclaiming
that the new legislation confers any new authority upon the Post-
master General to open, inspect, or censor the mail, except as author-
ized by existing law. This would avoid any misunderstanding in
this respect.

Finally, I would delete subsection (c), which prescribes, in part,
the type of notice which shall be used and, as noted above, I would
vest the Postmaster General with discretionary authority in this
regard. This would permit the Postmaster General to alter the form
of the notice from time to time to fit varying conditions and in the
light of experience. In addition, I feel that the proposed notice
slioidd be concise, perhaps in the form of a post card, in order to
enhance the likelihood that the notice will be read by the individual
concerned and in order to confine the administrative burden and cost
of this program to a minimum.

If H.R. 9120 is amended as I have suggested, the Department of
Justice would favor its enactment.

Mr. NiTTLE. Mr. Chairman, may I point out that, in response to
the request of the committee staff", Mr. Katzenbach has submitted
today a proposal for the revision of H.R. 9120, as an amendment to
H.R. 5751. I ask that it be made a part of the record at this point
for purposes of discussion.

Chairman Walter. Let it be made a part of the record.

(The material referred to follows :)

130 AMEND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES CONTROL ACT OF 19 50

Proposed Amendment to H.R. 5751, as Reported

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following:

"In order to alert the general public to the fact that large quantities of Com-
munist propaganda are being mailed into this country from abroad, the Post-
master General is authorized (1) to publicize such fact by appropriate notices
to be posted in post offices or sent to recipients of foreign mail, and (2) to permit
the return without cost to the recipient of unsolicited foreign mail to local post
offices. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to authorize the Postmaster
General to open, inspect, or censor any mail except as otherwise authorized by
law. The Postmaster General is authorized to issue such rules and regulations
as he may deem to be appropriate to carry out the purposes of this section.

"Sec. 2. Section 1(b) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as
amended (56 Stat. 248), is amended by adding thereto a new paragraph (6) to
read as follows:

" ' (6) A domestic partnership, association, corporation, organization, or other
combination of individuals, supervised, directed, controlled, or financed, in whole
or in substantial part, by any foreign government or foreign political party;'.

"Sec. 3. Section 3(d) of such Act is amended to read as follows:

" '(d) Any person engaging or agreeing to engage only in private and non-
political financial or mercantile activities in furtherance of the bona fide trade or
commerce of such foreign principal or in the soliciting or collecting of funds and
contributions within the United States to be used only for medical aid and assist-
ance, or for food and clothing to relieve human suffering, if such solicitation or
collection of funds and contributions is in accordance with and subject to the pro-
visions of the Act of November 4, 1939, as amended (54 Stat. 48), and any such
rules and regulations as may be prescribed thereunder;'."

Amend the title to read as follows:

"To provide for notification that foreign mail may contain unsolicited Com-
munist propaganda, and for other purposes."

Notice With Respect to Communist Propaganda

Unsolicited Communist propaganda is being mailed to persons in this country
from the Soviet Union, the Soviet bloc countries, and other places outside the
United States. Such propaganda is one means of attempting to promote the
objectives of the international Communist movement.

In order to achieve maximum impact, this material is generally sent to unsus-
pecting addressees in no way associated with, or sympathetic to, Communist
objectives. Since it is not labeled as to its true source or content, it is not always
easy to identify.

If you have received unsolicited mail from abroad, it may contain such propa-
ganda. If you wish, you may return it to your local post office without charge.

Further information concerning Communist propaganda activities may be
obtained by writing to the Postmaster General or to your Senator or Congressman.

(Note. — The foregoing is a suggested sample notice which might have to be
varied in accordance with new developments and experience.)

Mr. NiTTLE. Mr. Katzenbach, in the proposal for revision of H.R.
9120 which you have submitted, you approached this matter from the
standpoint of an authorization to the Postmaster General to publicize
the fact that certain quantities of Communist propaganda are being
mailed into this country from abroad. Would you have any objection
to the substitution of the word "directed" for "authorized"? That
would seem to have the effect of making it mandatory upon the Post-
master General to take certain action, which appears in the draft to
be merely an authorization.

Mr. Katzenbach. I would have no objection to that.

Mr. NiTTLE. If we were to suggest that the form of the notice should
include a copy of subsection (a) of H.R. 9120, together with a copy of
section 2, title 1, of the Internal Security Act of 1950, would you find
that proposal satisfactory?

AMEND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES CONTROL ACT OF 1950 131

Mr. Katzenbach. I would have no objection to that proposal. I
assume, Mr. Nittle, that your reference there is merely to the notice
which is given to the recipients, not the notice which is posted. I
think all of that contained on the notice which was posted would be
rather more than would be desirable in a poster.

Mr. Nittle. That is correct.

Mr. Tavenner. Are there any other views that the Department of
Justice desires to present?

Mr. Katzenbach, No, I think not, Mr. Tavenner.

Mr. Tavenner. We will be pleased to have the views of^the Post
Office Department.

