<P> After repeated attacks by German submarines on U.S. ships, Roosevelt announced on September 11, 1941, that he had ordered the U.S. Navy to attack German and Italian war vessels in the "waters which we deem necessary for our defense". Following the sinking of the U.S. destroyer Reuben James on October 31, many of the provisions of the Neutrality Acts were repealed on November 17, 1941: merchant vessels were allowed to be armed and to carry any cargoes to belligerent nations . The U.S. formally declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941 following the attack on Pearl Harbor of the previous day; Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. on December 11, 1941, and the U.S. responded with a declaration of war on the same day . </P> <P> The provision against unlicensed arms trades of the 1939 act remains in force . </P> <P> In 1948, Charles Winters, Al Schwimmer and Herman Greenspun were convicted under the 1939 Act after smuggling B - 17 Flying Fortress bombers from Florida to the nascent state of Israel during the 1948 Arab--Israeli War . All three received Presidential pardons in subsequent decades . </P>

Why did congress pass the neutrality act of 1935