FREE PARLIAMENTS IN FREE SOCIETIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP58-00597R000100070024-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 17, 2008
• Sequence Number: 24
• Publication Date: April 1, 1956
• Content Type: REPORT

UNCLASSIFIED
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CONFIDENTIAL
SECRET
ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET
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SECRET CONFIDENTIAL ;UNCLASSIFIED
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RADIO LIBERATION
AMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR LIBERATION FROM BOLSHEVISM, INC.
NEW YORK PROGRAM SECTION
"FREE PARLIAMENTS IN FREE SOCIETIES"
Interview with Representative Otto Krueger
of North Dakota
Radio Liberation, a democratic, anti. C'ommar-ist stat.l.o
broadcasting to the Soviet Union in seventeen language., is
currently interviewing members of world's free legislat'i've
bodies on the general topic of "Free Parliaments in Free
Societies".
The occasion for these interviews is the 50th anniversary
of Russia's first parliament which falls on May 10, 1956.
Despite its serious weaknesses, the State Duma gave Russia.
a taste of representative government. Today, the Dumaa ii s a
symbol of the democratic heritage of a people who more than
ever before are ripe for a democratic government.
April, 1956
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This is Otto Krueger; a Member of the United States Congress from the Ste :,e of
North Dakota, I came to the United States in 1910. My folks had gone to Russia i?om
Germany. My father was a professional miller and operated a flour mill in Russia?
where I was born. It was in Volynskaya Goubernya, Zhitomirsky Ouezd, so close tr
Kievskaya Goubernya that my father often. remarked that our roost.--13 crow was heard
in two counties. After graduating from a Russian schoolequi",valent to a high school
in this country, I was urged to enter a Military Academy. After passing the entrance
examination, I refused to subscribe to the Oath of Allegiance to t:. I had
changed my in-nd and intended to go to America.
I would like to point out that in 19C ~ 6 a Constitutional Mn. , oar:,,, was na ~
in Russia. Representatives from the vnr ous Provinces and Distr ct-- wel?e ~e'Q
and went to St. Petersburg, the capital. Th-.is representative body was Dn"u.
Parliament. It looked to us at that tine; that t e moment arrived in
., .1 W i--2,
,... :
: t..
the common people would have a r. :? e_L-.. own goG~ern: e1
1 Yi ~~ i7
was the beginning of a democracy, but an uneasiness grew among the
most evident among the students. io.na.ry pamphlets were .n.6 if yc
were caught with one of them in yoozr poes~ai sion it meant a one way trip
Even under this Const.tutional Government the right, of free speech wi:.s .t.'rw
I soon found out that the advocates of the Revolution did not point the way to a free
people. I wanted to be free. I could not see anything in the hat.r?ed) the d'L st.rust,
the distruction, so I turned to the United States.
To learn the language I, a grown man then, went to the grade schoolW. Everyone
was willing to help,, and they encouraged me, a stranger; and so it want through high
school and to college. This was a land where anyone could progress if he wanted to.
I became an American citizen as soon as the law of the land allowed it., the
American Army in World War I and saw combat in France and Belgium. I fought for this
land, the land of my choice, the country that, I had adopted. It was a goad lar;.
I learned what freedom was - I learned that it was worth fighting for. Because of my
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life in Russia, perhaps I appreciate this country more. I know what oppression means.
I know what freedom means, and under this government I have enjoyed its pr_:vi.leges.
I was only in this country 10 years before I was elected to public office. I was
elected country auditor where I kept track of general business for an area Of, about
13,000 square miles in which 11j,000 people resided. Later I was elected State
Treasurer of my State as an insurance commissioner, and then was named Di ?= ,?tir of
the Budget for the State. Then my Sant me to Washington D.C., a;a a
tative, to help make laws for this country.
