Sec. 2. "Authorized certifying officers of terminated war agencies in process of liquidation by the Department of State" as used in this Act means certifying officers employed by terminated war agencies transferred to the Department of State for liquidation and certifying officers under the Department of State who certified payments for the activities of such terminated war agencies, or any terminated wartime activity of the Department of State from funds allocated to or made available to the Department of State by working funds or reimbursements pursuant to the provisions of section 686, title 31, United States 47 Stat. 417. Code, or other authority of law: Provided, however, That no certifying officer of the Department of State shall be released hereunder as to payments made from funds appropriated directly to the Department of State or as to payments made after the date of enactment of this Act: Provided further, That the authority granted under this Act Expiration. shall expire not later than two years after the date of enactment of this Act.
- Approved August 23, 1954.
August 24, 1954
[S. 3706]
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AN ACT
To outlaw the Communist Party, to prohibit members of Communist organizations from serving in certain representative capacities, and for other purposes.
Communist Control Act of 1954. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Communist Control Act of 1954".
FINDINGS OF FACT
Sec. 2. The Congress hereby finds and declares that the Communist Party of the United States, although purportedly a political party, is in fact an instrumentality of a conspiracy to overthrow the Government of the United States. It constitutes an authoritarian dictatorship within a republic, demanding for itself the rights and privileges accorded to political parties, but denying to all others the liberties guaranteed by the Constitution. Unlike political parties, which evolve their policies and programs through public means, by the reconciliation of a wide variety of individual views, and submit those policies and programs to the electorate at large for approval or disapproval, the policies and programs of the Communist Party are secretly prescribed for it by the foreign leaders of the world Communist movement. Its members have no part in determining its goals, and are not permitted to voice dissent to party objectives. Unlike members of political parties, members of the Communist Party are recruited for indoctrination with respect to its objectives and methods, and are organized, instructed, and disciplined to carry into action slavishly the assignments given them by their hierarchical chieftains. Unlike political parties, the Communist Party acknowledges no constitutional or statutory limitations upon its conduct or upon that of its members. The Communist Party is relatively small numerically, and gives scant indication of capacity ever to attain its ends by lawful political means. The peril inherent in its operation arises not from its numbers, but from its failure to acknowledge any limitation as to the nature of its activities, and its dedication to the proposition that the present constitutional Government of the United States ultimately must be brought to ruin by any available means, including resort to force and violence. Holding that doctrine, its role as the agency of a hostile foreign power renders its existence a clear present and continuing danger to the
