Letter from Representative Helen Gahagan Douglas to President Harry S. Truman

HELEN gahagan DOUGLAS 14TH DISTRICT CALIFORNIA 2750-C COMMITTEE: FOREIGN AFFAIRS FILED BY Congress of the United States MR. HOPKINS house of Representatives OCT 7 1950 Washington, D. C. September 20, 1950 My dear Mr. President: In the event that you decide to veto the McCarran-Wood Bill on internal security, I respectfully suggest that you consider # naming, at the same time, a Presidential Commission on Internal Security and Individual Rights, charged with examining all the facts in this field and recommending appropriate action to be taken by both the executive and the legislative branches of the government. Those of us who voted against the Wood Bill in the House of Representatives did so, I believe, because we felt that this particular bill would be entirely ineffective to prevent Communist espionage and sabotage, while undermining fundamental liberties guaranteed under the Constitution. Most of the other twenty House members who, with me, voted against the Wood bill, have voted, as I have, for every measure genuinely aimed at making America strong against Communist attack from within. We fought to have your sug- gested improvements in our present espionage and immigration laws adopted as proposed. We feel that much of the present difficulty stems from a hasty, essentially emotional, wish to take some kind of action "against the Communists" - instead of a clear-minded at- tempt to deal accurately and realistically with the real dangers of Communist action. I believe, therefore, that it would help enor- mously to clear the air if you would appoint a non-partisan com- mission, selected from outstanding Americans above the claims of partisan politics, to deliver a definitive report on what is really required. I suggested this idea in a speech I delivered in Fresno, California, last May, and announced at that time that I would in- troduce legislation to this effect. Because of the hurried manner in which the McCarran-Wood measure was rushed to the floor, there was no opportunity to present this alternative in an adequate fashion. All of us want to do everything that is really necessary to protect ourselves from the evil of communism. But it would be tragic indeed if we were to undercut the freedom of our own people, and detract from our leadership in the world fight for freedom against communism, in the process of doing so.