78-14-B5
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End of [an] Emergency[edit]
Transcript[edit]Until September 14 this year, the power of virtual dictatorship was lodged in the Office of the President of the United States. The President had full emergency power to seize the property of private citizens -- to organize and control the means of production -- to seize commodities from their owners -- to institute martial law throughout the nation -- to seize and control all transportation and communication--to restrict the right to travel of American citizens -- and to control the lives and actions of supposedly free Americans in countless other ways. Where, you ask, did this outrageous grant of power to the President care from? It came not in one big Presidential Powers Act of Congress, for of course such a measure would have been shouted down in Congress, in the news media, and in every town hall and meeting place across the land. That fearsome concentration of power in the Presidency came from no less than 470 separate statutes enacted by Congress over the past 46 years to empower him to deal with "national emergencies". Each of these statutes spelled out how something was to be done. But each also provided that the President could take further action in case of a "national emergency" -- proclaimed by the President. All any President had to do was say the word, and these extraordinary powers were his to use pretty much as he saw fit. Once a President declared a national emergency, he rarely thought about terminating that state of affairs later on. The emergency became history, but the President's power to act continued in full legal force. Thus, until September 14 of this year, the nation was in a national emergency proclaimed by President Roosevelt in 1933 to cope with the banking crisis. We were also in a state of national emergency because of the Commmunist invasion of South Korea in 1950, and because of the 1970 postal strike, and because of the 1971 decision by President Nixon to close the gold window to foreign central banks. And during any of those emergencies, the President had the full powers conferred by all 470 separate statutes accumulated since 1933. On September 14, however, the National Emergencies Act of 1976 took full effect. On that day all preceding national emergencies were declared terminated by Congress, and the President of the United States can no longer make use of those sweeping powers. The President may still declare a state of national emergency, but under the new act Congress will continually review the emergency and the actions of the President to deal with it, and may end the emergency by concurrent resolution at any time. For the first time in nearly half a century, Americans are not living in a formal state of national emergency. Let us hope that it will be a long time before another one is declared. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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