NATIONAL DEFENSE HEARINGS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON MILITARY AFFAIRS SEVENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON H. R. 3791 STANFORD LIBRARY 1939 DOCUMENT DIV AN ACT TO PROVIDE MORE EFFECTIVELY FOR THE TO THE CONGRESS 130337 JANUARY 17 TO FEBRUARY 22, 1939 Printed for the use of the Committee on Military Affairs UNITED STATES WASHINGTON: 1939 NATIONAL DEFENSE TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 1939 UNITED STATES SENATE, Washington, D. C. The committee met, pursuant to call, in the committee room, Capitol, at 3 o'clock p. m., Senator Morris Sheppard (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Sheppard (chairman), Logan, Reynolds, Johnson of Colorado, Lee, Schwartz, Lundeen, Hill, Clark of Missouri, Austin, Nye, and Bridges. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will please come to order. I wish at this time to reappoint the Committee on Raw Materials headed by Senator Thomas of Utah. The work of that subcommittee is in a measure connected with our present work. I desire to add to the minority side of that subcommittee Senator Austin. The subject of the meeting this afternoon is an adequate national defense, as outlined by the message of the President a few days ago. The message of the President may be incorporated in the record at this point: (The message of the President is here set forth in full, as follows:) To the Congress of the United States: In my annual message to this Congress I have spoken at some length of the changing world conditions outside of the American Hemisphere which make it imperative that we take immediate steps for the protection of our liberties. It would be unwise for any of us to yield to any form of hysteria. Nevertheless, regardless of political affiliations, we can properly join in an appraisal of the world situation and agree on the immediate defense needs of the Nation. It is equally sensational and untrue to take the position that we must at once spend billions of additional money for building up our land, sea, and air forces on the one hand, or to insist that no further additions are necessary on the other. What needs to be emphasized is the great change which has come over conflicts between nations since the World War ended, and especially during the past 5 or 6 years. Those of us who took part in the conduct of the World War will remember that in the preparation of the American armies for actual participation in battle, the United States, entering the war on April 6, 1917, took no part whatsoever in any major engagement until the end of May 1918. In other words, while other armies were conducting the actual fighting, the United States had more than a year of absolute peace at home without any threat of attack on this continent, to train men, to produce raw materials, to process them into munitions and supplies and to forge the whole into fighting forces. It is even a matter of record that as late as the autumn of 1918, American armies at the front used almost exclusively French or British artillery and aircraft. Calling attention to these facts does not remotely intimate that the Congress or the President have any thought of taking part in another war on European soil, but it does show that in 1917 we were not ready to conduct large scale land or air operations. Relatively we are not much more ready to do so today than we were then-and we cannot guarantee a long period, free from attack, in which we could prepare. 1 |