TESTIMONY OF EUGENE DENNIS Senator HRUSKA. Mr. Sourwine, will you proceed? Mr. DENNIS. Mr. Chairman, before we proceed I would like to read a brief statement which is very pertinent to the hearings today. Senator HRUSKA. Mr. Dennis, has that statement been submitted to the committee or its counsel 24 hours in advance of this hearing, as our rules require? Mr. DENNIS. I wish to introduce it at this point. Senator HRUSKA. Has this statement been submitted to the committee 24 hours prior to this hearing as required by the rules of the committee? Mr. DENNIS. I believe, Mr. Chairman, that it is essential to the guarantee of my constitutional rights, in view of the remarks that the chairman has made in opening this thing, that I should be permitted to read a very brief statement relative to the position which I will take in regard to questions propounded to me, why I shall invoke the first and fifth amendments and shall not voluntarily answer any questions regarding my political beliefs and associations; and, further, it is pertinent because I called to the attention of the Congress Senator HRUSKA. Mr. Dennis, will you please come to order? Mr. DENNIS. The Nelson Rockefeller conspiracy, the munitions lobby and Senator HRUSKA. Will you please come to order? Mr. DENNIS. May I read this statement? Senator HRUSKA. The Chair is about to rule on that point. If you are in the process of giving the substance of the statement you are entirely out of order. And, as you well know, Mr. Dennis, the rules of the committee are that any statement that the witness wishes to make at the inception of his testimony must be submitted to the counsel of the committee or to the committee member in charge of the hearings 24 hours in advance of the hearing. There is good and valid reason for that. That is the wellestablished rule of the committee, you having been aware of that should be guided accordingly, and I am constrained to say that this is not the time for you to make a statement. You may at any time in response to questions given you assert your privilege, if you want to make a claim to one, but this is not the time for such a statement. Mr. DENNIS. Mr. Chairman, I was not so notified. Senator HRUSKA. Mr. Dennis, you are aware of that because on previous occasions when you testified before this same Internal Security Subcommittee you made a similar attempt to make an introduction of an introductory statement and you were advised what the committee rule was and that rule was enforced at that time as it will be at this time. Mr. DENNIS. I will remind the chairman that at that time I was permitted to read a part of the statement. Senator HRUSKA. And that was, of course, upon submission of the statement to counsel before you read it and by a waiver of the rule. You have made no such action now. Mr. DENNIS. I will submit this statement. Senator HRUSKA. Very well, you may submit it and we will refer it to counsel for his judgment. (Pause in the proceedings.) Senator HRUSKA. The record will show that the acting chairman has perused the statement and he has counseled with Mr. Sourwine. It is his ruling that the statement is out of order and it will not be given at this time by the witness. Mr. DENNIS. Mr. Chairman Senator HRUSKA. And that will not in any way prejudice the rights of the witness because at any time he chooses during the propounding of questions to him he may assert any constitutional rights he may wish to avail himself of. That is the ruling of the Chair. Mr. Sourwine, you may proceed. Mr. DENNIS. Mr. Chairman, I request that the statement be introduced in the record. Senator HRUSKA. That request will be taken under advisement. Mr. DENNIS. Is this thing [indicating microphone] disconnected? Mr. SOURWINE. Mr. Dennis, where do you live? Mr. DENNIS. 620 West 151st Street, New York City. Mr. DENNIS. I decline to answer. Mr. SOURWINE. On what ground, Mr. Dennis? Mr. DENNIS. On the basis of my constitutional rights under the first amendment which prohibits this or any other committee of the Congress to investigate my political beliefs or associations. I decline further because I refuse to be a party to this committee's efforts to use this hearing in such a way as to obstruct the historic understandings reached by the President and Premier Khrushchev or Richard Nixon in improving American-Soviet relations. I further refuse to answer under my rights in the fifth amendment, because of existing repressive legislation on the statute books and the way it is administered, legislation which this committee bears a sinister responsibility in helping enact, legislation which Senator HRUSKA. The witness will refrain from making any derogatory remarks about the committee. Mr. DENNIS. Legislation under which, if I were to answer this or similar questions, might involve me in litigation or court proceedings and under the fifth amendment I refuse to be a witness against myself. Senator HRUSKA. Before making a ruling the Chair would like to know if the witness considers the place of his residence, the place of his business as being a disclosure of political activity or belief? Mr. DENNIS. I decline to answer on the grounds stated. Senator HRUSKA. Very well. The Chair will rule that the objections voiced on the basis of the first amendment and, in fact, on all grounds other than the fifth amendment, are overruled. With reference to his objection to the question on the basis of the fifth amendment and the testimony against himself, the objection is sustained. Mr. SOURWINE. Mr. Dennis, you are presently the national secretary of the Communist Party, U.S.A., are you not? Mr. DENNIS. I decline to answer on the grounds previously stated. Senator HRUSKA. Same ruling. Mr. SOURWINE. Mr. Dennis, in an advertisement appearing in the Worker for September 27, 1959, you are mentioned as a speaker at a meeting celebrating the 40th anniversary celebration of the Communist Party, U.S.A., held at Carnegie Hall in New York City on Friday, September 25. You are listed in the Worker as the national secretary, Communist Party, U.S.A. Won't you admit that the Worker is the official publication of the Communist Party and its designation of you as national secretary of the Party is accurate? Mr. DENNIS. I decline to answer on the ground stated. Senator HRUSKA. Same ruling. Mr. SOURWINE. Mr. Dennis, is the Communist Party, U.S.A., of which the Worker, the organ of the Communist Party, says you are the national