1973. The Department has responded with figures showing that 9,167 individuals have been convicted of draft law violations, and 206,775 men have been referred to various U.S. attorneys as draft law delinquent during this period of time.

We requested similar information from the Defense Department regarding military deserters. The Department responded that from 1963 through 1973, almost 4,000 persons were prosecuted for desertion, while over 28,000 deserters from that period currently remain at large. In addition, the Defense Department supplied us with figures showing that 545.500 men received other than honorable discharges from 1963 through 1973. While not all of these other than honorable discharges are war-related, all would come under the purview of the legislation before the subcommittee.

These figures indicate that the question of amnesty is one affecting large numbers of Americans, and hopefully these hearings will provide a comprehensive overview of the pros and cons before the committee which will affect the lives of so many.

Our committee has before it 10 measures relating to amnesty. Eight of these would grant amnesty in one form or another. The other measures do not have the force of law, and if adopted, would express the sense of Congress that no amnesty should be granted.

Because these measures differ in such great detail from one to another, I recently requested the Library of Congress to prepare a comparison of the different amnesty bills. That comparison was recently circulated to all members of the subcommittee. At this time, without objection, I will submit the 10 bills, the Defense Department report on three of the measures, and the analysis for inclusion in the

record.

[The documents referred to follow:]

[H.R. 236, 93d Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To exonerate and to provide for a general and unconditional amnesty for certain persons who have violated or are alleged to have violated laws in the course of protest against the involvement of the United States in Indochina, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "War Resisters Exoneration Act of 1973".

FINDINGS AND DECLARATION

SEC. 2. (a) The Congress finds and declares that a general and unconditional amnesty, with full restoration of all civil, political, property, and other rights is a necessary measure, after the cessation of United States military operations in Indochina, for the reconciliation and reinstatement of persons who have been prosecuted, or who may be subject to prosecution, for failing to comply with any requirement of, or relating to, service in the Armed Forces during the involve ment of the United States in Indochina, or for engaging in any nonviolent activity or activity justified by deeply held moral or ethical belief in protest of, or opposition to, the involvement of the United States in Indochina.

(b) The Congress further finds and declares that it is an immunity of citizens of the United States (within the meaning of section 1 of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States) to enjoy the annulment of all legal disadvantages that have been incurred or suffered by reason of opposition to the involvement of the United States in Indochina, to the greatest extent consistent with the preservation of life and property.

EFFECT OF GENERAL AMNESTY

SEC. 3. The general amnesty granted by or under this Act shall, with respect to any violation of law enumerated in section 4 or covered under section 6

(1) restore to the grantee all civil, political, citizenship and property rights which have been or might be lost, suspended, or otherwise limited as a consequence of such violation;

(2) immunize the grantee from criminal prosecution for such violation; (3) expunge all notation relating to such violation from the records of courts and law enforcement agencies;

(4) require the granting of an honorable discharge to any person who received a discharge other than an honorable discharge from the Armed Forces if such violation was solely the cause, or a substantial cause, of the granting of such other than honorable discharge; and

(5) nullify all other legal consequences of such violation.

AUTOMATIC GENERAL AMNESTY

SEC. 4. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, general amnesty is hereby granted to any person for violation of one or more of the laws enumerated in this section, or regulations and policies promulgated pursuant thereto, if such violation was committed between August 4, 1964, and the effective date of this section. Such amnesty is automatic, and no application to the Amnesty Commission or any other agency is necessary to effectuate it.

(b) General amnesty is granted for violations of any of the following laws: (1) Section 12 of the Military Selective Service Act (50 App. U.S.C. 462) with respect to the following prohibited acts—

(A) evading or refusing registration, evading or refusing induction into the Armed Forces, or willfully failing to perform any other duty under such Act, or conspiring to do so;

(B) knowingly counseling, aiding, or abetting others to refuse or evade registration or service in the Armed Forces of the United States, or conspiring to do so; or

(C) publicly and knowingly destroying or mutilating any registration or classification card issued or prescribed pursuant to such Act and knowingly violating or evading any of the provisions of such Act, or rules and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto relating to the issuance, transfer, or possession of any registration or classification card.

(2) Section 882 of title 10, United States Code, which prohibits the soliciting or advising another, or attempting to solicit or advise others, to desert the Armed Forces of the United States.

(3) Sections 885 and 886 of title 10, United States Code, which prohibit deserting or going absent without leave from the Armed Forces of the United States. (4) Section 887 of title 10, United States Code, which prohibits missing the movement of a ship, aircraft, or unit with which it is required in the course of duty to move.

