by our Constitution and (3) all other questions in relation thereto that would aid Congress in any necessary remedial legislation": Therefore be it Resolved, That the 29th Annual Rendezvous of the National Society Women Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company urges the Committee on Un-American Activities of the House of Representatives of the United States to conduct an investigation into the various movements for world government and their promoters whose aim is the destruction of the sovereignty of the United States and "attacks the principle of the form of government as guaranteed by our Constitution." V. UNESCO AND UNITED NATIONS TEACHING MATERIALS Whereas the National Society Women Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company is alert to the promotion of world citizenship and world government through UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) teaching materials and United Nations materials generally ; and Whereas section 109 of the State Department Appropriations Act prohibits spending money for agencies promoting world citizenship and world government; Therefore be it Resolved, That the 29th Annual Rendezvous of the National Society Women Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company protests the use of United Nations and UNESCO materials in schools and in churches and urges that materials and information on the dangers threatening our constitutional republic as a result of the United States membership in the United Nations be also presented.' And further Resolved, That the National Society Women Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company urges the Congress of the United States to withhold United States contributions to UNESCO and financial support of the National Commission for UNESCO and the UNESCO Relations staff and to prevent transfer of funds from the technical assistance program to UNESCO. VI. OPPOSITION TO PROPOSED INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON HUMAN RIGHTS Whereas the International Covenant on Human Rights claims rights which stem wholly from the state and excludes property rights, contrary to our American concept of inalienable God-given rights and is therefore in conflict with our economic system; and Whereas international tribunals in which American citizens would be in the minority would enforce these so-called rights; and Whereas such an international covenant would become a treaty and thus the supreme law of the land superseding our Bill of Rights: Therefore be it Resolved, That the 29th Annual Rendezvous of the National Society Women Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company concurs in the opinion of the American Bar Association, that the International Covenant on Human Rights is not in such form nor of such content as to be suitable for ratification by the United States of America. VII. OPPOSITION TO PROPOSED GENOCIDE TREATY AND NEW CODE OF OFFENSES Whereas, under the so-called Genocide Convention, a proposed treaty pending in the Foreign Relations Committee of the United States Senate, citizens of the United States could be hailed by force before a court sitting in any part of the world, tried without a jury, with a procedure unheard of in English-speaking countries, and with none of the safeguards of innocence and fundamental rights existing under our law; and Whereas a so-called Code of Offenses Against the Peace and Security of Mankind incorporates many of the provisions of the Genocide Convention including an International Criminal Court: Therefore be it Resolved, That the 29th Annual Rendezvous of the National Society Women Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company opposes the ratification of the Genocide Convention and the Code of Offenses Against the Peace and Security of Mankind. 1 See The Turning of the Tides by Shafer and Snow, Long House Publishers. Analysis by Americanism committee, American Legion, 2320 Danville, Houston, Tex. The United Nations Planned Tyranny, Dr. Orval Watts, Devin-Adair Publishers. VIII. ADMISSION OF RED CHINA TO THE UNITED NATIONS Resolved, That the 29th Annual Rendezvous of the National Society Women Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company opposes the admission of Red China to the United Nations and urges the introduction of a joint resolution in the Congress of the United States to abrogate the treaty by which the United States became a member of the United Nations if Red China is admitted. IX. ORGANIZATION FOR TRADE COOPERATION (OTC)- -A FRONT FOR ONE ECONOMIC WORLD Whereas United States membership in a new international Organization for Trade Cooperation is being advocated, in which the United States would be outvoted, its system of free enterprise subverted, its resources dissipated for the final triumph of socialism: Therefore be it Resolved, That the 29th Annual Rendezvous of the National Society Women Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company urges the Congress of the United States to reject membership in the Organization for Trade Cooperation and to reassume its constitutional responsibility to regulate foreign commerce. X. NULLIFICATION OF THE STATUS OF FORCES TREATY Whereas the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Status of Forces Treaty deprives American soldiers of the 150-year-old precedent to be tried