McCarthy becomes interested in this question about the libraries,

which are run by the State Department.

These are kind of stores of American literature, American books, American history, fiction, so on.

These books were supposed to be across a spectrum of perspectives

with all but the most overtly propagandistic, anti-American books being included.

McCarthy looked at that as a invitation to see where there was communist subversion.

I think the Committee has disclosed a fantastic picture of the information program.

Some thirty or forty thousand books by communist authors,

distributed throughout the world with our stamp of approval,

allegedly for the purpose of fighting communism.

How do you start this investigation?

In their way of thinking, you call in the authors of the books

who have no idea that their books are in the U.S.I.A. shelves.

One of the authors says, “I don’t even have a copy of that book.”

It is odd to decide to haul the authors before the committee

because the authors did not put their books on the shelves of the libraries.

You could have a group of librarians supposedly

and just bring them before the committee and bully them

about why they chose this book as opposed to that book.

But the real spectacular, headline-generating potential is in finding authors,

peoples whose names are known to the public.

The constitution obligates me to say a word or two about the origins of this.

I am a student of American history...

Mr. Fast you're ordered to answer the questions only.

We're not going to take a lecture from a man who refuses to state

whether he’s a member of the Communist Party as of this moment.

I must refuse to answer that question

basing my refusal upon the privilege granted to me and the Fifth Amendment

and in line with your words sir, I wish you would allow me to spell out that privilege

and what it means and why I am invoking it.

No I don't think everyone in this room knows this.

Very few people know this.

Why don't you give me a chance to state this?

At that time, a lot of occupations like government workers, schoolteachers, and others

were subject to instant dismissal from their jobs

if they took the Fifth Amendment.

In many cases, it was people who were quite willing to admit that they had once been in the Communist Party

and they had left the Communist Party.

But the next question was always, “Who did you know when you were in the Communist Party?”

And that’s the thing that people didn’t want to do.

They were willing to talk about themselves but they were not willing to give a name of somebody else.