Selected Documents

Presidential Messages and Proclamations

Note: additional presidential messages available at the Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia: http://millercenter.org and the American Presidency Project, University of California, Santa Barbara: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu.

George Washington, Proclamation of Neutrality, 1793 (.pdf)
John Adams, Special Message to Congress on XYZ Affair, 1797 (.pdf)
Thomas Jefferson Message on Lewis and Clark, 1803 (.pdf)
Thomas Jefferson, Special Message on Foreign Policy, 1805 (.pdf)
Thomas Jefferson, Special Message on Filibusters in Spanish Territory, 1806 (.pdf)
Thomas Jefferson, Seventh Annual Message, 1807 (.pdf)
James Madison Proclamation on West Florida, 1810 (.pdf)
James Madison, Third Annual Message, 1811 (.pdf)
James Madison, Special War Message to Congress, 1812 (.pdf)
James Madison, Special Message on the Treaty of Ghent, 1815 (.pdf)
James Monroe, Second Annual Message to Congress, 1818 (On Spain's Colonies) (.pdf)
James Monroe, Fifth Annual Message to Congress, 1821 (.pdf)
James Monroe, Seventh Annual Message, 1823 (Includes "Monroe Doctrine") (.pdf)
Andrew Jackson, Proclamation on S. Carolina Nullification Act, 1832 (.pdf)
Andrew Jackson, Farewell Address, 1837 (.pdf)
Martin Van Buren, Proclamation on Revolt in Canada, 1837 (.pdf)
William Henry Harrison, Inaugural Address, 1841 (.pdf)
James Polk, Inaugural Address, 1845 (.pdf)
James Polk Message to Congress on the Bidlack-Mallarino Treaty, 1846 (.pdf)
Zachary Taylor, Special Message to Congress on Central America and Monroe Doctrine, 1850 (.pdf)
Franklin Pierce,Inaugural Address, 1853 (.pdf)
Franklin Pierce, Fourth Annual Message to Congress, 1856 (.pdf)
James Buchanan, Fourth Annual Message to Congress, 1860 (.pdf)
Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation, 1863 (.pdf)
Andrew Johnson, First Annual Message to Congress, 1865 (.pdf)
President Grant's Message to the Senate on Annexation of Santo Domingo, 1870 (.pdf)
President Grant's Message to the House of Representatives on the Rejection of the Santo Domingo Treaty, 1871 (.pdf)
Ulysses S. Grant, Eighth Annual Message to Congress, 1876 (.pdf)
Rutherford B. Hayes, Inaugural Address, 1877 (.pdf)
Rutherford B. Hayes, Fourth Annual Message to Congress, 1880 (.pdf)
James A. Garfield, Inaugural Address, 1881 (.pdf)
Grover Cleveland, Message to Congress, 1896 (.pdf)
William McKinley, Message to Congress on Cuba, 1898 (.pdf)
Woodrow Wilson Message to Congress on Neutrality, 1914 (.pdf)
Warren Harding, State of the Union Address, 1921 (.pdf)
Calvin Coolidge Speech to Pan American Conference, 1928 (.pdf)
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Executive Order 8802 (Orders end to racial discrimination in defense industries), 1941(.pdf)
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Message to Congress (Four Freedoms Speech), 1941 (.pdf)
Truman Executive Order 9981 Desegrating Armed Forces, 1948 (.pdf)
EXECUTIVE ORDER 10099, Harry Truman, 1950. Implements Mutual Defense Assistance Act, 1949 (.pdf)
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Farewell Address (Military-Industrial Complex Speech), 1961(.pdf)
John H. Kennedy, Cuba Missile Crisis Speech, 1962 (.pdf)
President Lyndon Johnson's message on the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, 1964 (.pdf)
Ronald Reagan, Caribbean Basin Initiative, 1983 (.pdf)
Ronald Reagan's Freedom Fighter speech, 1985 (.pdf)
George H. W. Bush, Iraq War Speech, 1991 (.pdf)
George W. Bush speech, September 11, 2001 (.pdf)
Barack Obama Inaugural Address, 2009 (.pdf)

Presidential Directives and Executive Orders (Federation of American Scientists)
http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/direct.htm

