William O. Douglas

“ But we must generally assume, in the absence of a plain indication to the contrary, that Congress when it enacts a statute is not making the application of the federal act dependent on state law. That assumption is based on the fact that the application of federal legislation is nationwide (United States v. Pelzer, 312 U.S. 399, 402, 61 S.Ct. 659, 660, 85 L.Ed. 913) and at times on the fact that the federal program would be impaired if state law were to control. ”

“ In 1937 the Attorney General recommended the enlargement of the Bank Robbery Act 'to include larceny and burglary of the banks' protected by it. H.Rep. No. 732, 75th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 1. The fact that the 1934 statute was limited to robbery was said to have produced 'some incongruous results'-a 'striking instance' of which was the case of a man who stole a large sum from a bank but who was not guilty of robbery because he did not display force or violence and did not put any one in fear. ”

“ That consideration gives additional weight to the view that where Congress is creating offenses which duplicate or build upon state law, courts should be reluctant to expand the defined offenses beyond the clear requirements of the terms of the statute.
There is no plain indication in the legislative history of § 2 (a) that Congress used 'felony' in a sense sufficiently broad to include state offenses. Though the legislative data are meager, the indications are to the contrary. ”