The Nation: Long-Range Emergencies

In March 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed a national emergency to cope with the Depression.

Officially, at least, that state of emergency is still in effect. So is the emergency that Harry Truman declared in 1950 during the Korean War and those that Richard Nixon called in 1970 be cause of a postal strike and in 1971 to handle an international monetary crisis.

Now Congress is moving to tidy things up. Due for action this week is a bill that would 1) cancel past edicts and 2) give Congress the right to end any emergency during its first six months.

After that period,...