secretary, the same organization, in the legal sense, that was founded on September 1, 1919? Mr. DENNIS. I decline to answer on the grounds stated. Mr. SOURWINE. Mr. Chairman, I offer for the record a photostat of an article from the Worker for August 30, 1959, page 16, and a clipping from the Worker of September 27, 1959, and another clipping from the Worker of August 9, 1959. The article is headed "CP Calls for 2-Month 40th Anniversary Celebration," the first one; and the other two are advertisements of the 40th anniversary celebration of the Communist Party, U.S.A. Senator HRUSKA. The exhibits offered will be made a part of the record at this point, and accepted for the use of the committee. (The clippings refered to were marked "Exhibit 2, 2-A and 2–B” and read as follows:) EXHIBIT No. 2 [From the Worker, Aug. 30, 1959] CP CALLS FOR 2-MONTH 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION The Communist Party vowed last week, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of its founding, "to strive ever more effectively to fulfill its role as an American vanguard party, to strengthen itself theoretically and ideologically, to build anew and with greater firmness than ever its ties to the masses of American working people, to build the people's democratic unity in the fight against the trusts, and to lead the way to a socialist America." In a public statement the party's national executive committee urged its members and friends to join in the observance of the anniversary during September and October. The statement follows: "On September 1, 1919-40 years ago-the Communist Party of the U.S.A. came into being. It was born in the period of storm and struggle following World War I, and its 40 years have been a history of struggle for peace, democracy, and social progress 40 years which have witnessed momentous change on a world scale and in our own country. "Then, the world's first socialist state was fighting for its life against foreign intervention. Today one-third of the world is socialist and promises soon to overtake capitalism in every respect. Then, the national liberation movement was making its first, halting advances. Today there exists an imposing bloc of liberated countries-a powerful bastion of world peace and national freedom. Then world peace was but a dream. Today a world without war is a goal within our immediate reach. "Then, less than 4 million American workers were organized, chiefly those in skilled crafts. Today a powerful labor movement exists, numbering some 16 million members and embracing the country's basic industries. In these years, too, there have been impressive advances in the social and economic welfare of American workers, as well as in the movement for full equality for our country's 16 million Negro citizens. "In all these struggles, the Communist Party has played no small part. Though it has never been large in numbers, its contributions to the fight against war and fascism, organization of the unorganized, social security, Negro rights and other vitally important movements and crusades, have had a significant Impact on the American scene. "During these 40 years, the party has weathered repeated assaults by big business reaction which, ever since the party's inception, has aimed at nothing less than its total destruction. From the Palmer raids to the Smith, TaftHartley, McCarran, and Communist control acts; from the political blacklists of the twenties to the witch hunts of the Walter and Eastland committees of today, no effort has been spared in the unending campaign falsely to brand the Communist Party as "foreign agent," as a "conspiracy" to advocate the violent overthrow of the U.S. Government, and to destroy its democratic rights and influence as an American political party. "The party has weathered repeated onslaughts of revisionism and the pernicious, destructive effects of dogmatism and sectarianism within its own ranks, above all the unparalleled ideological crisis of the past few years. From this we have emerged intact, though much reduced in numbers and influence, and again on the road to consolidation and new growth. "That the Communist Party has survived every attack and that its enemies cannot succeed in their efforts to destroy it is due to the fact that it owes its existence, not to sinister machinations or conspiracies, but to the class struggle which, in this as in every other capitalist country, inevitably gives birth to a working class political party guided by the principles of scientific socialism. "As Robert Minor once said: ""The forces that brought the Communist movement into existence are the deepest, the most permanent forces in American history. This land of the most highly developed economic system and correspondingly the most powerful capitalist state the largest and strongest capitalism the world has ever known-has within it more compelling social causes for a Communist movement than any other country.' "The Communist Party proudly celebrates its 40th anniversary, determined to strive ever more effectively to fulfill its role as an American vanguard political party, to strengthen itself theoretically and ideologically, to build anew and with greater firmness than ever its ties to the masses of American working people, to build the people's democratic unity in the fight against the trusts, and to lead the way to a socialist America. "On this occasion we dedicate ourselves anew to the great cause of world peace, and to the fight for socialism. On this occasion, too, we pledge ourselves to a heightened struggle for democratic rights in our country, and for the freedom of our imprisoned comrades, Bob Thompson, Henry Winston, and Gil Green, as well as of all other political prisoners. "It is in this spirit that we call upon the party's members and friends to join in the observance of its 40th anniversary during the months of September and October, to make it an occasion for looking confidently toward the future, for uniting and strengthening the Communist Party and setting it more firmly on the road ahead." EXHIBIT No. 2-A [From the Worker, Aug. 27, 1959] 1919-1959 40th Anniversary Celebration Carnegie Hall, 57 Street and Seventh Ave. Speakers: Eugene Dennis, national secretary, Communist Benjamin J. Davis, former New York City council man, New York State Committee Communist Party Hear the Voice of Dr. Juan Marinello, chairman of the Popular Tim Buck, Leader of the Labor Progressive |