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National Emergency In Effect
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The Emergency War Powers Act of 1917, As Amended
WAR AND EMERGENCY POWERS

A SPECIAL REPORT ON THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY IN
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

This page contains the complete text of the book "War and Emergency Powers"

A SPECIAL REPORT ON THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY IN THE UNITED,
STATES OF AMERICA.

Researched and written by: Gene Schroder, Alvin Jenkins, Jerry Russell, Ed
Petrowsky, Russell Grieder, Darrell Schroder, Walter Marston, Lynn Bitner,
Billy Schroder, Van Stafford, Fred Peters, Tinker Spain, and Paul Bailey.

This document is sponsored by American Freedom Coalition. Due
to file size limitations we have elected not to include scanned images of
the exhibits that appear in the book, however, you may obtain a full
printed report that includes certified copies of all official documents as
specified.

For information on how to order books, tapes, and how to become a
supporting member of the American Freedom Coalition, contact us.

The Report...

NATIONAL EMERGENCY: (as defined in Black's Law Dictionary) A state of
national crisis; a situation demanding immediate and extraordinary national
or federal action. Congress has made little or no distinction between a
"state of national emergency y" and a "state of war". Brown v. Bernstein,
D.C.Pa., 49 F.Supp. 728, 732.

This report begins with a series of documents which are representative
(Exhibits 1 through 7), of the documents contained in this Report. We will
be quoting from in many cases, reports, Senate and Congressional reports,
hearings before National Emergency Committees, Presidential Papers,
Statutes at Large, and the United States Code.

Exhibit 8 is taken from a book written by Swisher called Constitutional
Development. Let's read the first paragraph. It says:
"We may well wonder in view of the precedents now
established," said Charles E. Hughes, (Supreme Court
Justice) in 1920, "whether constitutional government as
heretofore maintained in this Republic could survive
another great war even victoriously waged."

How could that happen? Surely, if we go out and fight a war and win it,
we'd have to end up stronger than the day we started, wouldn't we? Justice
Hughes goes on to say:
"The conflict known as the World War had ended as far as
military hostilities were concerned, but was not yet
officially terminated. Most of the war statutes were still
in effect, many of the emergency organizations were still in
operation."

What is this man talking about when he speaks of "war statutes in effect
and emergency organizations still in operation"?
In 1933 (Exhibit 9), Congressman Beck, speaking from the Congressional
Record, states:
"I think of all the damnable heresies that have ever been
suggested in connection with the Constitution, the doctrine
of emergency is the worst. it means that when Congress
declares an emergency, there is no Constitution. This means
its death. It is the very doctrine that the German
chancellor is invoking today in the dying hours of the
parliamentary body of the German republic, namely, that
because of an emergency, it should grant to the German
chancellor absolute power to pass any law, even though the
law contradicts the Constitution of the German republic.
Chancellor Hitler is at least frank about it. We pay the
Constitution lipservice, but the result is the same."

Congressman Beck is saying that, of all the damnable heresies that ever
existed, this doctrine of emergency has got to be the worst, because once
Congress declares an emergency, there is no Constitution. He goes on to
say:
"But the Constitution of the United States, as a restraining
influence in keeping the federal government within the
carefully prescribed channels of power, is moribund, if not
dead. We are witnessing its death-agonies, for when this
bill becomes a law, if unhappily it becomes a law, there is
no longer any workable Constitution to keep the Congress
within the limits of its Constitutional powers."

What bill is Congressman Beck talking about? In 1933, "the House passed the
Farm Bill by a vote of more than three to one." Again, we see the doctrine
of emergency. Once an emergency is declared, there is no Constitution. The
cause and effect of the doctrine of emergency is the subject of this
Report. In 1973, in Senate Report 93-549 (Exhibit 10), the first sentence
reads:
"Since March the 9th, 1933, the United States has been in a
state of declared national emergency."

