of the information in that document, as the Senator from Texas has pointed out, we would mitigate against the committees of Congress getting that kind of information.

It is a very troublesome question. Undoubtedly, I do not think there is a man that will disagree with the statement that the Secretary or his subordinates had the right to classify this document when it was sent out, and should have classified it as confidential.

The leak in Tokyo, by whomever it was made, was not right. The fact that that leak has occurred, and that the document has been published in an abbreviated form does not give to that document the air of authority that it will get if it is given out now as the formal release of a document of this Government.

Just one more point. The Senator has said that the security of our Government is not involved in this paper. Well, that is a question of relativeness. Anything that impairs the operation of the Voice of America and lessens its value and its use, would seem to me to be striking a blow at the security and the country, because obviously that is one of the ways that we have of telling the people of the world what our program is, and what we stand for.

That other things have occurred, according to the Senator from Iowa, which have lessened the value of the Voice, I presume that is so.

We are never going to get in the operation of any institution, human institution, perfection. But the Secretary has appeared, and he has stated in his opinion and in the opinion of his Department this would lessen the value of the Voice of America, if it is given out. I would have come to a different conclusion; but I cannot say that I would substitute my judgment for his judgment in this matter.

Senator HICKENLOOPER. Will the Senator yield for a question?
Senator MCMAHON. I will yield.

SUBSTITUTING LEGISLATIVE JUDGMENT FOR EXECUTIVE

Senator HICKENLOOPER. I would like to hear the Senator discuss this: The Senator says we should not substitute our judgment when the Secretary says that the operation of some department would be impaired.

I submit to the Senator, for whatever observation he wants to make, this suggestion, that in practically every committee of the Congress, in every appropriation bill, in almost every action, you will find repeated instances where department heads-they may be military, they may be otherwise-frequently come before the committees and say, "If I don't get certain things done, if I don't get certain operations, it will impair the effectiveness of my department," and yet the Congress has been elected to exercise judgment on those matters.

We are the fountainhead of authority on these operations, and we do exercise in the committees and on the floor of Congress not daily, but repeatedly, every session, we exercise discretion where the heads of the departments say they will be impaired unless thus and so happens; and Congress in its judgment and the committees in their judgment very often say, "In our opinion, you can't have it."

Senator MCMAHON. Mr. Chairman, my answer to that is that if the Senator doesn't see the difference between what he has suggested and this question, there is nothing I can say that can explain it to him. I yield to the Senator from Texas.

83797-51-pt. 3- -4

Chairman CONNALLY. If we act simply because this thing has been published surreptitiously and illegitimately, doesn't that offer a reward in the future that if anybody can smuggle out a statement, why, then, we will come along and O. K. it and give it official standing by publishing the original document? It seems to me that is a very practical situation.

Senator MCMAHON. That occurs every day. There are statements in magazines that the United States has so many atomic weapons. Well, nobody denies it, nobody confirms it in authority. So it is left in the air for them to guess at.

Of course, if there is a release from you or from me or from Senator Hickenlooper, that has a note of authority, and of course, would be accepted; and, of course, that is true.

Senator BREWSTER. Mr. Chairman.
Chairman RUSSELL. Senator Brewster.

SECURITY IN COMMITTEES

Senator BREWSTER. I always have been concerned about this matter of confidences in the committees, and I do not like an attitude, which is more or less popularly accepted, that Senators can never keep a secret.

As the most conspicuous and most successful illustration of that there is probably the most significant secret that was ever possessed here in Washington during the war under the jurisdiction of the Senator from Connecticut, and that was the development of the atomic bomb, which was known to at least 20 Senators, if not more, and was one of the best kept secrets of the war.

Senator MCMAHON. And known to the Politburo.

Senator BREWSTER. As a result of treason, not as a result of Senators.

Senator MCMAHON. That is right.

Senator BREWSTER. I always like to emphasize that in our own selfrespect.

Now, there is a matter which has not been mentioned here at all, but in the previous difficulties of this character which have been faced in committees of which I have been a member we generally recognize that if this gets to the highest level of security, and peculiarly in this field, it is possible by resort to the President to solve it.

President Roosevelt repeatedly did that in conspicuous cases. He would impound a document, and the members of commissions-they weren't even members of departments-who had formulated the document would simply say, "It is in the hands of the President"-period. And that was an answer to the thing.

So that if, in this instance, we elect to act, as I hope we may, in releasing the document, as seems to me wise, under these circumstances it doesn't mean at all that the State Department or any other departments are deprived of security. I recognize that it is the twilight zone of the powers of the President in this field, which are evolving and will continue, but nobody has ever been able to subpena the President successfully, and to get documents out of him, and that is one of the practical answers to this. I hope this will be censored and taken

out, because I don't want to suggest to these executive departments how they can get away from us.

The whole decision is political, as to whether or not the President in office abuses the powers of that office, and if he does, I think that the American people will rebuke him eventually, if he is going beyond what seems essential, in the popular mind, in the exercise of essential security measures for the security of our country, and our government.

That is one reason I fairly wanted to see this matter go forward. I think, particularly after what Secretary Acheson has said, that it is entirely wise not to establish a precedent that will necessarily wreck our Government.

Chairman RUSSELL. Gentlemen, this issue has troubled me very greatly, and I desire to make a brief statement with respect to it, before the vote is had.

PENAL CODE PROVISION ON HANDLING CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS

The Senator from Oregon referred this morning to a section of the Penal Code.

It was called to my attention by General Mudge, and is found on page 1281 of the Military Laws of the United States, which purports to come from volume 18, United States Code, section 793.

