In the introduction to Senate Report
93-549:"A majority of the
people of the United States have lived all their lives under emergency
rule."
Remember, this report was produced in 1973. The
introduction goes on to say:
"For 40 years, freedoms and
governmental procedures guaranteed by the Constitution have, in varying
degrees, been abridged by laws brought into force by states of national
emergency."
The introduction continues:
"And, in the United States,
actions taken by the government in times of great crisis have from, at
least, the Civil War in important ways shaped the present phenomenon of a
permanent state of national emergency."
How many people were taught that in school? How
could it possibly be that something which could suspend our Constitution
would not be taught in school? Amazing, isn't it?
Where does this come from? Is it possible that, in our
Constitution, there could be some section which could contemplate what these
previous documents are referring to? In Article 1, Section 9 of the
Constitution of the United States of America, we find the following words:
"The privilege of the Writ of
Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or
Invasion, the public Safety may require it."
Habeas Corpus: the Great Writ of Liberty. This is the
writ which guarantees that the government cannot charge us with and hold us
for any crime, unless they follow the procedure of due process of law. This
writ also says, in effect, that the privilege of due process of law cannot
be suspended, and that the government cannot not operate its arbitrary
prerogative power against We the People. But we see that the great Writ of
Liberty can, in fact, under the Constitution, be suspended when an invasion
or a rebellion necessitates it.
In the 5th Amendment to the Constitution, it says:
"No person shall be held to
answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime unless on a presentment or
indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval
forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public
danger . . . ."
We reserved the charging power for ourselves, didn't we?
We didn't give that power to the government. And we also said that the
government would be powerless to charge one of the citizens or one of the
peoples of the United States with a crime unless We, the People, through our
grand jury, orders it to do so through an indictment or presentment. And if
We, the People, don't order it, the government cannot do it. If it tried to
do it, we would simply follow the Writ of Habeas Corpus, and they would have
to release us, wouldn't they? They could not hold us.
But let us recall that it says:
"except in cases arising in the
land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in times of
War or public danger . . . ."
We can see here that the framers of the Constitution were
already contemplating times when there would be conditions under which it
might be necessary to suspend the guarantees of the Constitution.
Also from Senate Report 93-549, and remember that our
congressmen wrote these reports and these documents and they're talking
about these emergency powers and they say:
"They are quite careful and
restrictive on the power, but the power to suspend is specifically
contemplated by the Constitution in the Writ of Habeas Corpus."
Now, this is well known. This is not a concept that was
not known to rulers for many, many years. The concepts of constitutional
dictatorship went clear back to the Roman Republic. And there, it was
determined that, in times of dire emergencies, yes, the constitution and the
rights of the people could be suspended, temporarily, until the crisis,
whatever its nature, could be resolved.
But once it was done, the Constitution was to be returned
to its peacetime position of authority. In France, the situation under which
the constitution could be suspended is called the State of Siege. In Great
Britain, it's called the Defense of the Realm Acts. In Germany, in which
Hitler became a dictator, it was simply called Article 48. In the United
States, it is called the War Powers.
If that was, in fact, the case, we are under a war
emergency in this country, then there should be evidence of that war
emergency in the current law that exists today. That means we should be able
to go to the federal code known as the USC or United States Code, and find
that statute, that law, in existence. And if we went to the library today
and picked up a copy of 12 USC and went to Section 95(b), we will find a law
which states:
"The actions, regulations,
rules, licenses, orders and proclamations heretofore or hereafter taken,
promulgated, made or issued by the President of the United States or the
Secretary of the Treasury since March the 4th, 1933, pursuant to the amended
[12 USCS Sec. 95a], are hereby approved and confirmed. (Mar. 9, 1933, c. 1,
Title 1, Sec. 1, 48 Stat, 1.)".
Now, what does this mean? It means that everything the
President or the Secretary of the Treasury has done since March the 4th of
1933, or anything that the President or the Secretary of the Treasury is
hereafter going to do, is automatically approved and confirmed. Let us
remember that, according to the Congressional Record of 1973, the United
States has been in a state of national emergency since 1933. Then we realize
the 12 USC, Section 95 (b) is current law. This is the law that exists over
this United States right this moment, today 1996.
If that be the case, let us see if we can understand what
is being said here. As every action, rule or law put into effect by the
President or the Secretary of the Treasury since March the 4th of 1933 has
or will be confirmed and approved, let us determine the significance of that
date in history. What happened on March the 4th of 1933?
On
March the 4th of 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated as
President of the United States. Referring to his inaugural address, which
was given at a time when the country was in the throes of the Great
Depression, we read:
"I am prepared under my
constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the
midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other
measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall
seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption. But
in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses,
and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not
evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall ask the
Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis broad
Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power
that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe."
On March the 4th, 1933, at his inaugural, President
Roosevelt was saying that he was going to ask Congress for the extraordinary
authority available to him under the War Powers Act. Let's see if he got it.
On March the 5th, President Roosevelt asked for a special
and extraordinary session of Congress in Proclamation 2038. He called for
the special session of Congress to meet on March the 9th at noon. And at
that Congress, he presented a bill, an Act, to provide for relief in the
existing national emergency in banking and for other purposes.
In the enabling portion of that Act, it states:
"Be it enacted by the Senate and
the House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled, That the Congress hereby declares that a serious emergency exists
and that it is imperatively necessary speedily to put into effect remedies
of uniform national application."
What is the concept of the rule of necessity, referred to
in the enabling portion of the Act as "imperatively necessary speedily"? The
rule of necessity is a rule of law which states that necessity knows no law.
A good example of the rule of necessity would be the concept of
self-defense. The law says, "Thou shall not kill". But also know that, if
you are in dire danger, in danger of losing your life, then you have the
absolute right of self-defense. You have the right to kill to protect your
own life. That is the ultimate rule of necessity.
Thus we see that the rule of necessity overrides all other
law, and, in fact, allows one to do that which would normally be against the
law. So it is reasonable to assume that the wording of the enabling portion
of the Act of March 9, 1933, is an indication that what follows is something
which will probably be against the law. It will probably be against the
Constitution of the United States, or it would not require that the rule of
necessity be invoked to enact it.
In the Act of March 9, 1933 it further states in Title 1,
Section 1:
"The actions, regulations,
rules, licenses, orders and proclamations heretofore or hereafter taken,
promulgated, made or issued by the President of the United States or the
Secretary of the Treasury since March the 4th, 1933, pursuant to the
authority conferred by subdivision (b) of Section 5 of the Act of October 6,
1917, as amended, are hereby approved and confirmed."
Where have we read these words before?
This is the exact same wording as is found today in Title
12, USC 95 (b). The language in Title 12, USC 95 (b) is exactly the same as
that found in the Act of March 9, 1933, Chapter 1, Title 1, Section 48,
Statute 1. The Act of March 9, 1933, is still in
full force and effect today. We are still under the Rule of Necessity. We
are still in a declared state of national emergency, a state of emergency
which has existed, uninterrupted, since 1933, or for over sixty years.
As you may remember, the authority to do this is conferred
by Subsection (b) of Section 5 of the Act of October 6, 1917, as amended.
What was the authority which was used to declare and enact the emergency in
this Act? If we look at the Act of October 6, 1917, we see it states that
this was:
"An Act To define, regulate, and
punish trading with the enemy, and for other purposes."
By the year 1917, the United States was involved in World
War I; at that point, it was recognized that there were probably enemies of
the United States, or allies of enemies of the United States, living within
the continental borders of our nation in a time of war.
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