U.S. Foreign Policy Doctrines

No Transfer Resolution. U.S. Congress, January 15, 1811 (.pdf)
No Transfer Resolution (James M adison Request for a Congressional Resolution), 1811 (.pdf)
Monroe Doctrine, 1823 (.pdf)
Tyler Doctrine, 1842 (.pdf)
John L. O'Sullivan, "Manifest Destiny" (1839, Excerpt) (.pdf)
Polk Doctrine (and Monroe Doctrine), 1845 (.pdf)
Olney Corollary (to Monroe Doctrine), 1895 (.pdf)
Roosevelt Corollary (to Monroe Doctrine), 1904 (.pdf)
Clark Memorandum, 1912, Memorandum on the Right to Protect Citizens in Foreign Countries by Landing Forces
Lodge Corollary (to Monroe Doctrine), 1912 (.pdf)
Clark Memorandum, 1928 (excerpt) (.pdf)
Truman Doctrine, 1947 (.pdf)
Eisenhower Doctrine, 1957 (.pdf)
Kennedy Doctrine, 1963 (.pdf)
Johnson Doctrine, 1965 (.pdf)
Mann Doctrine, 1965
Nixon Doctrine, 1969 (.pdf)
Carter Doctrine, 1980 (.pdf)
Reagan Doctrine, 1985 (.pdf)

International Agreements and Conference Proclamations

Avalon Project.The Inter-American System: Agreements, Conventions and Other Documents http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/interame.asp

General Act of Berlin (on European colonies in Africa), 1885 (.pdf)
Constantinople Convention (Suez Canal), 1888 (.pdf)
General Treaty of Peace and Amity in Central America, 1907 and Central American Court of Justice, 1907 (see appendices in text, pp. I-XIII] (.pdf)
Naval Disarmament Treaty, 1922 (.pdf)
Central American Treaty of Peace and Amity, 1923 (Gondra Treaty) (.pdf)
Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928 (.pdf)
Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, 1933 (.pdf)
Declaration of Principles of Inter-American Solidarity and Cooperation, 1936 (.pdf)
Declaration of Panama, 1939 (Hemispheric Neutrality) (.pdf)
Act of Havana, 1940 (.pdf)
Bretton Woods Agreement, 1944 (.pdf)
Act of Chapultepec, 1945 (.pdf)
General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT), 1947 (.pdf)
Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio Treaty), 1947 (.pdf)
American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man, 1948 (.pdf)
Act of Bogotá, 1948 (.pdf)
Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS), 1948 (.pdf)
Convention on Genocide, 1948 (.pdf)
Geneva Convention on Wounded, 1949 (.pdf)
Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War, 1949 (.pdf)
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 1949 (.pdf)
Caracas Declaration, 1954 (.pdf)
Charter of Punta del Este (Alliance for Progress), 1961 (.pdf)
Esquipulas Peace Accords, 1986 (.pdf)
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), 1994
Inter-American Democratic Charter, 2001 (.pdf)
Declaration of Panama, 2007 (Terrorism) (.pdf)

