Proclamation 2159—Prohibiting the Export of Arms and Ammunition to Italy and Ethiopia

Whereas . . . my proclamation of October 5, 1935, issued pursuant to Section 1 of the joint resolution approved August 31, 1935, declared that a state of war unhappily existed between Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Italy.

Now, Therefore, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, acting under and by virtue of the authority conferred on me by the said joint resolution as amended by the joint resolution of Congress approved February 29, 1936, do hereby proclaim that a state of war unhappily continues to exist between Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Italy; and I do hereby admonish all citizens of the United States or any of its possessions and all persons residing or being within the territory or jurisdiction of the United States or its possessions to abstain from every violation of the provisions of the joint resolution above set forth, hereby made effective and applicable to the export of arms, ammunition, or implements of war from any place in the United States or its possessions to Ethiopia or to the Kingdom of Italy, or to any Italian possession, or to any neutral port for transshipment to, or for the use of, Ethiopia or the Kingdom of Italy.

And I do hereby declare and proclaim that the articles listed below shall be considered arms, ammunition, and implements of war for the purposes of Section 1 of the said joint resolution of Congress:

CATEGORY I

(1) Rifles and carbines using ammunition in excess of caliber .22, and barrels for those weapons;

(2) Machine guns, automatic or autoloading rifles, and machine pistols using ammunition in excess of caliber .22, and barrels for those weapons;

(3) Guns, howitzers, and mortars of all calibers, their mountings and barrels;

(4) Ammunition in excess of caliber .22 for the arms enumerated under (1) and (2) above, and cartridge cases or bullets for such ammunition; filled and unfilled projectiles or forgings for such projectiles for the arms enumerated under (3) above; propellants with a web thickness of .015 inch or greater for the projectiles of the arms enumerated under (3) above;

(5) Grenades, bombs, torpedoes and mines, filled or unfilled, and apparatus for their use or discharge;

(6) Tanks, military armored vehicles, and armored trains.

CATEGORY II

Vessels of war of all kinds, including aircraft carriers and submarines.

CATEGORY III

(1) Aircraft, assembled or dismantled, both heavier and lighter than air, which are designed, adapted, and intended for aerial combat by the use of machine guns or of artillery or for the carrying and dropping of bombs, or which are equipped with, or which by reason of design or construction are prepared for, any of the appliances referred to in paragraph (2) below;

(2) Aerial gun mounts and frames, bomb racks, torpedo carriers, and bomb or torpedo release mechanisms.

CATEGORY IV

(1) Revolvers and automatic pistols using ammunition in excess of caliber .22;

(2) Ammunition in excess of caliber .22 for the arms enumerated under (1) above, and cartridge cases or bullets for such ammunition.

CATEGORY V

(1) Aircraft, assembled or dismantled, both heavier and lighter than air, other than those included in Category III;

(2) Propellers or air screws, fuselages, hulls, wings, tail units, and under-carriage units;

(3) Aircraft engines, assembled or unassembled.

CATEGORY VI

(1) Livens projectors and flame throwers;

(2)Mustard gas (dichlordiethylsulphide), lewisite (chlorovinyldichloroarsin and dichlorodivinylchloroarsin), ethyldichlorarsin, methyldichlorarsin, ethyliodoacetate, bromobenzylcyanide, diphenylchlorarsin, and diphenyl-cyanarsin.

And I do hereby enjoin upon all officers of the United States, charged with the execution of the laws thereof, the utmost diligence in preventing violations of the said joint resolution, and this my proclamation issued thereunder, and in bringing to trial and punishment any offenders against the same.

And I do hereby delegate to the Secretary of State the power of prescribing regulations for the enforcement of Section 1 of the said joint resolution of August 31, 1935, as amended by Section 1 of the joint resolution of Congress approved February 29, 1936, and as made effective by this my proclamation issued thereunder.

And I do hereby revoke my proclamation of October 5, 1935, concerning the export of arms, ammunition and implements of war to Ethiopia and Italy, which was issued pursuant to the terms of Section 1 of the joint resolution of Congress approved August 31, 1935, provided, however, that this action shall not have the effect of releasing or extinguishing any penalty, forfeiture or liability incurred under the aforesaid proclamation of October 5, 1935; and that the said proclamation shall be treated as remaining in force for the purpose of sustaining any proper action or prosecution for the enforcement of such penalty, forfeiture or liability.

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT