THE SOVIET INVASION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP70B00338R000300190042-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 25, 2005
• Sequence Number: 42
• Publication Date: September 17, 1968
• Content Type: OPEN

Approved -For Release 2005/08/03 : CIA-RDP70B00338R000300190042~9
September 17, 1968
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -SENATE S 10857
tion with a case that had been decided about struggle for basic human freedoms and dig- avoid economic paralysis, the Soviet Union
eight years before Justice Fortas was ap- nity. itself has found it necessary to discard the
pointed to the high tribunal. All the nations of Eastern Europe are di- rigid discipline of terror based on naked
In the Mallory case of 1957, a confessed rectly affected by the occupation of Czecho- force in many areas of endeavor. The in-
rapist's conviction had been reversed because Slovakia. In dragooning troops from the other escapable dilemma of the New Soviet rulers
his arraignment was delayed to permit in- Warsaw pact countries to participate in the is that they cannot hppe to keep pace with
terrogation. "MalloryI Mallory) I want that invasion, the Kremlin demonstrated both the Western democracies in economic growth
word to ring in your ears I" the South Carolina cynicism and ruthlessness. Not only did Mos- and technological advance unless they pro-
Republican shouted. cow seek to taint the communist regimes in
But Mallory had to do, of course, with no Warsaw, Budapest, Sofia and East Berlin spirit spiritvo of f eh eir own the creative of human
"mere technicality." r own people and of the be-
be-
If one man can be held with a measure of its own guilt by implicat- nighted peoples of eastern Europe.
without arraignment, another man can be. lug them in the Czech repression, but Mos- It would be a grave,mistake, in my judg-
You can be. If, as in the Gideon case which, cow also intended the rape of Prague as a ment, for Washington; to emulate the folly
as a lawyer, Abe Fortas had successfully warning to the people of the other nations of of Moscow by trying to revive the policies
argued before the Supreme Court In 1963, a Eastern Europe.
man can be sent to jail without counsel, so Because Soviet action in Czechoslovakia and ty years Ou nter characterized much
then can any man, has such menacing overtones, it is critically twenty years ago. Our interests will be much
urate assess- better served by a re~ponse which is for-
'To set aside the conviction of a man who important that we make an acc ed looking, ona
r been tried in violation of the Constitu- ment of the situation in framing our response The Union's man backward looking.
tion is not to set it aside on a mere techni- to it. First, it is necessary to see that the empire The Soviet Un Eastern 's Europe gun to be
cality." Justice Fortas declared, "Constitu-. Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia was an act cracked wide e open-and ope has begun to be
tionalism is not a technicality. Constitu- of weakness and desperation-not an act of Soviet wide an all the armies of the
tional rights are not technicalities. This is strength. A great aviet Union cannot put Humpty-Dumpty
power does not so demean back together again.
the phrase that should ring in the nation's itself in the eyes of the world unless it is Especially, we must resist those voices in
ears." gripped by dreadful anxieties and self-
our midst who counsel-from to whatever
One man's technicality is another man's doubts concerning its own inner strength we should r
ever eve enntts tive-
that liberty, and to ignore the procedural rights and viability. - in Czechoslovakia b kia b utti ng o ths
efforts
which are embedded in the U.S. Constitu- The world is witnessing the reaction of a to e atagreement~ to y Cutting off all
disar
m-
tion is to subvert all our liberties. reactionary great power. Believing Itself arrive with the USSR, US R, r byting n dfor ex-
There
There Is no reason why, when the Supreme safeguarded from from counter action ample, all SR, a by ending, for ex-
Court has made a decision, the decision by the United States, exploiting the priority ample, all e this vse tyde I believe singularly
should not be subject to criticism. The Court Washington is now giving to the Vietnam who sspous this view are being singularly . point of
is, after all, composed of men, and men can war; determined to allow the Middle East differentiating In nttwee of fect,our policy the
and has
err. But the kind of vitriol that has been crisis to smolder dangerously on-and ob- communist stccountries of Eastern the USSR Eu
spewed at the Court by other men who viously relying on the US to recognize the been u c i a minihas
should better-Pennsylvania Supreme Court Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern Eu- been a success. Certain
policy b ly, at n minmum,
Chief Justice John C. Bell Jr. and Pennsyl- rope-the Kremlin moved not only to sub- without such a policy by the United Stated
vania Associate Justice Michael A. Mus- ject Prague to stricter controls but to force gained gCzechs are less h likely to have and for example-does not accomplish it into an anti-Western policy. In doing doms they briefly, the iunder Dubcek-creating
ce and free-
precisely the thing they claim they want to this, the leaders in the Soviet Union hope to precedent enjoyed corder thheay had
accomplish, that is, to restore whatever re- thwart the Western policy of "bridge build- a the Kremlin lin off removing E the heavy hand
spect for law may be lacking today. ing," which has so impressed East Euro- of to Kremlin off Eastern Europe.
Neither is there any reason why any U.S. peans. About the only thing which could lend
senator should not, if he dislikes the color It is essential that United States policy being p of pr clam d by-the th the viet eciocc deceits
of Justice Fortas' opinions or his eyes, vote Po roclaimed aSoviet occupation
against the Fortas nomination to replace continue to distinguish between the people officials in Czechoslovakia-which are ac-
Chief Justi
against the Earl Warren. of Eastern Europe and the Communist re- cepted by no one-woul be a revival in the
wi ch have been forced on them by US of the hysteria and kind of knee-jerk
But a vote there must be. To block even ghe es Soviet .
that by means of a filibuster, as Republican We must adopt measures which encour- We rigidity must also ssociated guard with ea carseearlier day.
Sen. Robert Griffin of Michigan and other age and keep alive the striving for freedom me-has against the
Fortas opponents have threatened, would and normal contact with the West which has specious reasoning of our die-hart hawks who
be to resort to a parliamentary technicality persisted through so many dark years in would argue that our response to events the
to subvert the processes of democracy. Eastern Europe. Moreover, despite the So- Paris peace Czechoslovakia should be a break-off of at t
peace talks and the beginning of an-
viet use of Warsaw
c r
THE SOVIET INVASION OF
ZECHOSLOVAKIA
Mr. JAVITS. Mr. Pxesi en , I ask
unanimous consent to have printed in the
RECORD the text of a speech I delivered
before the Frontier Press Club, Buffalo,
N.Y., on September 14, 1968.
There being no objection, the speech
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
SOVIET INVASION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA RE-
VEALS KREMLIN'S FEAR OF FREEDOM
(Remarks of Senator JACOB K. JAVITs before
the Frontier Press Club, Buffalo, N.Y.,
Saturday, September 14, 1968)
The Soviet invasion and continuing occu-
pation of Czechoslovakia is a barbarous act
which challenges the conscience of civilized
men. The malice, the crudity and the deceit-
fulness of Soviet behavior in this instance
was highlighted by the bravery, dignity and
self-discipline which the Czech people have
displayed in the face of overpowering naked
force. The contrast could not have been more
poignant. It is a situation which inevitably
arouses toward the Soviet Union profound
feelings of moral revulsion, anger and frus-
tration. The denunciation of these acts which
has been voiced around the world seems to
fall on deaf ears in the Kremlin. One cannot
but feel a measure of chagrin over the seem-
ing inability of the United States and other
western democracies to accord any direct
protection to the embattled Czechs in their
oves of Poland,
Hungary, Bulgaria, and East Germany in
the occupation of Czechoslovakia, the United
States must remain alert to the vital dis-
tinctions between these peoples and the
USSR Itself. We cannot, in our policies, as-
sist Moscow in its efforts to blur or eradi-
cate those differences,
The Kremlin's repressionists who reacted
so brutally to stamp out the Dubcek-led re-
forms were correct in their fear that the evo-
lution of a liberal and humanitarian Czecho-
slovakia posed a threat to their own con-
tinued monopoly of power even within the
Soviet Union itself; for freedom is a con-
tagious disease. It could have spread in
epidemic proportions throughout the Soviet
Union. And there is no doubt that a free
Russia would have no place for those obso-
lete bureaucrats who learned their political
techniques in the schools of Stalinism.
Stalin's prime postwar objective was to
cement a wall of puppet states on the bor-
ders of the USSR that would do what they
were told. He, was unafraid of the contagion
of democracy because he could'rely upon his
secret police to stamp it out.
Today, the Russians' once paranoiac fears
of external aggression from the West have
receded into the background. Whatever they
may say in public, it is not the supposed
West German revanchists who keep Mr.
Brezhnev and Mr. Kosygin awake nights;
it is the intellectuals and journalists in
Prague and Moscow.
The crude repressive techniques of Stalin-
ism are incompatible with the functioning of
a sophisticated technological society. To
other escalation of the Vietnam war or the
rejection of the nuclear non-proliferation
treaty. I cannot see how this would serve our
interests in any way.
Indeed, in my judgment, the crisis in Eu-
rope makes it more imperative than ever
to accelerate the search for an agreement
which will terminate, or at least drastically
curtail, our massive combat involvement in
the Vietnam war.
The situation in Eastern and Central Eu-
rope is extremely volatile. As such, it poses
dangers to the peace of the world. This area
has twice - been the cockpit of war In this
century. There has still not been there an
overall settlement of the Second World War.
The present, ad hoc arrangements are unnat-
ural and inherently unstable.
Just as It would be irresponsible for the
US to encourage the peoples of Eastern Eu-
rope to rebel openly against their Commu-
nist masters, it would be tragic in the ex-
treme for the US to abandon the people of
Eastern Europe-thus leaving them Inde-
finitely to the grim fate which Moscow has
in mind for them. The people of the United
States-so many of whom have come from
the Slavic lands of Eastern Europe-will not
permit our government to adopt any such
passive and defeatist course.
Hopefully, when the Soviet government has
recovered its equilibrium it will view its ex-
perience in Czechoslovakia as an incentive
to move toward an overall European settle-
ment, which alone can bring long-term sta-
bility to Europe.
The emergence of a liberal regime in
Czechoslovakia, however- brief, signals a major
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 S 10858
I
Approved For Release 2005/08/03 : CIA-RDP70B00338l 000300190042-9
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE September 17, 1968
crack in the great freeze which has divided
Europe unnaturally for more than twenty
years. As such, it heralds a new period In
whieh the United States must again give its
first attention In International affairs to Eu-
rope. The inevitable break-up of he Cold War
arrangements in Europe will be a transition
period of great delicacy and potential danger.
Thus, far, the Soviet Union has not demon-
strated the poise, the sophistication and the
foresight which will be required on all sides
if we are to avoid the gravest kind of ten-
sions-and possibilities for blundering Into
war. It will be a situation requiring the high-
est order of leadership by the United States.
Both resolution and flexibility, as well as
firmness and compassion, will be needed.
Above all, we must not react blindly by
taking hasty action.
ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES AS A
PART OF CONSTITUTIONAL GOV-
ERNMENT
Mr. ERVIN. Mr. President, the Sep-
tember 16, 1968, issue of the NAM Re-
ports, published by the National Associa-
tion of Manufacturers, contains an
article summarizing portions of the tes-
timony presented at the recent hearings
on administrative agencies and in partic-
-.~__
ti.
l Labor Relations Rnard.
the Ka
na
t
th
a
o
e rw?-cy
which were held by the Senate Subcom- decisions contra, r
mittee on Separation of Powers, of the announced by Congress--which the Board
Committee on the Judiciary. definitely is not authorized to do."