Federal, State, and Territorial Legislation

Northwest Ordinance, 1787 (.pdf)
Alien Act, 1798 (.pdf)
Sedition Act, 1798 (.pdf)
Embargo Act, 1807 (.pdf)
Insurrection Act, 1807 (.pdf)
Prohibition on Imports of Slaves after 1808 (1807) (.pdf)
Non-intercourse Act, 1809 (.pdf)
Declaration of War, 1812 (.pdf)
Trading with the Enemy Act, 1812 (.pdf)
Neutrality Act, 1818 (New York Times reprint, 1866) (.pdf)
Anti-Slave Trade Act 1819 (.pdf)
Anti-Piracy Act, 1820 (.pdf)
Missouri Compromise, 1820 (.pdf)
Indian Removal Act, 1830 (.pdf)
Nullification Ordinance (South Carolina), 1832 (.pdf)
Force Bill (against Nullification Ordinance), 1833 (.pdf)
Act of California Statehood, 1850 (Part of Compromise of 1850) (.pdf)
Act to Create Utah Territory, 1850 (.pdf)
Act to Supress the Slave Trade in Washington, D.C. 1850 (Part of the Missouri Compromise) (.pdf)
Fugitive Slave Act, 1850 (.pdf)
Millard Fillmore Message to Congress on Texas Boundary 1850 (Part of Compromise of 1850) (.pdf)
Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854 (.pdf)
Guano Islands Act, 1856 (.pdf)
Homestead Act, 1862 (.pdf)
First Civil Rights Act, 1866 (.pdf)
First Reconstruction Act, 1867 (.pdf)
Posse Comitatus Act, 1878 (.pdf)
Dawes Act, 1887 (Native Americans) (.pdf)
Newlands Resolution, 1898 (Annexation of Hawaii) (.pdf)
Teller Resolution (Cuba), 1898 (.pdf)
Foraker Act, 1900 (Puerto Rico) (.pdf)
Platt Amendment (Cuba), 1901, 1903 in Cuban Constitution (.pdf)
California Alien Land Tenure Act, 1913 (.pdf)
Espionage Act, 1917 (.pdf)
Sedition Act, 1918 (.pdf)
Neutrality Act, 1935 (.pdf)
Neutrality Act, 1936 (.pdf)
Neutrality Act, 1937 (.pdf)
Neutrality Act, 1939 (.pdf)
Lend Lease Act, 1941 (.pdf)
National Security Act, 1947 (as amended to 2007) (.pdf)
Mutual Defense Assistance Act, 1949 (.pdf)
Internal Security Act, 1950 (.pdf)
Mutual Security Act,1951
Agricultural Trade Adjustment Act, 1954 (.pdf)
Communist Control Act, 1954 (.pdf)
Alaska Statehood Act, 1958 (.pdf)
Civil Rights Act, 1964 (.pdf)
Economic Opportunity Act, 1964 (.pdf)
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, 1964 (.pdf)
Civil Rights Act, 1965 (.pdf)
War Powers Act, 1973 (.pdf)
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 1974 (.pdf)
Treaty Establishing the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, 1981 (.pdf)
Esquipulas II Accords (Acuerdos de Paz de Esquipulas II), 1986 (in Spanish) (.pdf)
Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act, 1986 (.pdf)
Andean Trade Preference Act, 1991 (.pdf)
Cuban Democracy Act, 1992 (.pdf)
Helms-Burton Act, 1996 (.pdf)
Iraq Liberation Act ,1998 (.pdf)
Homeland Security Act, 2002 (.pdf)
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, 2004 (.pdf)
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005 (Also: "Real ID Act") (.pdf)
Secure Fence Act, 2006 (.pdf)

Selected Immigration, Security, and Alien Registration Legislation

Tariffs

"Tariff of Abominations”, 1828
Tariff of 1832
Tariff of 1842 (“Black Tariff”)
Tariff of 1846 (Walker Tariff)
Tariff of 1857
Morrill Tariff, 1861
McKinley Tariff, 1890
Wilson-Gorman Tariff, 1894
Dingley Tariff, 1897
Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act, 1909
Underwood-Simmons Tariff, 1913
Fordney-McCumber Tariff, 1922
Smoot-Hawley Tariff, 1930 (.pdf)

Miscellaneous Historical Documents

Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776 (.pdf)
Hartford Convention, 1814 (.pdf)
Petititon to Parliament from British Merchants Urging Recognition of Independence of former Spanish Colonies, 1824 (.pdf)
Texas Declaration of Independence, 1836 (.pdf)
Wilmot Proviso, 1846 (.pdf)
Seneca Falls Meeting Declaration of Sentiments (Womens' Rights), 1848 (.pdf)
Frederick Douglas 4th of July Speech (Abolition and Rights of African Americans), 1852 (.pdf)
Ostend Manifesto, 1854 (.pdf)
Crittenden Compromise (not adopted), 1860 (.pdf)
Hay First Open Door Note, 1899 (.pdf)
Venustiano Carranza (Mexico) Warning Against U.S. Interventionism, 1915 (.pdf)
Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points, 1918 (.pdf)
Attorney General A.Mitchell Palmer (Red Scare), 1920 (.pdf)
Inquiry into the Occupation of Haiti, 1922 (.pdf)
Executive Order 9066, 1942 (Japanese Relocation and Detention)
U.S. National Security and Military Assistance Program, 1947
Executive Order 10099, 1950 (Implements Mutual Defense Assistance Act of 1949) (.pdf)
George Kennan Report on Latin America, 1950 (.pdf)

U.S, State Department. Foreign Relations, 1952-1954, Volume IV, American Republics (Guatemala Compilation)
Relations of the United States and Guatemala, With Special Reference to the Concern of the United States Over Communist Activity in Guatemala
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/ike/iv/20208.htm

U.S. State Department. Declassified Documents on British Guiana.
Extracted from Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963, Volume XII - American Republics. This volume was published by US Department of State, Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, and printed by the United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1996
http://www.guyana.org/govt/declassified_documents.html

Draft Memo by Gordon Chase of the National Security Council Staff on OAS Action Against Cuba in 1964 (.pdf)