under the protection of the United States' Constitution and Bill of Rights; Whereas American soldiers now in more than 60 countries of the world for the defense of foreign people are tried in the courts and under the laws of the country of occupation most of which assume an individual guilty until proven innocent; Whereas American soldiers are already imprisoned for long terms in foreign jails for offenses that would bring much less severe sentences under United States law, and their wives and families deprived of all allotments and benefits are destitute: There be it Resolved, That the 29th Annual Rendezvous of the National Society Women Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company urges the Congress of the United States to adopt legislation by joint resolution to nullify that part of the NATO Status of Forces Treaty that deprives American soldiers of trial rights under the protection of the United States Constitution. XI. OUTLAW THE COMMUNIST PARTY Resolved, That the 29th Annual Rendezvous of the National Society Women Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company endorses the effort in the Congress of the United States to outlaw the Communist Party, all political or subversive organizations or other groups which do or may advocate the overthrow of the constitutional government of the United States. XII. SUPPORT OF THE M'CARRAN-WALTER IMMIGRATION LAW Resolved, That the 29th Annual Rendezvous of the National Society Women Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company supports the McCarran-Walter immigration law against repeal or crippling amendments urged by pressure groups for ulterior purposes. XIII. OPPOSING FEDERAL AID TO EDUCATION Resolved, That the 29th Annual Rendezvous of the National Society Women Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company reaffirms its opposition to Federal aid to eduaction in whatever guise and urges continued faith in the ability of crossroads America to best know the State and local needs and to provide them most economically and efficiently, without the control of a socialistic bureaucracy inevitable with so-called Federal aid. XIV. SUPPORT OF H. R. 3 RE STATES RIGHTS Whereas an effort is being made in the Congress of the United States to stop the encroachments of the Supreme Court in the field of legislation and to maintain States rights; Therefore be it Resolved, That the 29th Annual Rendezvous of the National Society Women Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company supports the objectives of H. R. 3, a bill that provides that where the Federal Government legislates in any area that is also the subject of State legislation, the State law shall not be nullified unless the Federal statute specifically so provides, or the two statutes are so inconsistent that they could not stand together. Resolved further, That a copy of this resolution be sent to Hon. Howard Smith of Virginia. XV. PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS 2 Resolved, That the 29th Annual Rendezvous of the National Society Women Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company endorses the principles and objectives of the following proposed constitutional amendments designed to redefine and recapture constitutional government and arrest the trend to the autocratic state : 1. Bricker amendment, to prevent the overriding of our Constitution and our domestic law by means of the treaty power. 2. Reed-Dirksen amendment, to eliminate to a large extent the heavy progressive rate feature from our income-tax system without impairing the power of Congress to raise revenue. This amendment limits the top rate of income taxes, but permits Congress to exceed the limit by a three-fourths vote. 3. Byrd-Bridges amendment, to require annual budget balancing by limiting congressional appropriations in any fiscal year to the estimate of receipts of the Government for that fiscal year, except in times of dire emergency to be determined by a three-fourths vote of Congress. 4. Mundt-Coudert amendment, or a reform of the electoral college along these lines, designed to take away the excessive power now exercised by minority groups in larger cities under the present electoral-college system. 5. Reed-Walter amendment, to give the States full power to originate amendments to the Constitution. XVI. COURTESY RESOLUTION Resolved, That the 29th annual rendezvous of the National Society Women Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company send greetings and regrets that she must be absent to the president national, Mrs. Lloyd DeWitt Smith, and express grateful appreciation to the vice president national, Mrs. John Bayley O'Brien, for her fine efforts in behalf of the society and her gracious presiding in the absence of the president national; to the Honorable August E. Johansen, the banquet speaker, for his informative talk on defending the Constitution; to Mrs. Edward Jerome Dies, for her able handling of the banquet and luncheon arrangements; to the pages, Mrs. Donald H. Saunders and Mrs. Thomas B. Dimmick; and to the chairmen, officers, and members who have come long distances to help make this 29th annual rendezvous a success. Mrs. WILLIAM SHERMAN WALKER, Mrs. WILLIAM D. LEETCH, Chairman, NATIONAL SOCIETY, DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN COLONISTS, Mr. WAYNE