WHEREAS, it has become public knowledge, as a result of investigative journalism and of subsequent Congressional hearings, that government agencies including the CIA, the FBI, the Department of Justice, and the Internal Revenue Service have indulged in illegal activities or the misuse of otherwise legal functions for the purpose of suppressing dissent;

WHEREAS, harassment, disruption, dissemination of false statements, and the use of anonymous letters and planted articles to defame dissenters have been employed extensively;

WHEREAS, connections between those interfered with and any credible threat to the security of the United States have been non-existent or tenuous in many cases;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That the 1976 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association condemns the use of government agencies including the CIA, FBI, and state and local police to engage in actions, whether or not legal, intended to harass, disrupt, and otherwise interfere with the activities of individuals or organizations expressing dissent by any means of peaceful demonstration.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That the 1976 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association calls upon Congress to continue to investigate and publicize past acts so that the public may recognize the extent of such actions designed to suppress freedom of speech and assembly in contradiction of the principles of the First Amendment to the Constitution, and to institute such mandatory reporting by government agencies to, and oversight by, Congress as may be necessary to prevent such excesses in the future.