CONTENTS Page Opening statements by Hon. Robert T. Ashmore, chairman of the Sub- committee on Elections of the Committee on House Administration____ 1, 43 1, 43 323 Brewer, Gordon E., civil service counsel, American Federation of Broyhill, Hon. Joel T., a Representative in Congress from the 10th 63, 68 Devaney, William B., chairman, legislation and legal action commit- 35 Keating, Jerome J., vice president, National Association of Letter Lankford, Hon. Richard E., a Representative in Congress from the Larson, Charles R., president, National Rural Letter Carriers' Asso- MacKay, John W., president (interim), National Postal Clerks' Union_ Meloy, Lawrence V., General Counsel, Civil Service Commission_ Moore, George T.. Assistant Secretary of Commerce To Hon. Omar Burleson, chairman, Committee on House Admin stra- tion from Roger W. Jones, chairman, Civil Service Commission, To Hon. Omar Burleson, chairman, Committee on House Administra- tion, from Roger W. Jones, chairman, Civil Service Commission, The Special Committee To Investigate and Study the Operation and Enforcement of the Hatch Political Activities Act, House of Repre- The Committee on Government Operations, as contained in its 30th report (H. Rept. No. 2533) filed August 8, 1958, during the 2d ses- To Hon. Omar Burleson, chairman, Committee on House Administra- tion, from John W. Mannering, chairman, social policy and action committee, National Association of Social Workers, dated April 7, To Hon. Robert T. Ashmore, chairman, Subcommittee on Elections, Committee on House Administration, from Lloyd H. Swanson, Consultant on social legislation, dated April 13, 1959___ To Hon. Robert T. Ashmore, chairman, Subcommittee on Elections, Committee on House Administration, from Robert S. Marvin, president, Montgomery County Civic Federation, dated May 12, Text of the Hatch Political Activities Acts of 1939 and 1940, as amended; compiled by Samuel H. Still, legislative attorney, American Law Divi- sion, Legislative Reference Service, Library of Congress_ Legislative history of the Hatch Act. Intent of the President and the Congress at the time of enactment, by American Law Division, Legis- lative Reference Service, Library of Congress Exemption of teachers from provision of the Hatch Act, by American Law Division, Legislative Reference Service, Library of Congress_ PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE HATCH POLITICAL ACTIVITIES ACT WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 1959 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS OF THE Washington, D.C. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 3 p.m., in room G-53, Capitol Building, Hon. Robert T. Ashmore, chairman of the subcommittee, presiding. Present: Messrs. Ashmore, Carter, Lesinski, and Lipscomb. Also present: Julian P. Langston, chief clerk; Samuel Still, counsel. Mr. ASHMORE. Ladies and gentlemen, I ask the committee to come to order. We have some other members of the committee, I understand on the way over, but at the present time it is not essential that they be here. We have three bills on the calendar, all of which relate to the Hatch Act in various degrees. (H.R. 696, H.R. 876, and H.R. 3997 are as follows:) [H.R. 696, S6th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To amend the provisions of law relating to the prevention of pernicious political activities (the Hatch Political Activities Act) to make them inapplicable to State and municipal officers and employees, to permit limited partisan political activities by Federal officers and employees in certain designated localities, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 9(a) of the Act entitled "An Act to prevent pernicious political activities", approved August 2, 1939, as amended (5 U.S.C., sec. 118i (a)), is amended by striking out "The provisions of the second sentence of this subsection shall not apply to the employees of the Alaska Railroad, residing in municipalities on the line of the railroad, in respect to activities involving the municipality in which they reside.". SEC. 2. Section 9(b) of such Act, as amended (5 U.S.C., sec. 118i), is amended (1) by striking out "by unanimous vote", (2) by striking out "That in no case shall the penalty be less than ninety days' suspension without pay: And provided further,", and (3) by striking out "by a unanimous vote". SEC. 3. Section 12 of such Act, as amended (5 U.S.C., sec. 118k), is hereby repealed. SEC. 4. Section 16 of such Act (5 U.S.C., sec. 118m) is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 16 (a) Whenever the United States Civil Service Commission determines that it is in the domestic interest of persons to whom the provisions of this Act are applicable to permit such persons to take an active part in partisan political campaigns involving the municipality or political subdivision in which such persons reside, the Commission shall promulgate regulations permitting such persons to take an active part in partisan political campaigns to the extent that the Commission deems to be in the domestic interest of such persons, but subject to the following conditions: 1 "1. The persons must reside in the municipality or political subdivision in the immediate vicinity of the National Capital in the States of Maryland and Virginia, or in municipalities or political subdivisons in which a substantial portion of the voters are employed by the Government of the United States. "2. Political activity must be limited to partisan political campaigns involving public elective offices of such municipality or political subdivision or involving elections of members of the State legislature who represent such municipality or political subdivision. "3. Employees are prohibited from engaging in partisan political campaigns on any Federal property or in any building where