(5) Section 888 of title 10, United States Code, which prohibits using contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of the Treasury, or the Governor or legislature of any State, territory, Commonwealth, or possession on which he is on duty or present while a commissioned officer in the United States Armed Forces.

(6) Section 1381 of title 18, United States Code, which prohibits the enticing or procuring, or conspiring or attempting to entice or procure any person in the Armed Forces of the United States, or who has been recruited for service therein, to desert therefrom, or aiding any such person in deserting, or in attempting to desert from such service; or harboring, concealing, protecting, or assisting any such person who may have deserted from such service, knowing him to have deserted therefrom, or refusing to give up and deliver such person on the demand of any officer authorized to receive him.

(7) Section 2387 of title 18, United States Code, which prohibits the advising, counseling, urging or in any manner causing or attempting to cause insubordination. disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty by any member of the military or naval forces of the United States, with the intent to interfere with, impair, or influence the loyalty, morale, or discipline of the military or naval forces of the United States.

AMNESTY COMMISSION

SEC. 5. (a) There is established a commission to be known as the Amnesty Commission (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the "Commission").

(b) The Commission shall be composed of five members, qualified to serve on the Commission by virtue of their education, training, or experience, as follows: (1) One appointed by the President.

(2) One appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate.

(3) One appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

(4) One appointed by the minority leader of the Senate.

(5) One appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives. Individuals who are officers or employees of any government are not eligible for appointment to the Commission. A vacancy in the Commission shall be filled in the manner in which the original appointment was made.

(c) Members shall be appointed for the life of the Commission.

(d) (1) Members of the Commission shall each be entitled to receive an annual salary equal to the annual salary payable to a judge of a United States district court.

(2) While away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of services for the Commission, members of the Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as persons employed intermittently in the Government service are allowed expenses under section 5703 (b) of title 5 of the United States Code.

(e) Three members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum. The Chairman of the Commission shall be elected by the members of the Commission.

(f) The Commission may appoint and fix the pay of such personnel as it deems desirable, including such hearing examiners as are necessary for proceedings under this section. The provisions applicable to hearing examiners appointed under section 3105 of title 5 are applicable to hearing examiners appointed pursuant to this subsection.

(g) (1) The Commission may secure directly from any department or agency of the United States information necessary to enable it to carry out this section. Upon request of the Chairman of the Commission, the head of such department or agency shall furnish such information to the Commission.

(2) The Commission may use the United States mails in the same manner and upon the same conditions as other departments and agencies of the United States. (3) The Administrator of General Services shall provide to the Commission on a reimbursable basis such administrative support services as the Commission may request.

GRANT OF GENERAL AMNESTY BY THE COMMISSION

SEC. 6. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Commission shall grant general amnesty as provided for in section 3 of this Act to any individual who, during the period beginning August 5, 1964, and ending on the effective date of this Act, violated any Federal law (other than one enumerated in section 4 of this Act) or State or local law if the Commission finds that

(1) such violation was in substantial part motivated by the individual's opposition to, or protest against, the involvement of the United States in Indochina; and

(2) the individual was not personally responsible for any significant property damage or substantial personal injury to others in the course of his violation of any such law;

except that, in any case in which the Commission finds that an individual was personally responsible for significant property damage or substantial personal injury to others in the course of his violation of any such law, the Commission shall grant amnesty if it finds that such conduct was justifiable on the basis of a moral or ethical belief deeply held by the individual.

(b) (1) Whenever the Commission grants general amnesty under this section to an applicant who received a discharge other than an honorable discharge from the Armed Forces, it shall make a finding as to whether any violation of law for which general amnesty is granted was solely the cause, or a substantial cause, of the granting of such discharge.

(2) The Commission shall also have jurisdiction to hear and determine applications from individuals entitled to automatic amnesty under section 4 of this Act and aggrieved by the refusal of the military board concerned to grant an hororable discharge to him under section 3 (4) of this Act.

(3) Any finding or determination made by the Commission pursuant to this subsection shall be conclusive upon the military board concerned and is not reviewable by any agency or member of the Armed Forces or any civilian officer of the military establishment.

(c) Any individual desiring amnesty under this section, or review of the decision by a military board to deny him an honorable discharge, shall make application therefor to the Commission in such form as it shall prescribe. The Commission shall not receive any application for amnesty or discharge review under this Act after the close of the forty-eighth month after the month in which this section takes effect.

(d) Any application for amnesty or discharge review which is timely filed shall be determined on the record after opportunity for hearing in accordance with sections 554, 556, and 557 of title 5, United States Code. The entire record developed at the hearing on any application shall be certified to the Commission for decision. All decisions of the Commission shall be by majority vote.

