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United States th
oJ America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 09 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION
Abolition of the Federal Death Penalty
SPEECH
OF
HON. PHILIP A. HART
OF MICHIGAN
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
Monday, July 25, 1966
Mr. HART. Mr. President, I intro-
duce, for appropriate reference, a bill to
abolish the death penalty for all Federal
crimes, and to substitute life imprison-
ment instead. Joining me in sponsor-
ing the legislation are the Senator from
North Dakota [Mr. BURDICK], the Sen-
ator from Illinois [Mr. DOUGLAS], the
Senator from Hawaii [Mr. INOUYE], the
Senator from Minnesota [Mr. Mc-
CARTHY], the Senator from Oregon [Mr.
MORSE], the Senator from Maine [Mr.
MUSKIE], the Senator from Oregon [Mrs.
NETIBERGER], the Senator from Wisconsin
[Mr. PROXMIRE], and the Senator from
Ohio [Mr. YOUNG].
Mr. President, I ask unanimous con-
sent that there be printed at this point
in my remarks the text of the bill, a
memorandum prepared by the Legisla-
tive Reference Service listing those code
sections authorizing the imposition of
the death penalty for certain Federal
crimes, and two recent national opinion
polls which indicate increased public
support for the abolition of capital
punishment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill
will be received and appropriately re-
ferred; and, without objection, the bill
memorandum polls will be printed in the
RECORD.
The bill (S. 3646) to abolish the death
penalty under all laws of the United
States, and for other purposes, was re-
ceived, read twice by its title, referred to
the Committee on the Judiciary, and
ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as
follows:
S. 3646
Be it enacted by the Senate and House
of Representatives of the United States of
238-767--5933
America in Congress assembled, That (a) no
sentence of death shall be Imposed hereafter
upon any person convicted of any criminal
offense punishable under any provision of
law of the United States, the District of Co-
lumbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,
or any territory or possession of the United
States, and no unexecuted sentence of death
heretofore imposed under any such provision
shall be carried into execution after the date
of enactment of this Act. Each such provi-
sion which authorizes or requires the imposi-
tion of such sentence hereafter shall be
deemed to authorize or require the imposi-
tion of a sentence to imprisonment for life,
and each sentence of death heretofore im-
posed under any such provision which re-
mains unexecuted on the date of enactment
of this Act shall be deemed to be a sentence
to imprisonment for life.
(b) The Attorney General is authorized
and directed to transmit to the Congress at
the earliest practicable time his recommenda-
tions for appropriate amendments to be made
to all such provisions of law which by their
terms provide for or relate to the imposition
of any sentence of death in order to substi-
tute for such sentence in all such laws a sen-
tence to imprisonment for life.
The memorandum and polls presented
by Mr. HART are as follows:
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS,
LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE SERVICE,
Washington, D.C., July 18, 1966.
To: Hon. PHILIP A. HART.
From: American Law Division.
Subject: Provisions of the United States
Code and the District of Columbia Code
Authorizing Imposition of the Death
Penalty.
The code sections in the following list are
those which authorize the imposition of the
death penalty for conviction of certain
crimes. If the death penalty were to be
abolished not only these sections but many
additional sections (not listed) dealing with
procedure and other matters in connection
with capital offenses or cases would have to
be amended.
This list combines the results of an auto-
mated search done by a commercial firm and
a non-automated search done by lawyers in
the American Law Division. So far as we
know, the list is now a complete one.
You may be interested in knowing that
none of the bills yet introduced--even those
which purport to abolish the death penalty--
cite all the provisions which appear on the
accompanying list.
SECTIONS OF THE FEDERAL CODE WHICH AUTHOR-
IZE THE DEATH PENALTY
TITLE 10 U.S.C.
§ 885 (c)--desertion in time of war.
§ 890-striking superior officer or disobey-
ing lawful command in time of war.
§ 894-mutiny or sedition.
§ 899-misbehavior before the enemy.
§ 900-subordinate compelling surrender.
§ 901-improper use of countersign in time
of war.
§ 902-forcing a safeguard.
§ 904-aiding the enemy.
§ 906--spies.
§ 910-improper hazarding of vessel.
§ 913-misbehavior of sentinel in time of
war.
§ 918-murder.
§ 920-rape and carnal knowledge.
TITLE 18 U.S.C.
§ 34-destruction of aircraft or motor vehi-
cle in commerce resulting in death.
§ 794-gathering and delivering defense in-
formation to aid foreign government.
§837--destroying schools, churches or other
buildings with explosives transported in com-
merce.
§ 1111-murder.
§ 1114-killing certain officers of the United
States while in the performance of their
duties.
§1201-failure to liberate unharmed a kid-
napped person transported in commerce.
§1716-death resulting from mailing cer-
tain non-mailable articles.
§1715-assassination of President or Vice
President.
§1992-death resulting from wrecking
trains.
§2031-rape.
§2113-kidnapping or causing death while
engaging in bank robbery.
§ 2381-treason.
TITLE 21 U.S.C.
§176-sale of heroin to juveniles.
TITLE 22 U.S.c.
§156-murder and insurrection or rebellion
against China, Siam, Turkey, Morocco, Mus-](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.death/crabfdp0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)