[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 4, Chapters 15 - 17]
[Chapter 15. Investigations and Inquiries]
[D. Authority in Cases of Contempt]
[Â§ 19. Matters Decided by House]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 2423-2428]
 
                               CHAPTER 15
 
                      Investigations and Inquiries
 
                   D. AUTHORITY IN CASES OF CONTEMPT
 
Sec. 19. Matters Decided by House

Content of Report

Sec. 19.1 The House, not the Chair, determines whether a report citing 
    an individual for refusal to produce subpenaed materials must 
    contain the full testimony or only selected portions thereof.

    On June 26, 1946,(5) Speaker Sam Rayburn, of Texas, 
responded to a point of order regarding the sufficiency of a hearing 
transcript in a committee report citing a I witness for contempt.
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 5. 92 Cong. Rec. 7589-91, 79th Cong. 2d Sess. See Sec. 18.6, supra, 
        for a discussion of this instance as it relates to 
        consideration on Calendar Wednesday.
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                   Proceedings Against Corliss G. Lamont

        Mr. [John S.] Wood [of Georgia]: Mr. Speaker, by direction of 
    the Committee on Un-American Activities, I present a privileged 
    report and ask that it be read.
        The Clerk read as follows:

            The Committee on Un-American Activities, as created and 
        authorized by the House of Representatives by House Resolution 
        5 of the Seventy-ninth Congress, caused to be issued a subpena 
        to Corliss G. Lamont, chairman of the National Council of 
        American-Soviet Friendship, Inc., with offices at 114 East 
        Thirty-second Street, New York City, N.Y. The said subpena 
        required the said person to produce books, papers, and records 
        of the organization for the inspection of your committee. The 
        subpena is set forth as follows: . . .
            In response to the said subpena the said Corliss Lamont 
        appeared before your committee on February 6, 1946, and your 
        committee then

[[Page 2424]]

        and there demanded the production of the said books, papers, 
        and records, and the said Lamont refused to produce as required 
        by the said subpena. The said Lamont was duly sworn by the 
        chairman and gave his testimony under oath. The material parts 
        of his testimony follow: . . .

        Mr. [Vito] Marcantonto [of New York]: Mr. Speaker, a point of 
    order.
        The Speaker: The gentleman will state it.
        Mr. Marcantonio: Mr. Speaker, I make the point of order against 
    the report on the ground that it does not contain all of the 
    transcript of what transpired before the committee with respect to 
    this witness. On page 2 of the report, at the end of the first 
    paragraph, the committee concedes that this is not a full 
    transcript. It states: ``The material parts of his testimony 
    follow.'' In other words, the House has before it only that portion 
    of the testimony which the committee conceives to be material. This 
    deprives the House of having the full proceedings before it; 
    consequently, the House will be asked to vote on whether or not 
    this witness is to be cited for contempt and whether or not the 
    House is to recommend prosecution of this witness, without having 
    the full story before it, without having all of the testimony 
    before it. All that is given is part of the testimony which the 
    committee describes as material.
        I respectfully submit in support of my point of order, Mr. 
    Speaker, that what is material and what is not material should be 
    determined by the House, because the House has to pass on this 
    question and the majority of the Members of this House must vote in 
    the affirmative in order to recommend these contempt proceedings. 
    To do so it must have the entire transcript before it. Consequently 
    I submit that the report is defective and that the report should be 
    referred back to the committee by the Speaker, directing it to 
    produce the full transcript of what transpired so that the House 
    may have the entire proceedings before it before the House Members 
    cast their votes.
        The Speaker: The Chair thinks that the gentleman from New York 
    [Mr. Marcantonio] has stated the point exactly, and that is that 
    this is not a matter for the Chair to pass upon but is a matter for 
    the House to pass upon. The Chair overrules the point of order.

Authority of Committee

Sec. 19.2 Whether a committee exceeded its authority in making a report 
    citing certain recalcitrant witnesses in contempt was held to be a 
    matter for the House to decide, and not a matter to be decided on 
    the basis of a point of order raised against submission of the 
    report.

