The Mundt–Ferguson Communist Registration Bill was a proposed law that would have required all members of the Communist Party of the United States register with the Attorney General.
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Mundt-Nixon Bill of 1948
The bill was first introduced in 1948 as H.R. (House Resolution) 5852, at which time it was known as the Mundt-Nixon bill. It was passed by the United States House of Representatives on May 19, 1948, but the United States Senate did not act on it. Both Mundt and Nixon were members of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).
Mundt–Ferguson Bill of 1950
It was re-introduced two years later, as the Mundt-Ferguson bill (also known as the Subversive Activities Control Bill). Again it was passed by the House of Representatives but failed in the Senate. Sen. Pat McCarran then took many of the provisions from the bill and included them in legislation he introduced that became the McCarran Internal Security Act, which passed both houses of Congress in 1950.