# Congressional Record, House, 10 November 1941: Representative Bennett lists Browne and Bioff as "convicted this month"

Canonical: https://mobfiles.org/items/congressional-record-1941-11-10-bennett-browne-bioff-convicted/

A House floor speech for a union-reporting bill, used here for one point only: on 10 November 1941 a member of Congress stated that George E. Browne and Bioff "were convicted this month." No court record of the 1941 verdict was opened.

The bound Congressional Record for 10 November 1941, House section, read from the text layer of the govinfo PDF. Representative Bennett of Missouri spoke for H. R. 4392, a bill requiring public reports of union receipts and expenditures, and listed union officials recently convicted. The page numbers are inferred from the page markers in the text layer: the speech begins after the 8741 marker, and the next marker is 8743.

Among them he named "George E. Browne, for many years a vice president of the American Federation of Labor," and Bioff, who he said "were convicted this month for using their powerful labor-union positions to 'shake down' four motion-picture companies for $550,000."

This is a partisan floor speech, and it is used with caution. It calls the two men "New York thugs," although the court records place Browne in the Chicago local, and it makes a personal allegation against one of them that this archive does not repeat. Its value here is narrow: a federal record dated 10 November 1941 stating that the two were convicted that month. The figure of $550,000 is the speaker's. The verdict date, the sentences and the court are not stated in any court record opened for this archive.

## Sources

- Congressional Record (Bound Edition), vol. 87, pt. 8, House, pp. 8741-8742, via govinfo: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1941-pt8/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1941-pt8-15.pdf