Page:Longines Chronicles with Peter Frelinghuysen 1954 ARC-96008.ogv/18

Frelinghuysen
Yes, I'd be glad to, Mr. Lesueur. At the beginning of this session of Congress I introduced a bill which would provide for a joint single congressional committee on internal security. It came to me that it would be a good solution to some of the problems that we've had in recent months publicity-wise in this field. It also is an attempt on my part to help take communism in government out at an issue in the 1954 campaigns. You'll remember that the President said he hoped that the Executive branch would have disclosed the facts about what the menace is in such a thorough way that he hoped it would no longer be a major issue. And it's my feeling that if the Legislative branch, which has a definitely subsidiary role of investigating what the threat of communists is, that if we do it in an objective and effective way, that it can be minimized as a political issue in the '54 campaign.