 |
||||||||||||
| Home | : | Graphics On | : | Privacy Policy | Sign up for Email: | Search: | ||||||
| Press Releases |
| May 05, 2003 | |||
 |
|||
| PERMANENT SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS RELEASES MCCARTHY ERA RECORDS | |||
|
WASHINGTON – The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations today released all of the previously closed transcripts of executive sessions held during the chairmanship of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wisc., from 1953 to 1954. Investigative records of the Senate are sealed for 50 years. The release of these hearings on their 50th anniversary marks the largest opening of documents related to the McCarthy investigations.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chaired the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations at the start of the 107th Congress, and in January 2001 authorized the Senate Historical Office to begin preparing the McCarthy documents for release on their 50th anniversary. After the Senate switched leadership in June 2001, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., assumed the subcommittee chairmanship and approved publication of the records by the General Printing Office. "These hearings are a part of our national past that we can neither afford to forget nor permit to recur," write Levin and Collins in the preface to the five volume set. In January 2003, the Senate leadership switched again in the 108th Congress, and Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., became the current subcommittee chairman. "I am pleased that these historically important documents are finally being released to the public," Collins said. "Senator Margaret Chase Smith said 50 years ago, ‘Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism.’ The McCarthy transcripts will help ensure that we do not forget this important lesson, and that we remain vigilant in upholding the constitutional rights and democratic principles that are the strength of this nation." "These documents are further evidence of how Sen. McCarthy abused the public trust," said Levin. "History is a powerful teacher, and these documents offer many lessons on the importance of open government, due process and respect for individual rights. Democracy means people have a right to express peaceful dissent from the prevailing view of the government, and the government is obligated to permit and defend that right. Those lessons will hopefully never be forgotten." "The documents offer important lessons for today," said Coleman. "During Stalin’s rule, there was a very contentious debate about the influence of Communism in American policy. Many people thought that the questions Senator McCarthy was looking into were important ones. But the Subcommittee abused its powers and thereby discredited its work. Given the powers of this Subcommittee, its leaders should always respect the impact our investigations have on the rights of individuals. We should be extremely careful when using Congress’ broad power to subpoena documents and interview witnesses even when we a pursuing legitimate fields of inquiry." For two years as chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation, McCarthy conducted sensational inquiries into allegations of Communist subversion and espionage. He held hearings on Communists in the Department of State, the Voice of America, the U.S. Information Libraries, the Government Printing Office, the Army Signal Corps, and American defense industries. This effort culminated in the nationally televised Army-McCarthy hearings, followed shortly by the Senate’s vote to censure McCarthy for conduct contrary to senatorial traditions. McCarthy’s closed-door interrogations were largely conducted by chief counsel Roy Cohn and occasionally by the subcommittee’s unpaid "chief consultant," G. David Schine. Schine’s induction into the Army in November 1953 triggered the public Army-McCarthy hearings held the following year. The Army charged that McCarthy and Cohn were using their investigation of possible Communist infiltration of the Army to bargain for special privileges for Private Schine. McCarthy charged that the Army was holding Schine "hostage" to prevent the Subcommittee from conducting further investigations. During the Army-McCarthy hearings, McCarthy, the Secretary of the Army Robert Stevens, and Cohn all testified. The senator’s tactics during the televised hearings undermined his public standing and contributed to his Senate censure in December 1954. Executive sessions were held preliminary to the public hearings and were not open to the press or the public. In most cases, the witnesses did not receive copies of the transcripts. During McCarthy’s chairmanship, the subcommittee held 161 closed hearings, most of them dealing with allegations of subversion and espionage. These closed sessions heard testimony from nearly 500 witnesses. The five volume set of hearings published by the Government Printing Office contains testimony by such prominent witnesses as Aaron Copland, Langston Hughes and James Reston. Other witnesses included government employees, labor organizers and army officers. The witness interrogations, led by McCarthy and Cohn, included questions about the witnesses’ political beliefs, families and past associations. Some witnesses cooperated; some challenged the investigation; and some refused to testify, citing the Fifth Amendment. McCarthy frequently threatened witnesses with prosecution for contempt, but all cases were either dismissed from court or overturned on appeal. None of the witnesses who appeared before McCarthy was imprisoned for any statements related to their testimony. Many, however, lost their jobs for declining to answer questions. In court proceedings following the hearings, the Supreme Court strengthened the standing of witnesses appearing before congressional committees by making it clear that no witness surrendered their constitutional rights when testifying before Congress. The Senate and the subcommittee also revised their standing rules to prevent future abuses. Dr. Donald A. Ritchie, associate Senate historian, guided the two-year project of obtaining the McCarthy records from the National Archives and Records Administration and preparing them for publication. The hearing transcripts were edited for publication, but nothing was deleted from the transcripts. All of the original transcripts are open and available for research at the Center for Legislative Archives, National Archives and Records Administration. Attached are the chairman’s preface and the introductions to the 1953 and 1954 volumes. The complete five volume set is available on the Government Printing Office website at http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/senate12cp107.html. A link to the McCarthy documents is also on the website of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations at http://www.senate.gov/~gov_affairs/psi.htm. Printed copies of the hearings may be purchased from the Government Printing Office at http://bookstore.gpo.gov. For further information on the McCarthy records contact Dr. Donald A. Ritchie, Senate Historical Office, (202) 224-6816. |
|||
| ### | |||
| Printable Version | |||
|
|||
| About the Committee | Hearings | Legislation & Nominations | Press | Issues | Subcommittees | Committee Documents | Related Links |
340 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510