A number of viral emails claimed that the executive order "creates martial law."Ben Finley, Obama's Executive Orders, FactCheck.org, Annenberg Public Policy Center (September 25, 2012). Similar claims were repeated by Texas congresswoman Kay Granger of Texas in a constituent newsletter; she later retracted her statements. In reality, the order updated long-existing directives that have been issued ever since the Truman administration. Such presidential directives update the resources covered under the Defense Production Act, which was enacted in the 1950s and is reauthorized by Congress every few years. The act "allows presidents to delegate authority to various federal departments and agencies. For example, Obama's order authorizes the secretaries of Defense and the Interior 'to encourage the exploration, development, and mining of strategic and critical materials and other materials.'" The fact-checking website Snopes.com noted:
