Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ...

Joint Congressional Committee, Pearl Harbor Attack: Part 1 619
Joint Congressional Committee ( JCC)
Established
Th e Republicans in Congress, anxious to learn the truth,
demanded a further investigation. Senator Ferguson urged the
establishment of a committee to investigate the attack, 5 and on
September 6 Barkley introduced a concurrent resolution similar
to Ferguson’s proposal. 6
Th e Senate debate was subdued and polite. 7 It was agreed
that the record so far was incomplete, confusing, and confl icting.
Barkley proposed an inquiry
of such dignity and authenticity as to convince the Congress
and the country and the world that no eff ort has been made
to shield any person who may have been directly or indirectly
responsible for this disaster, or to condemn unfairly or unjustly
any person who was in authority, military, naval, or civilian, at
the time or prior thereto.
Barkley’s Concurrent Resolution 27 set up a Joint Committee on
the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack ( Joint Congressional
Committee, or JCC) with broad authority to
make a full and complete investigation of the facts relating to
the events and circumstances leading up to or following the
attack made by Japanese armed forces upon Pearl Harbor in
the Territory of Hawaii on December 7, 1941.
5 Th e New York Times, September 6, 1945, p. 1. See also Joint Committee, Pearl
Harbor Attack, part 1, p. 14, which reprints Ferguson’s suggestion from the
Congressional Record, September 6, 1945.
6 Th e New York Times, September 7, 1945, p. 7. See also Joint Committee, Pearl
Harbor Attack, part 1, p. 13, which reprints Barkley’s concurrent resolution
from the Congressional Record, September 6, 1945.
7 Congressional Record, September 6, 1945, reprinted in Joint Committee, Pearl
Harbor Attack, part 1, pp. 10–23.