Let's go back to Exhibit 9 just before this. What did that say? It says
that if a national emergency is declared, there is no Constitution. Now,
let us return to Exhibit 10. Since March the 9th of 1933, the United States
has been, in fact, in a state of declared national emergency.
Referring to the middle of this exhibit:
"This vast range of powers, taken together, confer enough
authority to rule the country without reference to normal
constitutional processes. Under the powers delegated by
these statutes, the President may: seize property; organize
and control the means of production; seize commodities;
assign military forces abroad; institute martial law; seize
and control all transportation and communication; regulate
the operation of private enterprise; restrict travel; and,
in a plethora of particular ways, control the lives of all
American citizens"
and this situation has continued uninterrupted since March the 9th of 1933.

In the introduction to Senate Report 93-549 (Exhibit 11):
"A majority of the people of the United States have lived
all their lives under emergency rule."
Remember, this report was produced in 1973. The introduction goes on to
say:
"For 40 years, freedoms and governmental procedures
guaranteed by the Constitution have, in varying degrees,
been abridged by laws brought into force by states of
national emergency."

The introduction continues:
"And, in the United States, actions taken by the government
in times of great crisis have from, at least, the Civil War,
in important ways shaped the present phenomenon of a
permanent state of national emergency."

How many people were taught that in school? How could it possibly be that
something which could suspend our Constitution would not be taught in
school? Amazing, isn't it?

Where does this (Exhibit 12) come from? Is it possible that, in our
Constitution, there could be some section which could contemplate what
these previous documents are referring to? In Article 1, Section 9 of the
Constitution of the United States of America, we find the following words:
"The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be
suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion,
the public Safety may require it."

Habeas Corpus - the Great Writ of Liberty. This is the writ which
guarantees that the government cannot charge us and hold us with any crime,
unless they follow the procedure of due process of law. This writ also
says, in effect, that the privilege of due process of law cannot be
suspended, and that the government cannot not operate its arbitrary
prerogative power against We the People. But we see that the great Writ of
Liberty can, in fact, under the Constitution, be suspended when an invasion
or a rebellion necessitates it.

In the 5th Amendment to the Constitution (Exhibit 13), it says:
"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or
otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or
indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the
land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual
service in time of War or public danger..."
We reserved the charging power for ourselves, didn't we? We didn't give
that power to the government. And we also said that the government would be
powerless to charge one of the citizens or one of the peoples of the United
States with a crime unless We, the People, through our grand jury, orders
it to do so through an indictment or a presentment. And if We, the People,
don't order it, the government cannot do it. If it tried to do it, we would
simply follow the Writ of Habeas Corpus, and they would have to release us,
wouldn't they? They could not hold us.

But let us recall that, in Exhibit 13, it says:
"except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in
the Militia, when in actual service in times of War or
public danger."
We can see here that the framers of the Constitution were already
contemplating times when there would be conditions under which it might be
necessary to suspend the guarantees of the Constitution.

Also from Senate Report 93-549 (Exhibit 14), and remember that our
congressmen wrote these reports and these documents and they're talking
about these emergency powers and they say:
"They are quite careful and restrictive on the power, but
the power to suspend is specifically contemplated by the
Constitution in the Writ of Habeas Corpus."

Now, this is well known. This is not a concept that was not known to rulers
for many, many years. The concepts of constitutional dictatorship went
clear back to the Roman Republic. And there, it was determined that, in
times of dire emergencies, yes, the constitution and the rights of the
people could be suspended, temporarily, until the crisis, whatever its
nature, could be resolved. But once it was done, the Constitution was to be
returned to its peacetime position of authority. In France, the situation under which
the constitution could be suspended is called the State of Siege. In Great Britain,
it's called the Defense of the Realm Acts. In Germany, in which Hitler became a
dictator, it was simply called Article 48. In the United States, it is called the War
Powers.

If that is, in fact, the case, and we are under a war emergency in this
country, then there should be evidence of that war emergency in the current
law that exists today. That means we should be able to go to the federal
code known as the USC or United States Code, and find that statute, that
law, in existence. And if we went to the library today and picked up a copy
of 12 USC and went to Section 95 (b) (Exhibit 15), we will find a law which
states:
"The actions, regulations, rules, licenses, orders and
proclamations heretofore or hereafter taken, promulgated,
made, or issued by the President of the United States or the
Secretary of the Treasury since March the 4th, 1933,
pursuant to the authority conferred by Subsection (b) of
Section 5 of the Act of October 6th, 1917, as amended [12
USCS Sec. 95a], are hereby approved and confirmed.
(Mar. 9, 1933, c. 1, Title I, Sec. 1, 48 Stat. 1.)".