The people who selected me tc rep them are from all wa; k cf li .a 5
poor, doctors, laborers, preachers, b.si, ess men and farmers. They all hr:, -,j a free
voice and an equal -voice as to who shcue=_d represent them.. They coui ti e ct mc~, or they
could elect anyone else. I feel honored that I was chosen. I feel that it, is L
privilege to be a part of this demo acy and I an grateful that i .:.I've 9_n a .r:'ee land.
I do not have to be afraid of those over me in government. I take the Presi;Jer,.t of
the United States as a friend, and as a g, eat 'teader, but I do not always agc ee Nita
him, and I am not banished or purged because I di..sagr ee. With other Cr,:~.gr esm r,.
is the same. Here we have many different ;y e s of men, many shadea :,f i.ti ..
thought, but we all have the same objective - to govern as best we ~xow how, to keep
our nation at peace with the world. By doing that, we let all the world know the
blessings of peace --- a free life for our children and grandchildren so that they
can live and worship as they wish. Because I came here from Russia as an immigrant
boy, because I have been honored by the people of my state, I feel I know the wishes
of our people. I want you to believe me when I say - we want the world to be free and
particularly the Russian people. We helped Russia in two wars with the hope that we
could help you again to liberty and to freedom, to the opportunities that we enjoy in
the United States.
You may hear through propaganda channels that we are a nation of war mongers,
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a nation of ambitious capitalists; that in the United States people are abused and
mistreated. From my 46 years of life in this country, from the opportunities that
have been given me and the honor that comes to me from the position I hold in
government, I know these statements are false. I know that in truth and in understanding
among all peoples lies the hope of freedom for all mankind.
(Friedberg in Russian) Thank you very much, Congressman Krueger. And now permit me
to ask you a few questions, with the help of my colleague, Mr. Macy. - Cong. Krueger,
you were born in Russia. Do you still have relatives in Russia? (C. Krueger) I have
a brother and a sister in Siberia. (in Russian)
MACY: Mr. Congressman, in the House of Representatives, you have been a member of the
Appropriation Committee which handles the budget. Can you tell us; can the Federal
law enforcement agencies and the Federal Army, and even the President of the United
States, President Eisenhower, personally --- can they expend funds which have not been
approved by the Congress?
KRUEGER: Definitely not. All appropriations are originated in the House of
Representatives of the Congress, and we appropriate and designate the salaries and
the pay of every public official, Army, Navy - even the president himself. We set
his salary definitely.
FRIEDBERG: Is it possible for the Government of the U.S. to decide arbitrarily, to
increase the Army and to spend more money on the Army, without the approval of the
Congress?
KRUEGER: The Congress must first approve the size of the Army, Navy and any other
defense program.
MACY: How often does the Congress approve the Budget for the Executive Branch of the
Government?
KRUEGERs Every year.
MACY: And is this worked out in the Appropriations Committee?
KRUEGER: It is first submitted to the Budget Bureau. After it is approved by the Budget
Bureau, the Budget Director brings the matter to the attention of the Congress and we
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pass on it after that. We either increase it or decrease i, t - whichever we see fit.
FRIEDBERG: Were you appointed to this committee by the President of the United States
or were you elected?
KRUEGER: You know that our government, or or Congress, is made up of two parties -
Republican and Democrat. I am a Republ.ian from North Dakota, as I told you before ---
and the Republicans designate the rembers'ip of each ccmmi ttee *i.at. is to say, the
leadership of the Republican Party a3 we;_: as the Derrmors:.-atic: Party.
MACY: Are there any Democrats on. the C ?; n?: ;a ,:`. ~s when the Republicans have a majority?
KRUEGER: Let me say this., that t'.-he Comm'i t. ice i.. Z% large committse
consisting of 50 members. The party in at 11-tie pr~::E,ent tine - the Democrats -
have 30 members on this committee, and the pay , the Republicans., have 20
members. The members who are to serve on t is comet . ttee are selected by each party.
MACY: Sometimes the Soviet Government has sa.d that t;^.er?e is no difference between
the Republican Party and the Democratic Party a.r the Uni.t,e States. Do you believe
this is true?