    On May 28, 1936,(6) Speaker Joseph W. Byrns, of 
Tennessee, responded to a point of order regarding authority to report 
contemptuous conduct.
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 6. 80 Cong. Rec. 8219-22, 74th Cong. 2d Sess.
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                     The Townsend Old-Age Pension Plan

        Mr. [C. Jasper] Bell [of Missouri]: Mr. Speaker, by direction 
    of the Select

[[Page 2425]]

    Committee Investigating Old Age Pensions, I present a privileged 
    report (Reps. No. 2857) and send it to the Clerk's desk, and ask 
    that the Clerk read it. . . .(7)
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 7. This report citing Dr. Francis E. Townsend, president and founder, 
        and Clinton Wunder and John B. Kiefer, members of the national 
        board of directors of the Old Age Revolving Pensions, Ltd., for 
        contempt for failure to provide subpenaed testimony and 
        documents to the select committee is omitted.
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        Mr. [Joseph P.] Monaghan [of Montana]: . . . Mr. Speaker, I 
    wish to make a point of order.
        The Speaker: The gentleman will state his point of order.
        Mr. Monaghan: Mr. Speaker, my point of order goes to the fact 
    that this report is completely out of order.
        The Speaker: The gentleman will state his point of order. . . .
        Mr. Monaghan: The point of order I make is that the committee 
    has exceeded its function in the process of the inquiry that the 
    House authorized it to proceed under.
        The Speaker: Let the Chair make this statement. That is not 
    under consideration now. This is simply a report of the select 
    committee, and the question as to whether or not the committee has 
    exceeded its authority cannot arise at this time.
        Mr. Monaghan: But the question that the committee has exceeded 
    its authority is involved in the question of whether or not it 
    shall be permitted to make a report of this sort.
        The Speaker: The committee is within its right in submitting 
    its report; it is its duty to report what it has done in order that 
    the House may take such action as it determines to take. Therefore, 
    the Chair overrules that point of order.

    An appeal from the decision of the Chair was laid on the table.

Need to Read Testimony

Sec. 19.3 The House, not the Chair, determines whether a report 
    summarizing the testimony of witnesses and minutes of proceedings 
    of investigative hearings is sufficient on which to base a contempt 
    citation.

    On Apr. 16, 1946,(8) Speaker Sam Rayburn, of Texas, 
responded to a point of order regarding reading of investigative 
hearing testimony before the House.
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 8. 92 Cong. Rec. 3761, 3762, 79th Cong. 2d Sess.
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                    Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee

        Mr. [John S.] Wood [of Georgia]: Mr. Speaker, by direction of 
    the Committee on Un-American Activities, I present a privileged 
    report and ask that it be read.
        The Clerk read as follows:

          Proceeding Against the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee

            Mr. Wood, from the Committee on Un-American Activities, 
        submitted the following report:

[[Page 2426]]

            The Committee on Un-American Activities, created and 
        authorized by the House of Representatives by House Resolution 
        5 of the Seventy-ninth Congress, caused to be issued subpenas 
        to the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee, an unincorporated 
        organization, with offices at 192 Lexington Avenue, New York, 
        N. Y., service being made upon Helen R. Bryan, executive 
        secretary, and to the members of the executive board of the 
        said organization whose names are listed below. The said 
        subpena required the said persons to produce books, papers, and 
        records for inspection by your committee. The form of the 
        subpenas follows: . . .
            Your committee has caused to be printed the testimony of 
        each and every one of the persons named herein given on April 
        4, 1946, and the said testimony will be filed with the Clerk of 
        the House as an appendix to this report. . . .

        Mr. [Vito] Marcantonio [of New York]: Mr. Speaker, a point of 
    order.
        The Speaker: The gentleman will state it.
        Mr. Marcantonio: Mr. Speaker, prefacing my point of order, I 
    would like to make a parliamentary inquiry. Must not a resolution 
    of this nature contain the testimony, or at least a pertinent part 
    of the testimony? It is related in the statement that the testimony 
    is appended, but that testimony has not been read to the House, and 
    for that reason I make the point of order that the resolution is 
    defective.
        The Speaker: No resolution has been offered as yet. This is 
    simply the report of the committee.
        Mr. Marcantonio: Very well; in the report we have before us it 
    merely says that the testimony is appended. I submit the House 
    should have that testimony before it. As I understand it, the 
    Members of the House have received, what I hold in my hand, the 
    hearings of April 4. That was received only yesterday. It contains 
    over 100 pages of testimony. This case is very important, and I 
    maintain that the testimony or the relevant portion of the 
    testimony should be read to the House.
        The Speaker: The testimony has already been printed, and 
    reference to it is made in this report. The other matter that the 
    gentleman refers to is a question for the House to pass upon, and 
    not the Speaker.
        Mr. Marcantonio: Mr. Speaker, on that point, this is most 
    unusual. Heretofore every report that we have had upon which a 
    resolution for contempt was based, we have read to the House the 
    minutes of the proceedings upon which the contempt citation is 
    requested.
        Mr. [John E.] Rankin [of Mississippi]: Mr. Speaker, that never 
    has been done.
        The Speaker: That also is within the control of the House. The 
    gentleman from Georgia is recognized.