business of the Government of the United States is carried on. "(b) The provisions of subsection (a) shall be applicable to the employees residing in the municipalities and political subdivisions which the Commission has heretofore designated under section 16 of the Act prior to this amendment, until such time as the Commission revokes the designation." SEC. 5. Section 18 of such Act, as amended (5 U.S.C., sec. 118n), is amended by striking out "or in the second sentence of section 12(a)". SEC. 6. Section 21 of such Act, as amended (5 U.S.C., sec. 118k-1), is amended by striking out ", or 12". SEC. 7. (a) The first paragraph of section 595n of title 18 of the United States Code is amended by striking out "or by any State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency) in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof." (b) The second paragraph of such section is amended by striking out "by any State or political subdivision thereof, or by the District of Columbia or by any Territory or possession of the United States" and inserting in lieu thereof “by the District of Columbia". (c) The heading of such section is amended to read as follows: "§ 595. Interference by administrative employees of Federal Government" (d) That portion of the analysis at the head of chapter 29 of title 18 of the United States Code which reads: "Sec. 595. Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments." is amended to read as follows: "Sec. 595. Interference by administrative employees of the Federal Government." [H.R. 876, 86th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To amend the Hatch Act to permit all officers and employees of the Government to exercise the full responsibility of citizenship and to take an active part in the political life of the United States Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That (a) the second, third, fourth, and fifth sentences of section 9(a) of the Act entitled "An Act to prevent pernicious political activities, 1939", approved August 2, 1939, as amended (5 U.S.C. 118i), are repealed. (b) The second, third, and fourth sentences of section 12 (a) of such Act (5 U.S.C. 118k) are repealed. (c) Sections 15, 16, and 18 of such Act (5 U.S.C., secs. 1181, 118m, 118n) are repealed. SEC. 2. No officer in the executive branch of the Government shall make any rule, regulation, or order limiting or restricting the right of officers or employees of the United States to take an active part in the political life of the Nation. [H.R. 3997, 86th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To remove certain restrictions imposed on the political activities of officers and employees of the Federal and State Governments Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That subsection (a) of section 9 of the Act entitled "An Act to prevent pernicious political activities," approved August 2, 1939 (5 U.S.C. 118i (a)), is amended by striking out the second, fourth, and fifth sentences. SEC. 2. Section 12 of such Act (5 U.S.C. 118k) is amended by (1) striking out the second and fourth sentences of subsection (a) of such section; and (2) striking out "two sentences," where it appears in subsection (e) of such section, and inserting in lieu thereof "sentence". SEC. 3. Section 14 of such Act (5 U.S.C. 118k-3) is amended by striking out all that follows "United States" down to the period at the end thereof. SEC. 4. The following parts of such Act are repealed: (1) Section 15 (5 U.S.C. 1181); (2) Section 16 (5 U.S.C. 118m); and (3) Section 18 (5 U.S.C. 118n). Mr. ASHMORE. One of the bills is H.R. 876 introduced by Mr. Multer on January 7, 1959. This bill seeks to amend the Hatch Act to permit officers and employees, both State and Federal, to take an active part in political activities. Another one of the bills is H.R. 3997 introduced by Mr. Anfuso. H.R. 696 is a committee bill that was introduced after an exhaustive study of this matter by this subcommittee and, upon its recommendation, it was approved by the full committee several months ago. The recommendations by the committee on December 31, 1958, relating to H.R. 696 were as follows: The committee recommends amendment of section 9(a) of the Hatch Act by eliminating the present preferential treatment afforded Interior Department employees of the Alaskan Railway, thus placing Alaskan Railway employees under the same political restrictions as are now or might be imposed on employees of the Bureau of Public Roads and other Federal agencies living in such cities as Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Seward. There at that point, I understand that some of the witnesses here have statements, have some opinions that they wish to get to the committee regarding that matter. I will, of course, at the proper time, be glad to hear from you. I am personally not too familiar with this Alaskan clause. Mr. Still, counsel, is more familiar with it; but that section has caused some further study or some request by different Government employees for appearances before the committee. The second recommendation is that the committee recommends amendment of section 9(b) of the Hatch Act to eliminate existing provisions requiring a unanimous vote of the Civil Service Commission to impose any lesser penalty than removal. The committee recommends amendment of section 9(b) of the Hatch Act to eliminate the present severe and harsh 90-day minimum suspension period for violators of section 9(a). It would reduce the penalty clause somewhat. The committee recommends the repeal of section 12 and such an amendment to sections 2 and 21 of the Hatch Act as to entirely remove State and municipal employees from coverage under the act, thus returning to the respective States and municipalities the responsibility for regulating the political conduct of their own employees. |