"I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to a speedy adoption. But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will confront me. I shall ask the Congress for one remaining instrument to meet the crisis -- broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe."
On March the 4th, 1933, at his inauguration, President Roosevelt was going to ask Congress for the extraordinary authority available to him under the War Powers Act. Let's see if he got it.
On March the 5th, President Roosevelt asked for a special and extraordinary session of Congress in Proclamation 2038. He called for the special session of Congress to meet on March the 9th at noon. And at that Congress, he presented a bill, an Act, to provide for relief in the existing national emergency in banking and for other purposes.
In the enabling portion of that Act (Exhibit 17 -- PUBLIC LAWS IF THE SEVENTY-THIRD CONGRESS, first session), it stated:
"Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Congress hereby declares that a serious emergency exists and that it is imperatively necessary speedily to put into effect remedies of uniform national application."
What is the concept of the rule of necessity, referred to in the enabling portion of the Act as "imperatively necessary speedily"? The rule of necessity is a rule of law which states that necessity knows no law. A good example of the rule of necessity would be the concept of self defense. The law says, "Thou shalt not kill." But also know that, if you are in dire danger, in danger of losing your life, then you have the absolute right of self-defense. You have the right to kill to protect your own life. That is the ultimate rule of necessity.
Thus we see the rule of necessity overrides all other laws, and, in fact, allows one to do that which would normally be against the law. So it is reasonable to assume that the wording of the enabling portion of the Act of March 9, 1933, is an indication that what follows is something which will probably be against the law. It will probably be against the Constitution of the United States, or it would not require that the rule of necessity be invoked to enact it.
In the Act of March 9, 1933, (Exhibit 17), it further states in Title 1, Section 1:
"The actions, regulations, rules, licenses, orders and proclamations heretofore or hereafter taken, promulgated, made, or issued by the President of the United States or the Secretary of the Treasury since March the 4th, 1933, pursuant to the authority conferred by subdivision (b) of Section 5 of the Act of October 6, 1917, as amended, are hereby approved and confirmed."
…The Act of March 9, 1933, is still in full effect today. We are still under the Rule of Necessity. We are still in a declared state of national emergency, a state which has existed, uninterrupted, since 1933….
As you remember, the authority to do this is conferred by Subsection (b) of Section 5 of the Act of October 6, 1917, as amended. What was the authority which was used to declare and enact the emergency in this Act? If we look at the Act of October 6, 1917, (Exhibit 18} we see that at the top right-hand part of the page it states that this was:
"An Act To define, regulate, and punish trading with the enemy, and for other purposes."
But [in] the year 1917, the United States was involved in World War I; at that point, it was recognized that there were probably enemies of the United States, or allies of enemies of the United States, living within the continental borders of our nation in a time of war.
Therefore, Congress passed this Act which identified who could be declared enemies of the United States, and, in this Act, we gave the government total authority over those enemies to do as it saw fit. We also see, however, in Section 2, Subdivision © in the middle, and again at the bottom of the page:
"other than citizens of the United States."
The Act specifically excluded citizens of the United States, because we realized in 1917 that the citizens of the United States were not enemies. Thus we were excluded from the war powers over enemies of this Act.
Section 5 (b) of the same Act (Exhibit 19) states:
"That the President may investigate, regulate, or prohibit, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, by means of licenses or otherwise, any transactions in foreign exchange, export, or earmarking of gold or silver coin or bullion or currency, transfers of credit in any form (other than credits relating solely to transactions to be executed wholly within the United States)".
Again we see that citizens, and the transactions of citizens made wholly within the United States, were specifically excluded from the war powers of this Act. We, the People, were not enemies of our country, therefore, the government did not have total authority over us as they were given over our enemies. It is important to draw attention again to the fact that citizens of the United States in October, 1917, were not called enemies. Consequently the government, under the war powers of this Act, did not have authority over us; we were still protected by the Constitution. Granted, over the enemies of this nation, the government was empowered to do anything it deemed necessary, but not over us. This distinction made between enemies of the United States and citizens of the United States will become critical later on.
In Section 2 of the Act of March 9, 1933 (Exhibit 17),
"Subdivision (b) of Section 5 of the Act of October 1, 1917, (40 Stat. L 411), as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows;"
So we see that they are now going to amend Section 5 (b). Now let's see how it reads after it's amended. The amended version of Section 5 (b) reads (emphasis is ours):
"During time of war or during any other period of national emergency declared by the President, the President may, through any agency that he may designate, or otherwise investigate, regulate, or prohibit, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, by means of licenses or otherwise, any transactions in foreign exchange, transfers of credit between or payments by banking institutions as defined by the President and export, hoarding, melting, or earmarking of gold or silver coin or bullion or currency, by persons within the United States or anyplace subject to the jurisdiction thereof."
What just happened? As far as commercial, monetary or business transactions were concerned, the people of the United States were no longer differentiated from any other enemy of the United States. We had lost that crucial distinction. Comparing Exhibit 17 with Exhibit 19, we can see that the phrase which excluded transactions executed wholly within the United States has been removed from the amended version of Section 5 (b) of the Act of March 9, 1933, Section 2, and replaced with "by any persons within the United States or anyplace subject to the jurisdiction thereof." All monetary transactions, whether domestic or international in scope, were now placed at the whim of the President of the United States through the authority given to him by the Trading with the enemy Act.
To summarize this crucial point: On October the 6th, 1917, at the beginning of America's involvement in World War I, Congress passed a Trading with the enemy Act empowering the government to take control over any and all commercial, monetary or business transactions conducted by enemies or allies of enemies within our continental borders. That Act also defines the term "enemy" and excluded from that definition citizens of the United States….
Citizens of the United States were not enemies of their country in 1917….
But in looking again at Section 2 of the Act of March 9, 1933, (Exhibit 17), we can see that the phrase excluding wholly domestic transactions has been removed from the amended version and replaced with "by persons within the United States or any place subject to the jurisdiction thereof."
The people of the United States were now subject to the power of the Trading with the enemy Act of October 6, 1917, as amended. For purposes of all commercial, monetary and, in effect, all business transactions, We, the People became the same as the enemy, and were treated no differently. There was no longer any distinction.
It is important here to note that, in the Acts of October 6, 1917, and March 9, 1933, it states: "during times of war or during any other national emergency declared by the President." So we now see that the war powers not only included a period of war, but also a period of "national emergency" as defined by the President of the United States. When either of these two situations occur, the President may (exhibit 17)
"through any agency that he may designate, or otherwise investigate, regulate, or prohibit, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, by means of licenses or otherwise, any transactions in foreign exchange, transfers of credit between or payments by banking institutions as defined by the President and export, hoarding, melting, or earmarking of gold or silver coin or bullion or currency, by persons within the United States or anyplace subject to the jurisdiction thereof."
What can the President do now to We, the People under this section? He can do anything he wants to do. It is purely at his discretion, and he can use any agency or any license that he desires to control it. This is called a constitutional dictatorship.
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Source: http://fourwinds10.com
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