The House yesterday adopted by a voice vote Martin Dies’ (Dem., Texas) bill for a congressional investigation of un-American activities after a two-hour debate in which supporters described increasing Nazi activities and opponents warned that the investigation would lead to race hatred. An amendment offered by Lindsay C. Warren (Dem., North Carolina) asked the investigating committee to report to the House by Jan. 3, 1939. Speaker Bankhead will name the seven members of the committee.
A new resolution was introduced in the House today asking a $1,000,000 Nazi investigation.
The round-up speaker for the Dies resolution was John J. O’Connor (Dem., New York), who asked the members not to be influenced either by the German or the Jewish votes at home. He charged that “millions of people in this country are now waving the swastika and the red flag.” He said that un-Americanism was “rampant.”
J. Parnell Thomas (Rep., New Jersey), who represents the section where Camp Nordland is located, a Nazi center, stated that he had changed from opposition to support of the resolution after seeing the camp. “Everyone who goes there,” he said, “is first a Nazi, secondly an American. They spend most of their time goose-stepping, swear allegiance to Hitler and display the swastika. One of the greatest dangers of the camp is that children are being educated to grow up not to be Americans.”
John M. Robsion (Rep., Kentucky) told the House that in the event of war between this country and Germany, the latter would have thousands of boys ready who were trained here “from day to day for Hitler.”
The so-called liberals were prominent in opposing the bill. Maury Maverick (Dem., Texas) asserted that it would cause “race hatred” and was “particularly dangerous to the Jews.” He described the resolution as “the opening wedge” for anti-Semitism. There is no need for an investigation, he declared, because the country knows the un-American activities and should legislate them out of existence.
Gerald J. Boileau (Progressive, Wisconsin) said that the wording of the resolution meant that the New Deal and the CIO could be investigated. He asked that the bill be limited to propaganda seeking the overthrow of this Government by force and violence.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
