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Natl_Emergency_1933-1975.txt
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From the Radio Free Michigan archives
ftp://141.209.3.26/pub/patriot
If you have any other files you'd like to contribute, e-mail them to
bj496@Cleveland.Freenet.Edu.
------------------------------------------------
Nat'l Emrgncy 1933-1975!, by Bob Stock
It has been stated on this newsgroup that the President can assume vast
powers using declarations of National Emergencies, and Executive Orders.
I, like many others, dismissed this as the ravings of conspiracy
theorists. But I did some research and found that the Nixon
administration actually threatened to bypass Congress using emergency
powers to finance the war in Cambodia! The following is excerpted from
"Congressional Quarterly's Guide to the Presidency", 1989, pp490-492:
"THE PERMANENT EMERGENCY
Most Americans probably never realized that the United States lived
under a state of declared national emergency from 1933 to 1975. In 1952
Truman terminated Roosevelt's pre-World War II emergencies (declared in
1939 and 1941) that had granted the president greater discretion to
direct defense preparations, organize the executive branch, and mobilize
the nation for potential hostilities. But four other states of
emergency were still in force as of 1975: Roosevelt's bank emergency
(1933), Truman's mobilization following the invasion of South Korea
(1950), Nixon's use of troops to maintain mail deliveries (1970), and
Nixon's response to international economic conditions (1971).
In none of these six emergencies had a termination date been
specified, nor had Congress written into most of the statures provisions
for terminating the president's emergency authority. Emergency
declarations usually are drafted in the White House and rushed through
Congress.... Even more worrisome, these unexpired states of emergency
gave the president the technical authority to invoke a wide range of
emergency powers, even if no crisis seemed imminent. These powers
included the right to seize private property and regulate private
enterprise, to organize and control all means of production and
transportation, to call up reservists and assign military forces
overseas, to institute martial law, and to restrict travel.
The potential gravity of the situation hit home for many in 1972 as
a result of friction between Congress and the Nixon administration
following the 1970 U.S. incursions into Cambodia. Members of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee asked Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird
what would happen if Congress cut off funds for continued U.S.
involvement. They were surprised when Laird stated that the president
could bypass Congress entirely and spend unappropriated funds through
emergency authority granted under a 1799 statute. The law was still on
the books, and, at least theoretically, so too was the president's
emergency power.
Disturbed greatly by this assertion and concerned that other such
laws might still apply years after their passage, the Senate created the
Special Committee on National Emergencies and Delegated Powers....
As a result of these finding...Congress in 1976 passed the National
Emergencies Act terminating, as of 1978, the states of emergency in
effect since 1933. The law also terminated the presidential emergency
powers stemming from those declarations, established the president's
authority to declare future states of emergency in ways that clearly
defined presidential powers during the emergency, provided for
congressional review, and mandated that states of emergency will lapse
after six months unless renewed. The act does not require the president
to consult with Congress before declaring a state of emergency,... but
it does force the president to specify clearly the nature of the
emergency and the statutory powers to be invoked."
Who would have believed it?
Bob Stock
rs7j+@andrew.cmu.edu
------------------------------------------------
(This file was found elsewhere on the Internet and uploaded to the
Radio Free Michigan archives by the archive maintainer.
All files are ZIP archives for fast download.
E-mail bj496@Cleveland.Freenet.Edu)