H. SMITHEY. Clerk, Judiciary Committee, Senate Office Building, Washington, D. C. Fultonville, N. Y., May 5, 1956. DEAR MR. SMITHEY: At the 35th General Assembly of the National Society, Daughters of the American Colonists, which was held at the Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D. C., on April 11, 1956, there was a resolution adopted which in We have a choice of continuing every year to write our Congressmen to get them to do what they should do, or restore the permanent contract--the Constitution. With the contract signed, limiting the powers of Congress to tax and spend, we could feel secure. With such limitation we will improve government because we will reduce the amount of it. States have everything to gain and nothing to lese by adopting these proposed amendments. Please bring them to the attention of your State legislators. cluded the Reed-Dirksen amendment, a copy of which is enclosed, and the chairman, Mrs. Lammers, has requested it be made a part of the hearing record. I do hope it has reached your office in time for the meeting. Sincerely yours, LAURA YATES FINEHOUT, National Recording Secretary. RESOLUTION XIV-PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS Resolved, That the 35th General Assembly of the National Society, Daughters of the American Colonists support the goals of the following proposed constitutional amendments and States rights and arrest the trend to the autocratic state; 1. The Bricker amendment, to prevent the overriding of our Constitution and our domestic law by means of the treaty power. 2. Reed-Dirksen amendment, to eliminate to a large extent the heavy progressive rate feature from our income-tax system without impairing the power of Congress to raise revenue. This amendment limits the top rate of income taxes, but permits Congress to exceed the limit by a three-fourths vote. 3. Byrd-Bridges amendment, to require annual budget balancing by limiting congressional appropriations in any fiscal year to the estimate of receipts of the Government for that fiscal year, except in times of dire emergency to be determined by a three-fourths vote of Congress. 4. A reform of the electoral college along the lines of the Mundt-Coudert amendment, designed to take away the excessive power now exercised by minority groups in larger cities under the present electoral-college system. 5. The Reed-Walter amendment, to give the States power to originate amendments to the Constitution. Resolved, That this be sent to majority and minority leaders of both the Senate and the House. MAYMIE D. LAMMERS, (Mrs. Edwin Stanton), National Chairman, Resolutions Committee, Daughters of the American Colonists. Senator LANGER. The subcommittee is adjourned. (Whereupon, at 1:35 p. m., the subcommittee adjourned.) (The following statement was subsequently submitted for the record :) STATEMENT OF PAUL O. PETERS, RESEARCH CONSULTANT, WASHINGTON, D. C. Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, my name is Paul O. Peters, a research consultant, with offices at 606 National Union Building, Washington, D. C. I reside at 5825 North Four Mile Run Drive, Arlington, Va. It is a privilege for an American citizen to be able to come before a committee of the United States Senate to express individual and personal opinions with respect to legislation pending before this upper House of Congress. Therefore, I am deeply appreciative of this opportunity to submit my thinking on the need for the enactment of Senate Joint Resolution 23 at the present time. The basic issue here involved is "Shall the Federal Government have power unlimited to appropriate through the taxing processes to the public uses, the incomes of the Nation?" Senate Joint Resolution 23 merely gives the assent of the Congress to a referendum on this income-tax question by the legislatures of the respective States, and while this referendum involves the repeal of the 16th amendment to the Constitution and substitutes therefore a new amendment limiting the power of Congress to tax incomes beyond 25 percent except by vote of three-fourths of all Members of Congress and then only in time of war or dire national emergency. Mr. Chairman, it is my opinion that the lack of control over the power of the Federal Government to tax the earnings of the people, specifically called incomes, has led to inefficiency, mismanagement and waste in Government. The very fact that the Congress knows that it has the power to either raise the money by the taxing process or borrow it on the faith and credit of the United States, which means we, the people, has served as an incentive to bigger and bigger budgets, and the build up of the bureaucracy in the Federal Government faster than the growth of the population. By permitting the basic issue involved in Senate Joint Resolution 23 to go to Unless some limits are placed upon the taxing powers of the Federal Govern- Mr. Chairman, the interest on our present public debt is around $7 billion a In support of the argument I make for submitting Senate Joint Resolution 23 Now that 6.09 percent was to take care of agricultural benefits, old-age assist- [Informational Bulletin No. 109. Series 1955] Federal Internal Revenue collections for the fiscal year 1954 by States, compared (Compiled from original Treasury Department reports by Paul O. Peters. Copyright 1955. Publication |