The viewpoints of the Congressmen, for-
I ask unanimous consent that the er- mer NLRB members, law professors, .attor-
ticle be printed in the RECORD. neys and other distinguished experts who
There being no objection, the article were invited to testify was summarized by
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, Leonard S. Janofsky, a recognized authority
on labor legislation and the first senior Re-
as follows: gional Attorney for NLRB in Southern Call-
DOES NLRB FOLLOW THE LAW?-WITNESSES forma and Arizona. Said Mr. Janofsky:
TRACE DIVERGENCE BETWEEN CoulsE CON- "For 33 years, the National Labor Relations
GRESS PLOTTED AND PATH THE AGENCY TAKES Board has been part of the fastest growing
(EDrTOA's NOTE.-In the May 13 issue of area in the legal domain-administrative
-NAM Reports," we presented an abridged law. While other administrative agencies
version of the testimony of Francis A. O'Con- generally have kept abreast of the socio-
nell, Jr., vice president of employee relations economic changes in the areas they regu-
for Olin Mathieson Chemical Corp., who was sated, the NLRB persisted In its 1935 vision
the NAM witness before the Ervin Subcom- of employers and unions. The Board seems to
mittee hearings. Now, a summary of testi- harbor a, conviction that employers are the
mony by other witnesses has been completed, last obstacle standing between the working
and an article reviewing the highlights of man and his self-betterment.
these authoritative statements has been pre- "This credo best explains the NLRB's Pre-
pared for wide distribution to the trade and quent disregard or contravention of the will
general press; this digest will be published of Congress, under whose authority It tunc-
This it does on the theory that Con-
lions
" Th
"
.
e
NAM Reports.
first as a series In
demanding abolition of the
initial installment appears here.) gress meant its Preamble to the 1936 Act to unions were
"Whether we like It or not, the administra- be immutable and that any reassessments. NLRB because of the Board's bias and preju-
tive agency has come to be a primary instru- such as the 1947 and 1969 amendmentes, are dice against them.
ment of government in our country," Sc- notto be taken seriously." In his statement before the Subcommittee,
cording to Senator Sam J. Ervin, Jr. (D., BOARD RESIFTS LIMITS the former chairman of the House Commit-
N.C.) ? that the NLRB has usurped tee on Education and Labor asserted that the
charge Taft-Hartley amendments provided proce-
,fl
"Although the nation now accepts the ad-
ministrative agency as a normal and con-
stitutional part of the government... Sen.
Ervin declared, "there still remains the
problem of assuring that the independent
administrative agencies faithfully execute
the laws entrusted to them by Congress...."
Authorized by Congress, the administrative
agency gets its policy and principal rules of
procedures at the same time that it is cre-
ated. During the key periods of their growth-
in the 1920's and 1940's-such agencies be-
came fairly independent. In their evolution,
they attained the unique status of possess-
ing executive, legislative and judicial powers,
while qualifying neither as legislature nor
court-and while remaining independent of
the executive branch.
Now Congress, in its role of lifegiver and
'lawgiver, has become restless with this ar-
rangement. This is because, in the words of
Sen. Ervin, "the exercise of their power di-
rectly or indirectly affects every citizen, and
the work product of these administrative
agencies constitutes the largest source of
'law` in our country .. .
Since Congress has had mixed success in created by Congress is essentially a court,
its occasional legislative efforts to correct for unlike other independent agencies vest-
questionable behavior by administrative ed with quasi-legislative powers, Congress
agencies, the Senate Subcommittee on Sep- did not entrust it with policy-making au-
aration of Powers.' chaired by Sen. Ervin, thority .. .
was designated to look into such problems. "One of the most startling aspects of how
It chose to examine first the agency that the presen Board has disregarded Congres-
had generated the most controversy-the sional
been nt sand eries f aside guiding which precedent
National Labor Relations Board. has
"Constitutional law and representative virtually restructured the whole foundation
government cannot exist." Sen. Ervin pointed of bargaining in certain industries."