U.S. State Department. Selected Documents on the 1964 Election in Chile from
Foreign Relations, 1964-1968, Volume XXXI, South and Central America; Mexico
Released by the Office of the Historian, U.S. State Department
Documents 245-278
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20040925/docs.htm

The U.S. and the Brazilian Military Coup, 1964
National Security Archive:
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB118/index.htm

Documenrary Background to the Johnson and Mann Doctrines for Latin America
U.S. State Department Foreign Relations, 1964-1968, Volume XXXI, South and Central America; Mexico:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/johnsonlb/xxxi/36227.htm

National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 11
U.S. POLICY IN GUATEMALA, 1966-1996
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB11/docs/
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB8/nsaebb8.htm

National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 8
Chile and the United States: Declassified Documents Relating to the Military Coup, September 11, 1973
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB8/nsaebb8i.htm

Committee Report on Covert Action in Chile
94th Congress 1st Session COMMITTEE PRINT
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 63-372
Washington: 1975
http://www.foia.state.gov/Reports/ChurchReport.asp

Church Committee Report on Intelligence Activities (1976) (.pdf)
International Court of Justice, Summary of decision in case concerning the military and paramilitary activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States), 1986 (.pdf)
President Clinton Executive Order 12,950 on Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 1995 (.pdf)

U.S. Department of State. FOIA
Hinchey Report
SUBJECT: CIA Activities in Chile
September 18, 2000
http://foia.state.gov/Reports/HincheyReport.asp#1

Torture Memo to Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, 2002 (.pdf)

Final Report of the Independent Counsel forIran/Contra Matters

Notable Speeches

George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796 (.pdf)
John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State, July 4, 1821 (Seek no monsters to destroy speech) (.pdf)
Senator Robert Hayne reply to Daniel Webster, 1830 (.pdf)
Senator Daniel Webster, 2nd Reply to Robert Hayne, 1830 (.pdf)
Senator Henry Clay on the "American System", 1832 (.pdf)
The Clay Compromise Measures by John C. Calhoun, 1850 (.pdf)
Senator Daniel Webster on Slavery and the Compromise of 1850 (.pdf)
Senator William Seward Speech on California and Freedom in New Territories, 1850 (.pdf)
Senator Thomas H. Benton Speech against the Compromise of 1850 (.pdf)
Senator Hiram Revelson speech on Reconstruction in Georgia, 1870 (.pdf)
Senator Robet LaFollette speech on Free Speech in Time of War, 1917 (.pdf)
Senator William Borah speech on U.S. Foreign Policy/League of Nations, 1919 (.pdf)
Cordell Hull, Address Delivered by the Secretary of State at Buenos Aires, December 5, 1936 (.pdf)
President Franklin Roosevelt's "Hands Off the Western Hemisphere" Speech, 1939 (.pdf)
Senator Arthur Vandenberg speech on Foreign Policy, 1945 (.pdf)
Marshall Plan Speech, 1947 (.pdf)
Secretary of State Dean Acheson, Waging Peace in the Americas, 1949 (.pdf)
Richard Nixon’s "Checkers" Speech, 1952 (.pdf)
Ronald Reagan "Evil Empire" speech, 1982 (.pdf)
Speech by Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, Cartagena, Colombia, Tuesday, December 1, 1998, Hemispheric Cooperation In Combating Terrorism, Defense Ministerial of the Americas III (.pdf)

Notable Supreme Court Decisions and Foreign Affairs

Worcester v. Georgia, 1832 (Cherokee Indians and Treaties) (.pdf)
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857 (.pdf)
Elk v. Wilkins, 1884 (.pdf)
UNITED STATES v. KAGAMA (Native American case), 1885
Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896 (.pdf)
The Insular Cases (Territories/Colonies, 1901 (.pdf)
SCHENCK v. UNITED STATES, (Espionage Act case), 1919 (.pdf)
United States v. Bhaghat Singh Thind, 1923 (.pdf)
U.S. v. Curtiss Wright, 1936 (Presidential Authority and Foreign Relations) (.pdf)
United States v. Korematsu, 1942 (Upholds internment of Japanese citizens) (.pdf)
Brown v. Board of Education, 1954 (.pdf)
Loving v. Virginia, 1967 (.pdf)
U.S. v. Richardson, 1974 (.pdf)
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 2006 (.pdf)

