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11/19/43
PROBERS HEAR VINSON TOLD F. D. R. FLY HELD UP WAR WORK
The sharpest charge yet made in the House investigation of the Federal Communications Commission, headed by Representative Lea, of California, was when a letter was read to the Committee from Chair¬ man Carl Vinson ( D) , of Georgia, of the Naval Affairs Committee, to President Roosevelt last March in which Mr, Vinson charged Chairman James L. Fly with partial responsibility for the pearl Harbor dis¬ aster.
"The military communications are too important and too secret to be administered other than through the tightest control with such assistance as they may request by the Federal Communications Com¬ mission", Representative Vinson wrote the President,
Mr. Vinson suggested that Mr. Fly^s Board occupy an advisory position such as that set up for the FBI in connection with Army and Navy Intelligence.
"Without any question as to the integrity of Chairman Fly", wrote Mr. Vinson, "I seriously question his ability and judgment. Because of his successful opposition to the wire-tapping bill and to eliminating the foreign language broadcasts in Hawaii, he must share in the circumstances surrounding Pearl Harbor; and his opposition to H. R. 5074 (a measure aimed at disloyal ship radio operators) delayed its passage until after Pearl Harbor, and may have resulted in some losses. "
The FCC Chairman was also responsible. Representative Vinson asserted, for refusing to turn over the finger-prints of communication company employees to the FBI from September 1941, three months before Pearl Harbor until seven months after Pearl Harbor.
"His (Fly*s) principal advisor from labor, is reported to be a Communist, Also, some of his staff are under fire for radical ten¬ dencies, Naval secrets are not safe witn labor members on the Com¬ mittees,
The Lea Committee will meet again next Tuesday (November 23).
The Washington Post still hammering away for the removal of the Committee’s general counsel said:
"The House Committee investigating the Federal Communications Commission is seeking an additional appropriation of ^75,000 to carry on its work. Enough money to complete its inquiry should certainly be granted. A careful study of the FCC is a prerequisite to any legis¬ lative changes Congress may make in the regulation of the communica¬ tions industry. But there is one important step which the Committee should take in order to give assurance that the money it seeks will be wisely and usefully expended. That step is to rid itself of its present general counsel, Eugene L. Garey.
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