Now, what does this mean? It means that everything the President or the
Secretary of the Treasury has done since March the 4th of 1933, or anything
that the President or the Secretary of the Treasury is hereafter going to
do, is automatically approved and confirmed. Referring back to Exhibit 10,
let us remember that, according to the Congressional Record of 1973, the
United States has been in a state of national emergency since 1933. Then we
realize that 12 USC, Section 95 (b) is current law. This is the law that
exists over this United States this moment.

If that be the case, let us see if we can understand what is being said
here. As every action, rule or law put into effect by the President or the
Secretary of the Treasury since March the 4th of 1933 has or will be
confirmed and approved, let us determine the significance of that date in
history. What happened on March the 4th of 1933?
On March the 4th of 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated as
President of the United States. Referring to his inaugural address, which
was given at a time when the country was in the throes of the Great
Depression, we read (Exhibit 16):
"I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend
the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken
world may require. These measures, or such other measures
as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom,
I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to
speedy adoption. But in the event that the Congress shall
fall to take one of these two courses, and in the event that
the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade
the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall
ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet
the crisis broad Executive power to wage a war against the
emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me
if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe."

On March the 4th, 1933, at his inaugural, President Roosevelt was saying
that he was going to ask Congress for the extraordinary authority available
to him under the War Powers Act. Let's see if he got it.

On March the 5th, President Roosevelt asked for a special and extraordinary
session of Congress in Proclamation 2038. He called for the special session
of Congress to meet on March the 9th at noon. And at that Congress, he
presented a bill, an Act, to provide for relief in the existing national
emergency in banking and for other purposes.
In the enabling portion of that Act (Exhibit 17), it states:
"Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of
Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled, That the Congress hereby declares that a serious
emergency exists and that it is imperatively necessary
speedily to put into effect remedies of uniform national
application."

What is the concept of the rule of necessity, referred to in the enabling
portion of the act as "imperatively necessary speedily"? The rule of
necessity is a rule of law which states that necessity knows no law. A good
example of the rule of necessity would be the concept of self-defense. The
law says, "Thou shalt not kill". But also know that, if you are in dire
danger, in danger of losing your life, then you have the absolute right of
self-defense. You have the right to kill to protect your own life. That is
the ultimate rule of necessity.

Thus we see that the rule of necessity overrides all other law, and, in
fact, allows one to do that which would normally be against the law. So it
is reasonable to assume that the wording of the enabling portion of the Act
of March 9, 1933, is an indication that what follows is something which
will probably be against the law. It will probably be against the
Constitution of the United States, or it would not require that the rule of
necessity be invoked to enact it.

In the Act of March 9, 1933 (Exhibit 17), it further states in Title 1,
Section 1:
"The actions, regulations, rules, licenses, orders and
proclamations heretofore or hereafter taken, promulgated,
made, or issued by the President of the United States or the
Secretary of the Treasury since March the 4th, 1933,
pursuant to the authority conferred by subdivision (b) of
Section 5 of the Act of October 6, 1917, as amended, are
hereby approved and confirmed."

Where have we read those words before?
This is the exact same wording as is found (Exhibit 15) today in Title 12,
USC 95 (b). The language in Title 12, USC 95 (b) is exactly the same as
that found in the Act of March 9, 1933, Chapter 1, Title 1, Section 48,
Statute 1. The Act of March 9, 1933, is still in full force and effect
today. We are still under the Rule of Necessity. We are still in a declared
state of national emergency, a state of emergency which has existed,
uninterrupted, since 1933, or for over sixty years.

As you may remember, the authority to do this is conferred by Subsection
(b) of Section 5 of the Act of October 6, 1917, as amended. What was the
authority which was used to declare and enact the emergency in this Act? If
we look at the Act of October 6, 1917 (Exhibit 18), we see that at the top
right-hand part of the page, it states that this was:
"An Act To define, regulate, and punish trading with the
enemy, and for other purposes.