National Security Council Documents

NSC-4, 1947 (.pdf)
National Security Council Intelligence Directive No. 1 Washington, January 19, 1950 (.pdf)
NSC-68, 1950 (.pdf)
NSC 162-2, 1953 (.pdf)

American Political Party Platforms

American Presidency Project: Political Party Platforms 1840-2008
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/platforms.php

Bilateral Treaties

Treaty of Alliance with France, 1778 (.pdf)
Treaty of Peace with Great Britain, 1783 (.pdf)
Treaty with the Cherokee, 1785
Treaties with the Barbary Powers, 1786-1836
Jay Treaty, 1794 (.pdf)
Pinckney Treaty, 1795 (Treaty of San Lorenzo) Spain (.pdf)
Convention of 1800 (France) (.pdf)
Convention for Indemnification, 1802 (Great Britain) (.pdf)
Convention for Indemnification (Spain), 1802 (.pdf)
Treaty with France 1803 (Louisiana Purchase) (.pdf)
Treaty of Ghent, 1814 (ends War of 1812) (.pdf)
Rush-Bagot Agreement, 1817 (.pdf)
Convention of 1818 (Great Britain-U.S., Canadian-U.S. boundary; Great Lakes) (.pdf)
Adams-Onis Treaty, 1819 (Spain; Floridas and northwestern boundaries) (.pdf)
Treaty of Amity Commerce, and Navigation, U.S.-Colombia, 1824 (.pdf)
Treaty of Peace, Amity, Commerce and Navigation, 1832 (Chile) (.pdf)
New Echota Treaty with Cherokee Nation, 1835 (.pdf)
Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Navigation and Commerce Between the United States and Venezuela, 1836 (.pdf)
Webster-Ashburton Treaty, 1842, Canadian-U.S. Border; Slave Trade (Great Britain) (.pdf)
Texas Annexation, Joint Resolution 1845 (.pdf)
Oregon Territory, 1846 Treaty with Great Britain, in Regard to Limits Westward of the Rocky Mountains (U.S.-Great Britain) (.pdf)
Bidlack-Mallarino Treaty, 1846 (Colombia/Panama protectorate) (.pdf)
Guadalupe-Hidalgo Treaty, 1848 (Mexican War) (.pdf)
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, 1850 (Great Britain -U.S. on Central America) (.pdf)
Gadsden Purchase, 1853 (Mexico) (.pdf)
U.S.-Great Britain Convention, 1853 (.pdf)
Treaty of Kanagawa, 1854 (Japan) “Admiral Perry Opens Japan” (.pdf)
Cass-Herrán Treaty,1857 (.pdf)
Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Commerce and Navigation, 1858 (Bolivia) (.pdf)
U.S.-Great Britain Treaty on Suppression of Slave Trade, 1862 (.pdf)
Alaska Purchase Treaty (U.S.-Russia), 1867 (.pdf)
Dickinson-Ayon Treaty, 1867 (U.S.-Nicaragua ) (in Bevans, Treaties, X)
Hawaii Reciprocity Treaty, 1875 (.pdf)
Treaty of Paris, 1898 (U.S.-Spain Peace Treaty, cession of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Philippines, Guam) (.pdf)
Hay-Pauncefote Treaty (U.S.-Great Britain), 1901 (abrogates Clayton-Bulwer Treaty) (.pdf)
Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, 1903 (U.S.-Panama) (.pdf)
Bryan-Chamorro Treaty,1914 (1916) (U.S.-Nicaragua) (.pdf)
Danish West Indies, 1916 (.pdf)
Military Facilities in Spain: Agreement Between the United States and Spain, September 26, 1953 (.pdf)
Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty (Salt I), 1972 (.pdf)
Salt II, 1979 (.pdf)

Rejected Treaties

Texas Annexation, 1844 (see Texas Annexation, Joint Resolution 1845 above) (.pdf)
Hise Treaty, 1849 (U.S. - Nicaragua)
Cass-Yrisarri Treaty, 1857
Dallas-Clarendon Treaty (U.S-Great Britain)
McLane-Ocampo Treaty, 1859 (Mexico) (.pdf)
Danish West Indies, 1869
Santo Domingo Annexation, 1870
Unratified Treaty of Annexation of Hawaii, 1897 (.pdf)
Danish West Indies, 1902 (defeated in Danish Parliament)
Hay-Herrán Treaty, 1903 (rejected by Colombian senate) (.pdf)

Major Federal Statutes Related to Military and National Security Law

Georgetown Law Library
http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/guides/national_security.cfm

Espionage provisions of the United States criminal code, 18 U.S.C. §§ 792-799. These sections prescribe criminal penalties for the disclosure of classified and other defense information.