Inasmuch as the Senator from Oregon mentioned it, I think I should read it to the committee. I shall not read all of it, just the two last paragraphs:

Whoever, lawfully or unlawfully having possession of, access to, control over, or being entrusted with any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map model, instrument, appliance, or note relating to the national defense, willfully communicates or transmits or attempts to communicate or transmit the same to any person not entitled to receive it, or willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it on demand to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it; or Whoever, being entrusted with or having lawful possession or control of any document, writing, code book-

I shall not read all of that descriptive matter—

relating to the national defense, through gross negligence permits the same to be removed from the proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of his trust, or to be lost, stolen, abstracted, or destroyed

*

*

Shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.

Inasmuch as the Sentor from Oregon had mentioned that, I thought I would read it to the committee. I would be less than frank if I did not say that I do not believe that section of the law applies to Members of the Congress, for under the Constitution we are not responsible for anything said on the floor of the Senate and I think that the same privilege very clearly applies to a member of the committee.

I do read it to the members of the committee to refresh their recollection as to the vigor with which we have legislatively approached the handling of classified documents on the part of employees of the Government.

Senator HICKENLOOPER. Will the Senator yield for a question?
Chairman RUSSELL. Yes, sir.

Senator HICKENLOOPER. Do you interpret under the language you read that applies to this document which the Secretary of State says in no way impairs national defense?

Chairman RUSSELL. Well, I am not going to get into debate as to whether or not this involves the defense of the United States. I know this: If any person employed by the State Department were to take this identical document here and go out and deliver it to any unauthorized person, that they would certainly be subject to prosecution.

WISDOM OF DECLASSIFICATION

I am not going into the degree of this document, if the Senator will excuse me. I am not concerned as to the contents of this document. I think it ought to be declassified. It seems to me it would help the Department of State greatly in its operations to have this document released, because the portion that was released in the newspaper article was, if I understand the newspaper article from the reading of it by the Senator from California, announced this paper as being the policy of the Government of the United States. We are told here now that it was never the policy of the Government of the United States, but it was merely an instruction to those who seek to influence public opinion all over the world to leave the impression that we did not care whether or not Formosa was lost; in other words, to minimize its importance, if I understand the testimony that has been given us here.

I am not impressed with the argument that if it is published we should release it, because frequently we see matters that are published in the magazines and newspapers that we know from our own relationship with the Government are true, but they are not attributed to any official source, so no one will know as to whether or not that is official.

Sometimes there is great conflict there and that would cause confusion.

I hope, I might say, that because there are 456 copies of this publication, it does not necessarily mean that the Soviet have control of it because I am confident there have been innumerable instances where more than 456 copies of highly vital information have been in circulation, and I would dislike very much to think that because there were that number that the Soviet had them all in their control.

Now, of course, this committee has probably had more highly classified material than any committee that has ever operated here in Washington. I doubt very much whether any committee has ever had access to as many of the highly secret and private papers of the executive department of the Government as this one has.

I am very loath to vote as I expect to, to declassify this document, because I am very sure that it is going to dry up a source of information not only for this committee but for committees in the future, but there has been so much discussion about this particular document, there has been so much speculation on it, the people feel that it is something that involves great issues here in Washington that to me are not involved, that I feel that the declassification of this document, despite all of the handicaps that it will impose on this committee and committees in the future, is in the public interest, and while I am very reluctant to do so, because there are not only questions of law but questions of ethics involved in it, when the roll is called I expect to vote to declassify this document.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DOCUMENT

Senator KNOWLAND. Mr. Chairman, I just very briefly want to say this in regard to the matter. It is true that the Secretary of State indicated in his testimony that from his point of view he did not feel that this was a policy statement. I merely do not want the record to stand that that is necessarily so.

Chairman RUSSELL. I did not state it as a fact, Senator.

Senator KNOWLAND. No, no, the Secretary of State said that, but I do not want the record to stand that that is necessarily so because I believe that this document clearly outlined the policy that was followed by the Government of the United States from at least late in 1948 if not mid-1948 clear through to the 25th day of June after the outbreak of hostilities in Formosa.

I think it is a most significant revealing document as to our policy, and I think that the President's statement on January 5 wherein he said that no further aid would go to Formosa was based fundamentally upon the policy which the Department already had in hand.

Now the Department sent Dr. Jessup out to the Far East in late 1949, presumably to develop a policy when the fact of the matter is that they had already determined that no further help would be given to Formosa and in their judgment Formosa had no strategic value.

EXECUTIVE HANDLING OF OTHER DOCUMENTS

I do not want to argue the point any longer except to say that we did have the situation with the Wake Island document where someone high in the executive branch of the Government purposely leaked that document to one newspaper and the story was later picked up by others at a time when it was still classified as a top-secret document, without even going through the process of first declassifying it.

For a period of 4 years the Wedemeyer document on Korea was withheld despite votes of committees of the Congress and appeals by members of the Congress.

Now I think that we have a Government in which the legislative branch also has a responsibility. I submit that the State Department was apparently laying the groundwork for Formosa being passed into other hands, and passing out that information to 456 people abroad without taking the trouble to discuss that as a basic American policy with the Congress of the United States.

Chairman RUSSELL, I want to make just a brief statement here with respect to that. Of course we have our very definite legislative responsibility under the Constitution, but I should like very much to find in the Constitution power which would enable us to bring documents of this kind before the committee if the executive branch does not desire to give it.

While the Wake Island document has been discussed and the Wedemeyer report has been discussed-I think that I had some little part to play with the declassification of the Wedemeyer report-I would not have this record leave even the most vague idea that I had voted to declassify this document because other documents had been handled improperly in the executive branch of the Government.

I cannot think of a poorer reason which would motivate a Member of the Congress to do something that he might not be persuaded was