(e) Any applicant may obtain judicial review of a decision by the Commission which is adverse to him by filing a petition for review in the United States court of appeals for the circuit wherein he resides within sixty days after the date on which the decision is made. The Commission shall thereupon file in the court the record of the proceedings on which the Commission based its decision, as provided in section 2112 of title 28. The court shall have jurisdiction to review the decision in accordance with chapter 7 of title 5 and to grant appropriate relief as provided for in such chapter.

(f) Any individual not able to apply to the Commission for a determination under subsection (b) (2) of this subsection because the decision of the military board concerned to deny him an honorable discharge was made after a date sixty days prior to the closing date specified in subsection (c) of this section may obtain judicial review of such decision by filing a petition for review in the United States district court for the district wherein he resides within sixty days after the date of such decision. The military board concerned shall thereupon file in the court the record of the proceedings on which the board based its decision. The court shall have jurisdiction to review the decision of the military board in accordance with chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, and to grant appropriate relief as provided for in such chapter.

RESTORATION OF CITIZENSHIP

SEC. 7. Upon petition to any district court of the United States, the United States citizenship of any former citizen who states that he renounced such citizenship solely or partly because of disapproval of involvement of the United States in Indochina shall be fully and unconditionally restored.

SUITS IN THE DISTRICT COURTS

SEC. 8. (a) The district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction without regard to the amount in controversy to hear actions brought to redress the deprivation of rights granted by section 3 of this Act, and to grant such legal and equitable relief as may be appropriate.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 2283 of title 28, United States Code, or any successor provision thereto, a district court hearing an action brought pursuant to subsection (a) of this section may grant injunctive relief staying proceedings in a State court.

AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS

SEC. 9. There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

SEPARABILITY OF PROVISIONS

SEC. 10. If any provision of this Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the Act and the application of the provision to other persons or to other circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

31-658-74- -2

EFFECTIVE DATES

SEC. 11. Sections 4, 6, 7, and 8 of this Act shall take effect upon the date of cessation of United States military operations in or over South Vietnam, North Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand which date shall be proclaimed by the President and shall be not later than three months after the date of enactment of this Act.

[H.R. 674, 93d Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To approve and authorize amnesty or mitigation of punishment for certain persons who have illegally manifested their disapproval of United States participation in the Southeast Asia war; and to provide for restoration of civil and political rights that have been lost or impaired by reason of such illegal acts, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

DEFINITIONS

SECTION. 1. (a) The term "cessation of hostilities" means the date on which the President shall declare, by public proclamation, either that armed hostilities in Southeast Asia have ended, or that the level of United States involvement therein has been reduced to such a level as to justify the effectuation of this Act. (b) The term "person" means any natural or artificial person, including the United States, the several States, and other corporations public, municipal, charitable, or private.

(c) The term "offender" means a natural person who has violated Federal or State law during the Vietnam war solely or partly because of his disapproval of United States participation in such war.

(d) The term "nonviolent military offender" means an offender whole offense has been a violation of the military law of the United States of America and has involved neither injury to another person or substantial damage to or theft of the property of another person, nor the threat thereof nor attempt thereat, including offenders whose punishment has already been completed.

(e) The term "Federal offender" means an offender whose offense has been a violation of the law of the United States or any territory or possession thereof, or the District of Columbia, including offenders whose punishment has already been completed.

(f) The term "State offender" means an offender whose offense has been a violation of the law of any State or subdivision or municipality thereof, including offenders whose punishment has already been completed.

(g) The term "during the Vietnam war" means the period beginning August 4, 1964, and ending with the cessation of hostilities.

APPROVAL AND AUTHORIZATION OF AMNESTY FOR CERTAIN OFFENDERS

SEC. 2. (a) The Congress declares that the interests of the United States require the restoration of domestic harmony at the earliest time; that such interests will be served by the annulment of all legal disadvantages that have been incurred or suffered by reason of opposition to the Vietnam war, to the greatest extent consistent with national security and the preservation of internal order; and that it is an immunity of citizens of the United States (within the meaning of section 1 of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States) to enjoy such annulment, to the extent and on the conditions, if any, that may be authorized or imposed by the President of the United States. (b) The Congress expresses its approval of such amnesty or mitigation of punishment for nonviolent military offenders and for Federal offenders as the President of the United States may, from time to time, grant by public proclamation, unconditionally or on such conditions as he may prescribe.

(c) The President of the United States is authorized to restore the United States citizenship of any or all persons who have relinquished such citizenship solely or partly because of their disapproval of United States participation in the Vietnam war.

(d) The President of the United States is further authorized to grant, by public proclamation, amnesty or mitigation of punishment to State offenders,