| dbo:abstract
|
- Presidential Emergency Action Documents (PEADs) are draft classified executive orders, proclamations, and messages to Congress that are prepared for the President of the United States to exercise or expand powers in anticipation of a range of emergency hypothetical worst-case scenarios, so that they are ready to sign and put into effect the moment one of those scenarios comes to pass. They are defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as the "Final drafts of Presidential messages, proposed legislation proclamations, and other formal documents, including DOJ-issued cover sheets addressed to the President, to be issued in event of a Presidentially-declared national emergency." PEADs originated in the Eisenhower Administration in response to fears of the Cold War and nuclear war, and are part of what is often referred to as Continuity of Government (COG) planning. Signed orders for a broad scope of issues were drafted and signed by the president intended to be used to prevent disruption of government functions. Only a very limited number of PEADs are public knowledge, and only through secondary declassified documents that mention them. Of these the trend of the orders is toward a severe reduction of liberty and civil rights for American citizens. No PEADs have been declassified, however they are referenced in FBI memoranda that were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, agency manuals, and court records. The orders are classified, and none have ever been publicly released or leaked. They are therefore obscure and generally unknown to average Americans, scholars and even Executive branch officials, and are sometimes referred to as "secret powers" of the President. Some have also called into question their constitutional viability. (en)
|
| rdfs:comment
|
- Presidential Emergency Action Documents (PEADs) are draft classified executive orders, proclamations, and messages to Congress that are prepared for the President of the United States to exercise or expand powers in anticipation of a range of emergency hypothetical worst-case scenarios, so that they are ready to sign and put into effect the moment one of those scenarios comes to pass. They are defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as the "Final drafts of Presidential messages, proposed legislation proclamations, and other formal documents, including DOJ-issued cover sheets addressed to the President, to be issued in event of a Presidentially-declared national emergency." (en)
|