REPORT OF THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT

Mr. Doyle. Mr. Chairman, we adopt and support the views
expressed by the Department of Justice. If either the bills H.R.
5751 or H.R. 9120 are amended as suggested by the Department of
Justice, we would support the legislation. We are all, I think, agreed
on the principle involved in these bills as of today, and the only
apparent disagreement is on language. We think that the Depart-
ment of Justice's views and versions granted to us a flexibility which
we need. We prefer not to be bound to sending this notice to every
person who receives a publication from a Communist -bloc country.
We would prefer, if at all possible, to be in a position of determining
that there is an unusual concentration of this mail addressed to a
given locality in the country, to be in the position of blanketing the
same area with this notice under routines which we have available
to us. This type of program and scheme would make it unnecessary
for us to prepare a huge mailing list, each day of the year and cover
that mailing list. We Imow that in our service a letter carrier serves
a certain number of patrons. We could give these letter carriers
enough of these notices so that they could deposit one in each letter
box that they serve during the day. This would blanket the country
eventually instead of just concentrating on those people who have
been sent this material, much of which they do not want.

The Justice Department version would give us that flexibility.
It would permit us to publish notices on bulletin boards and mail
specific notices to specific addresses if we want to.

Mr. Tavenner. Under the suggestions made by the Department of
Justice, you could, and nevertheless would, transfer or transmit the
type of notice agreed upon where the foreign mail was being con-
sistently received by individuals?

Mr. Doyle. Certainly.

Mr. Tavenner. Even though it might not be in an area of the
country where there is any special or unusual movement of this foreign
material?

Mr. Doyle. Yes.

I would also say, too, that we subscribe to the answers that Mr.
Katzenbach made to Mr. Nittle's questions to a revision of some of
the language. If the committee directs that we send certain portions
of the law itself, we would not find that objectionable. We do not
object to being directed to do this rather than merely being authorized.

Mr. Tavenner. Do you have any comment to make upon the form
of the notice suggested in the revised bill, H.R. 9120?

132 AMEND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES CONTROL ACT OF 19 50

Mr. Doyle. I find very little difference, frankly, in the notice or
the form of notice suggested in the revision of H.R. 9120, and the form
of the notice suggested by the Department of Justice. There are
one or two sentences that vary but in general I think these notices
are in effect the same and we could adopt tliosc.

Mr. N"iTTLE. I would like to note that in the proposal for revision
of H.R. 9120, presented by the Department of Justice, the Postmaster
is authorized to publicize the facts "by appropriate notices to be
posted in post offices or sent to recipients of foreign mail." It
seems to be an alternative authorization to the Postmaster. Is it not
the thought that the posting of notices in all post offices should be
mandatory in any event, but that notification to recipients of mail
should also be sent under certain appropriate circumstances? Is it
not contemplated that notices should be posted in post offices, and also
some form of notice transmitted to the recipient of sucii mail in
appropriate cases?

Mr. Tavexner. That was my view of what was proposed to be done.
How would you make certain that that is the proper interpretation?

Mr. Katzenbach. In view of the fact that it becomes a directive
rather than an authorization as suggested in the language of Mr.
Nittle, I think that should perhaps be cleared up with some additional
language, making the posting of notices mandatory because leaving
the Postmaster General the kind of discretion we already discussed
regarding the time, person, and so forth, of the sending of notices. I
think in view of the word "directed" we should clarify that language
accordingly.

Mr. Nittle. Would you suggest appropriate language that would
be acceptable to your Department?

Mr. Katzenbach. Yes. I hate to try to do it immediately off
the top of my head but I will suggest that to the committee.

Mr. Tavenner. We would like to hear from the Bureau of Customs.

REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF CUSTOMS, TREASURY DEPART-
MENT

Mr. RiTGER. I have a department report on H.R. 9120 which we
had prepared yesterday after I received the copy yesterday morning.
I think the operative paragraph in this report which I would be glad
to give to you applies to both the draft of H.R. 9120 and the Justice
Department amendment. If I could read that one paragraph, I
think that would suffice for this point:

Since the bill does not require any functions to be performed by tlie Treasury
Department, it is not a matter of our primary interest. To the extent if any that
our facilities may be called upon to assist in administration of the bill, the Treasury
Department of course will be pleased to cooperate.

Mr. Tavenner. Mr. Chairman, we would like to file the report of
Robert H. Knight, General Counsel of the Treasury Department,
presented by Mr. Ritger.

Chairman Walters. Without objection, the report will be made a
part of the record. It will be read into the record at this point.

(The statement referred to is as follows :)

AMEND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES CONTROL ACT OF 195 0 133

Report of the General Counsel, Treasury Department

This refers to your informal request for the views of this Department on H.R.
9120, to amend the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950 so as to recjuire the
Postmaster General in certain areas to give notice of the use of the mails for the
dissemination of Communist propaganda.

The bill would amend the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950 to require
the Postmaster General in certain cases to give written notice by mail of the use
of the mails for the dissemination of Communist propaganda to the addressees
of material which contains, or which the Postmaster General has reason to believe
may contain, such propaganda. The notice is to be prepared by the Postmaster
General and transmitted to addressees under such circumstances and in accordance
with such rules and regulations as the Postmaster General shall prescribe.