out in his preliminary remarks, "if officials plant cited eBoard re orders engage g` g
board members of the agencies, or the judges simultaneously with a coalition of unions
on the courts. have the power to modify, re- for system-wide wages and working condi-
pr, or Ignore the will of Congress as ex- travene ce-tificato 1s Issued by the out,
Board it-
presessed d in in statutes.- ra
It was precisely to guard against such self, limiting each union's authority to speak
encroachments that the Subcommittee for the workers in c particular plant. (Italics
launched a series of extensive hearings in ours.)
the Spring of 1968. At the outset, the chair- It is important to appreciate the signifl-
man declared that "policy-making is not a cance of this last point. While expressing
function that properly can be performed by concern that the Board decisions will inflict
a small group of appointed officials . In serious damage that such NLRB
the case of the National Labor Relations position, Reilly aa
Board - . . these problems are particularly approval 'Aolates the Taft Hartley Act and
acute . deprives workers of fundamental representa-
"Some of the criticism directed at the tion rights.
Board," he continued. "may be explained by (Editor's Note.--This trend to coalition
the Importance of the Issues it decides and bargaining was dramatically demonstrated by
the passions these issues engender. But it the nine-month copper strike. The objective
would be a mistake to excuse all criticism of some 26 unions. led by the United Steel-
on these grounds." The Senator stated that workers, toss to fo-ce the four major copper
the Board has been criticized "for making producers to sign contracts uaith all the
n -wide basis covering
om
s
legislative powers is a recurrent theme of the dures for employees to secure a Board de-
Ervin hearings, and its genesis was decisively certification election when a majority of
described by Gerard D. Reilly, another former workers no longer wanted a particular union
NLRB member and the ex-Solicitor of the as bargaining representative.
Labor Department. After observing that the ..bar NLRB manifesting its usual pro-
Board was envisioned as an impartial, quasi- unionThe , anti-employee, anti-management bias,
judicial tribunal which would review tran-
soon re?3uced these new procedures to a
scripts of testimony and make findings of shadow of what Congress intended." he
facts, Reilly declared: declared.
"I have come to the opinion that the pres- "Employers were denied the right to pe-
ent Board has never reconciled itself to so tition for a Board election," Hartley went
limited a role, but conceives of itself as a on "unless they proved their good-faith of
maker of national labor policy . . . It should the union's claimed majority status. Em-
always be borne in mind that the Board as ployees were proiibited from changing their
? It is pertinent to note that Sen. Ervin
Instructed his witnesses to concentrate on
these three main questions-(1) DO the in-
dependent agencies exercise powers greater
than those granted them by Congress? (2) If
so, what explanations can be offered? (3)
How can Congress improve its oversight so
that the exercise of agency power can be
brought into better balance with Constitu-
tional responsibilities of Congress.
p
y
unions on a c
thousands of employees doing different :rinds
of work in various parts of the country.
(Such c bargaining approach--by its huge
mass and impersonal nature-obviously can-
not be responsive to the widely divergent
needs and tnteresvs of the workers-and so
prevents them frvrn enjoying the represen-
tational benefits to which they are entitled
by law.)
`LITTLE PEOPLE BEING HURT"
Testimony of other witnesses who ap-
peared at the herrings reflects similar con-
cern watt. the threat to individual freedoms.
The conclusion that emerges from their
voluminous Statements is that the little peo-
ple-small businesses, independent unions,
and the individual employees-are being hurt
as much as, and possibly more than, the
large companies by the misapplication of
labor laws.
On this point, former Representative Fred
A. Hartley, Jr, CD-sponsor of the 1947 Act
that bears his name, charged that the Board
consistently favors the big AFL-CIO unions,
adding that as early as 1940, independent
bargaining representative, even if it had lost
a majority, and unions were permitted to
punish by fine or other form of discipline
union members who sought to invoke the
decertification p'?ocedures under the Act."
. Reinforcing this concern with NLRB's ex-
hibition of favoritism toward the major
union organizations were the observations
of Senator Robert P. Griffin (R., Mich.), co-
author of the 1959 Landrum-Griffin Act, the
sweeping reform statute that was over-
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