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, P.L. 95-511, 92 Stat. 1783, codified as amended at 50 U.S.C. § 1801 et seq. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act governs collection of counterintelligence information within the United States. FISA places restrictions on the surveillance of "foreign powers" and their "agents" within the United States, and created the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (which grants or denies Justice Department requests for surveillance orders) and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review (which reviews the decisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court).

Homeland Security Act of 2002, P.L. 107-296, 116 Stat. 2135 (2002). The Homeland Security Act of 2002 created the Department of Homeland Security and moved certain existing agencies (including the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which was renamed the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency) under its authority.

Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, P.L. 108-458, 118 Stat. 3638 (2004). The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 amended the National Security Act of 1947 (below) to create the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. It also authorized various agencies to make regulations on minimum standards for federal acceptance of drivers licenses and personal identification cards (Department of Transportation), minimum standards for federal use of birth certificates (Department of Health and Human Services), verification of documents provided by applicants for social security numbers and limits on the issuance of replacement social security cards (Social Security Administration).

National Emergencies Act, Pub. L. 94-412, 90 Stat. 1255, codified as amended at 50 U.S.C. § 1601 et seq. The National Emergencies Act provides for presidential declaration of national emergencies and the termination of such emergencies, for purposes of the expansion of federal executive powers.

National Security Act of 1947, July 26, 1947, ch. 343, 61 Stat. 495, codified as amended at 50 U.S.C. 401 et seq. The National Security Act of 1947 established civilian oversight of the armed forces through the establishment of the Department of Defense. It also coordinated various aspects of national security through the National Security Council, and formally organized the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Posse Comitatus Act, June 18, 1878, ch. 263, §15, 20 Stat. 152, codified as amended at 18 U.S.C. § 1385. The Posse Comitatus Act limits the use of the military for domestic law enforcement activities.

Uniform Code of Military Justice, May 5, 1950, ch. 169, 64 Stat. 108, codified as amended at 10 U.S.C. 801 et seq. The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) establishes basic procedures for the military justice system. It also defines criminal conduct in the military context, sets punishments for criminal offenses, and provides for the various types of courts-martial.

USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, P.L. 107-56, 115 Stat. 272. The USA PATRIOT Act amended numerous federal laws as well as creating new ones. The primary effects of the USA PATRIOT Act were the following: (1) to define several new terrorism-related federal crimes; (2) to enhance penalties for existing terrorism-related crimes; (3) to expand investigative surveillance powers; (4) to improve border control by increasing funding and expanding the grounds for excluding and deporting aliens; and (5) to provide for a fund to compensate the victims of terrorism.

War Powers Resolution, 50 U.S.C. §§ 1541-1548. The War Powers Resolution requires that armed forces be withdrawn from a conflict after 60 days unless Congress acts to authorize their further deployment. It also allows Congress to direct the withdrawal of forces by concurrent resolution. It is often argued that the War Powers Resolution violates the President's constitutional authority as commander in chief, but so far it has not been invalidated by judicial review.

Selected documents from Foreign Governments

British North America Act, 1867 (Canada Federation) (.pdf)
Warsaw Pact Treaty, 1955 (.pdf)
Brezhnev Doctrine, 1968 (.pdf)

Selected U.S. Government Agency and Congressional Documents

For Additional Government Documents on U.S.-Latin American Policy see Documumentary Supplement to Addicted to Failure: U.S. Security Policy in Latin America and the Andean Region

Congressional Research Service. “Article 98 Agreements and Sanctions on
U.S. Foreign Aid to Latin America,” 2006

Joint Chiefs of Staff. Office of the Historian. “Operation Just Cause. The Planning and Execution of Joint Operations in Panama February 1988 – January 1990.” (Ronald H. Cole), 1995

U.S. Senate. History of the Foreign Relations Committee. S.-Pub. 110-10

U.S. Air Force. “Irregular Warfare.” Air Force Doctrine Document, 2007

U.S. Army Southern Command. “United States Southern Command
Command Strategy 2016” (Available in Spanish as “Estrategia del comando 2016
del Comando Sur de los Estados Unidos”)

U. S. Department of Defense. Quadrennial Defense Review, 2006

The White House. “The National Security Strategy of the United States,” March 2006

U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command Global en Route Strategy White Paper (pdf)

Last Update 11/19/12 3:28 PM