White House Press Release, Statement by President Harry S. Truman

HOLD FOR RELEASE HOLD FO RELEASE HOLD FOR RELEASE 928 December 5, 1946 CAUTION: The following Statement by the President and Executive Order MUST BE HELD IN CONFIDENCE UNTIL RETRASED. Release to all regular editions of newspapers appearing on the streets NOT MARLIST THAN 8:00 o'clock P.M., E.S.T., today, Thursday ,December 5, .1946 The same hour of release applies to radio announcers and news commentators. PLEASE EXERCISE CARE TO AVOI PRINTITURE PUBLICATION OR RADIO ANNOUNCIENT. CHARLES G. ROSS Secretary to the President STATMONT BY THE PRESIDENT Freedom From Fear is more fully realized in our country than in any other on the face of the earth. Yet all parts of our population are not equally free from fear And from time to time, and in some places, this freedom has been gravely threatened. It was so after the last war, when organized groups fanned hatred and intolerance, until, at times, mob action struck fear into the hearts of men and women because of their racial origin or religious beliefs. NARA Today, Freedom From Fear, and the democratic institutions which sustain it, are again under attack In some places, from time to time, the local enforcement of law and order has broken down, and individuals - sometimes ex-servicenen, even women - have been killed, maimed, or intimidated. The preservation of civil liberties is a duty of every Government - state, Federal, and local. Wherever the law enforcement measures and the authority of Federal, state, and local governments are inadequate to dis- charge this primary function of government, these measures and this authority should be strengthened and improved. The Constitutional guarantees of individual liberties and of equal protection under the laws clearly place on the Federal Government the duty to act when state or local authorities abridge or fail to protect these Constitutional rights. Yet in its discharge of the obligations placed on it by the Constitution, the Federal Government is hampered by inadequate civil rights statutes. The protection of our democratic institutions and the enjoyment by the people of their rights under the Constitution require that these weak and inadequate statutes should be expanded and improved. We must provide the Department of Justice with the tools to do the job. I have, therefore, issued today an Executive Order creating the President's Committee on Civil Rights and I am asking this Committee to prepare for me a written report. The substance of this report will be reconmendations with respect to the adoption or establishment by legislation or otherwise of more adequate and effective means and procedures for the pro- tection of the civil rights of the people of the United States. The members of this Committee will MR. C. E. WILSON, Chairman; President, General Electric Company; formerly Executive Vice-Chairman of the War Production Board. MRS. SADIE T. ALEXANDER lawyer, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Assistant City Solicitor, City of Philadelphia; member of the Board of Directors, National Urban League; member of the Inter-Racial Committee of Philadelphia, (OVER)