Since the bill does not require any functions to be performed by the Treasury
Department, it is not a matter of our primary interest. To the extent, if any,
that our facilities may be called upon to assist in administration of the bill, the
Treasury Department, of course, will be pleased to cooperate.

The Department has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there is
no objection from the standpoint of the administration's program to the sub-
mission of this report to your committee.

Mr. Tavenner. Mr. Doyle, will you state for the record, please, what
in your opinion the cost of the execution of such a statute would be
to the Government as compared with the expense of administering
the duties performed by the Government prior to March 7, 1961?

Mr. Doyle. I have no facts with me this morning which would
enable me to make anything other than an estimate. I do not know
whether that woidd be good or bad. I do believe, knowing the
volume of work that w^as performed under the program as it existed
prior to March 17 by Customs and Post Office — I do believe that this
tA'pe of program would not be more costly.

Mr. Tavenner. Justice has presented for consideration revised
language to cover the point raised by Mr. Nittle regarding the posting
of notices in post offices and sending notices to recipients of foreign
mail.

It is in the following language:

(1) to publicize such fact (A) by appropriate notices to be posted in post
offices, and (B) by notifying, whenever he deems it appropriate to promote
the purposes of this section, recipients of mail, that unsolicited foreign mail
may contain such propaganda and (2) to permit —

And so forth.

If there are no further comments or questions, that w^ill conclude
our session today.

Mr. ScHERER. I suggest that the final draft be drawn so as to be
broad enough to cover all situations where domestic mail is utilized to
convej^ foreign propaganda — to cover, for example, such cases as
where foreign propaganda is shipped by freight from abroad and then
here introduced into the domestic mail.

Mr. Tavenner. That is an excellent suggestion and will be incor-
porated in the final draft.

(The committee recessed at 11 :35 a.m., to reconvene subject to the
call of the Chair.)

APPENDIX

After further consideration, the Committee on Un-American
Activities prepared a final draft of the proposed legislation, to which
there was no objection, by the appropriate executive departments,
as set forth in a supplemental report. Report 309, part 2, filed by the
chairman, Mr. Walter, on September 14, 1961. This supplemental
report proposed an amendment to the bill H.R. 5751, which was
passed by the House September 18, 1961. Portions of the report
follow for ready reference :

Mr. Walter, from the Committee on Un-American Activities submitted the

following

SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT
[To accompany H.R. 5751]

Since the filing of the Report No. 309, on April 26, 1961, to accompany H.R.
5751, changes have been suggested in the bill which are proposed to be incor-
porated by way of amendments.

For the information of the Members of the House of Representatives the
amendments are as follows:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

"That the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950 is amended by inserting
immediately after section 10 thereof the following new section:

" 'notice with respect to communist propaganda distributed by mail

" 'Sec. 10 a. In order to alert the recipients of mail and the general public to the
fact that large quantities of Communist propaganda are being introduced into
this country from abroad and disseminated in the United States by means of the
United States mails, the Postmaster General shall publicize such fact (1) by
appropriate notices posted in Post Offices, and (2) by notifying recipients of mail,
whenever he deems it appropriate in order to carry out the purposes of this section,
that the United States mails may contain such propaganda. The Postmaster
General shall permit the return of mail containing such propaganda to local Post
Offices, without cost to the recipient thereof. Nothing in this section shall be
deemed to authorize the Postmaster General to open, inspect, or censor any mail.
The Postmaster General is authorized to prescribe such regulations as he may
deem appropriate to carry out the purposes of this section.' "

Amend the title so as to read:

"A bill to amend the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950 so as to provide
for notification that the United States mails may contain Communist propaganda
introduced into the United States from abroad, and for other purposes."

4c 4: 4< 4= =1° 4= 4:

committee recommendations

Upon publication of notices required by this amended bill, and as a result of
notification to recipients of mail, members of the public may make inquiry of
the Post Office Department for further information concerning Communist
propaganda activities. It is suggested that the Postmaster General prepare and
make available appropriate pamphlets or material for this purpose which may

135

136 AMEND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES CONTROL ACT OF 1950

include information contained in this committee report. It is also suggested that
the notice to recipients of mail may include the following language:

"Unsolicited Communist propaganda is being disseminated by mail and other
means to persons in this country from the Soviet Union, the Soviet-bloc countries,
Cuba, and other places outside the United States. Such propaganda is one
means of attempting to promote the objectives of the international Communist
movement. Propaganda is regarded by the Communists as an important and
necessary means for achieving the subversion of the free world. In order to
effect maximum impact, this material is generally sent to unsuspecting addresses
in no way associated with or sympathetic to, Communist objectives. Since it is
not labeled as to its true source or content, it is not always easy to identify. The
privacy of your mail continues to be respected by your Government and by the
postal service. This letter is forwarded for your information.

"If you have received unsolicited mail from abroad, it may contain such
propaganda. If you wish, you may return it to your local post office without
charge.

"Further information concerning Communist propaganda activities may be
obtained by writing to the Postmaster General or to your Senator or Con-
gressman."

o

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

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