KRUEGER: This is absolute;~.y true wh-:gin i+ Americ.ani sm. We are all American,
and we certainly are for America first, but there are a. Lot of differences of opinion
in the Republican Party as well as in the Democratic Party. But on the major issues,
particularly the foreign issues, we are pretty much alike.
FRIEDBERG: You must have read in the newspaper, Congressman, that now, a few years
after Stalin died, Stalin himself and many of the things he stood for,, are condemned by
the Soviet leaders. We know that in Soviet Russia the man who is in power at any given
time, purges and condemns anybody who was before him. What would happen if, as a result
of the next election, the Republicans were back in Congress? What would happen to all
the Democrats?
KRUEGER: Well, the Democrats are a very integral part of our government and they still
would be recognized. There would be no purges of any kind.. The people make their choice
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and whomever they send here serves them.
MACY: Congressman, do you think that it makes for a more effective and liberal democracy
to have two parties instead of one?
KRUEGER: I definitely believe that is true.
MACY: What is the advantage of a two party system?
KRUEGER: Well, it seems that if one party is in power too long, even if we have two
parties, it becomes rather careless, and does not answer to the peoples' problems as
readily as if we had a change in party government.
FRIEDBERG: And what do you think would happen if we had only one party? If only one
party were allowed to exist altogether?
KRUEGER: Welly you are taking me into a sphere of Communism now. It is one party.
Now they have elections, as I understand, in Russia, but only one party, and you must
vote --- if you vote at all for the man designated by the powers that be.
MACY: Do you think a two party system could develop in Russia if there were conditions
of freedom?
KRUEGER: If there were conditions of freedom., no doubt, there would be more than two
parties that would spring up, like there are in France and in other countries. We
firmly believe in a 2-power system in our country., and I think that a 2-power system
is the best form of government?
FRIEDBERG: Do you believe that the Russian people, and I mean the people not the
government, sincerely desire peace and friendship with the people of the United States?
KRUEGER: I don't believe that the people of Russia have changed since 1910 when I left
there. And the people as a whole, (I came from the Ukraine, I know the Ukrainian people
are fire people and they are peace loving people) I think love peace now., as much, or
probably more so, than they ever did, and we are only too willing to help them from
this side.
FRIEDBERG: In other words, you would draw a sharp line of distinction between the present
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Communist dictatorship in Russia and the peoples of Russia.
KRUEGER: Oh, definitely so.
MACY: Can you see any reason why the peoples in Russia are unequipped to manage their
own political affairs?
KRUEGER: I think if they were given the freedom of choice --- they would perfect
a good government. They are subdued now and they can't help themselves. Anyone,
as I understand it now, that rises against Communism is condemned to death.
FRIEDBERG: In other words, you think that the people who 50 years ago, when the
degree of literacy was low and when Russia was a backward co ntry, could still create
an imperfect but nevertheless parliamentary 1xisti'-1uution such as the State Dvma, could,
if given the necessary conditions, create a free parliamentary system.
KRUEGER: I definitely have a lot of faith in the Russian people and I think they could
come up with a fairly good government - probably not perfect to begin with but they
would improve as time goes on.
MACY: Did there seem to be a real desire. the part of the Ukrainians and Russians,
that you knew when you were a boy living is that area, to participate in the affairs of
the government through the Duma, the first parliament?
KRUEGER: Well, the Duma was created, as I told you before, in 1906, right after the
Russian-Japanese War, and it was a new thing; but everywhere there seemed to be hope
and expectation of better things to come when the Constitutional Monarchy was declared,
and the Duma was established.
FRIEDBERG: Do you think that a free interchange of people., and I mean people -- not
government officials, government delegations, would contribute to the cause of develop-
ment of democratic institutions in Russia?
KRUEGER: Oh, I believe it would help a great deal,, but I wouldn't want to select a bunch
of the Communists to come here - they wouldn't take back to their people what we want
the people in Russia to know.
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