Citation of Witnesses Absent Subpena

Sec. 19.4 The House, not the Chair, determines whether persons who have 
    not been subpenaed may be cited for refusal to produce 
    organizational books, records, and papers.

    On Mar. 28, 1946,(9) Speaker Sam Rayburn, of Texas, re
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 9. 92 Cong. Rec. 2744, 2745, 79th Cong. 2d Sess.
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[[Page 2427]]

sponded to a point of order regarding authority to entertain a 
resolution citing for contempt persons who had not been 
subpenaed.(10)
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10. See summary and analysis in Sec. 16, supra, for a discussion which 
        indicates that a subpena is not a necessary prerequisite for a 
        contempt conviction.
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                    Committee on Un-American Activities

        The Speaker: The Clerk will read the report of the Committee on 
    Un-American Activities.
        The Clerk read as follows:

               Proceeding Against Dr. Edward K. Barsky and Others

            Mr. Wood, from the Committee on Un-American Activities, 
        submitted the following report:
            The Committee on Un-American Activities as created and 
        authorized by the House of Representatives by House Resolution 
        5 of the Seventy-ninth Congress, caused to be issued a subpena 
        to Dr. Edward K. Barsky, chairman of the Joint Anti-Fascist 
        Refugee Committee, an unincorporated organization with offices 
        at 192 Lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. The said subpena 
        required the said person to produce books, papers, and records 
        of the organization for the inspection of your committee; the 
        subpena is set forth as follows: . . .

    In his appearance before the committee, Dr. Barsky stated that he 
was unable to produce the subpenaed materials because that authority 
had not been granted by the members of the executive board. At the 
request of a committee member he supplied a list of names and addresses 
of board members. This list appeared in the report and resolution.

        Mr. [John S.] Wood [of Georgia]: Mr. Speaker, I offer a 
    privileged resolution (H. Res. 573) and ask for its immediate 
    consideration.
        The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

            Resolved, That the Speaker of the House of Representatives 
        certify the report of the House Committee on un-American 
        Activities as to the willful and deliberate refusal of the 
        following persons to produce before the said committee for its 
        inspection the books, papers, and records of an unincorporated 
        organization known as the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee, 
        with offices at 192 Lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y., together 
        with all the facts relating thereto, under seal of the House of 
        Representatives, to the United States attorney for the District 
        of Columbia to the end that the said persons named below may be 
        proceeded against in the manner and form provided by law:
            Dr. Edward K. Barsky, 54 East Sixty-first Street, New York 
        City.
            Dr. Jacob Auslander, 286 West Eighty-sixth Street, New York 
        City.
            Prof. Lyman R. Bradley, New York University, New York City.
            Mrs. Marjorie Chodorov, 815 Park Avenue, New York City. . . 
        .

        Mr. [Vito] Marcantonio [of New York]: Mr. Speaker, a point of 
    order.
        The Speaker: The gentleman will state it.
        Mr. Marcantonio: Mr. Speaker, I make a point of order against 
    the resolution on the ground that it seeks to have cited by this 
    House individuals

[[Page 2428]]

    who were never subpenaed, and never given an opportunity to appear 
    and state whether or not they would or could comply with a subpena. 
    Under those circumstances, I maintain that insofar as those 
    individuals are concerned this matter is not properly before the 
    House, in that neither the resolution nor the report from the 
    committee sets forth that these individuals were subpenaed, with 
    the exception of Dr. Barsky. None of the others were subpenaed; 
    none of the others came before the committee and were accorded even 
    an opportunity to say ``yes'' or ``no'' as to whether or not they 
    had authority or control over the records and books and whether 
    they could or would comply with the committee's subpena. For that 
    reason, as far as they are concerned, this resolution is not 
    properly before this House.
        The Speaker: The Chair is ready to rule.
        The report and the resolution are both before the House for its 
    determination, and not the determination of the Chair. The Chair 
    overrules the point of order.(11)
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11. See Sec. 17.4, supra, in which the House agreed to an amendment 
        deleting names of all persons who had not been subpenaed.
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