WHITE FLEET RESOLUTIONS UNDERWAY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP61-00357R000100220027-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 20, 2013
• Sequence Number: 27
• Publication Date: July 22, 1959
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/08/20: CIA-RDP61-00357R000100220027-8
12786 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD ? HOUSE
and representative nature of national
support for District of Columbia self -
government.
I understand that Mayor Carlin of my
neighboring city of Newark, N.J., had a
'leading part in this decision. I believe
the overwhelming majority of the peo-
ple of my State, and of the country,
share these sentiments. I want to take
this opportunity to reaffirm my whole-
hearted support of efforts to restore
home rule to Washington.
I am confident that this House, recog-
nizing that the overwhelming sentiment
of the country supports the restoration
of democracy to the Nation's Capital,
will assert its long-denied right to legis-
late on this issue, and act in this session
to end the long minority blockade of
home rule.
The resolution follows:
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HOME RULE?HESOLU-
TION APPROVED BY THE 1959 ANNUAL CON-
FERENCE OF THE U.S. CONFERENCE . OF
MAYORS, ILOS ANGELES, CALIF., JULY 15, 1959
Whereas local self-government is the bed-
rock of free government;
Whereas the rights and benefits of local
self-government should be available to all
American citizens;
Whereas the residents of the District of
Columbia- are denied the rights and benefits
of local self-government;
Whereas the Congress of the United States
has the authority to assure local self-gov-
ernment by granting home rule to the Dis-
trict of Columbia;
Whereas the principle of home rule has
been endorsed by a substantial majority of
the residents of the District of Columbia;
and
Whereas the Board of Commissioners of
the District of Columbia have unanimously
endorsed proposals for granting home rule
to their city: Now, therefore; be it
Resolved by the U.S. Conference of Mayors,
That the Congress be, and it is hereby urged,
to approve home rule legislation to assure
local self-government to the residents of the
District of Columbia.
(Mrs. DWYER asked and was given
permission to revise and extend her re-
marks and include extraneous matter.)
CORRECTION OF VOTE ,
Mr. BYE NE of Pennsylvania. Mr.
Speaker, on rollcall No. 113 I am re-
corded as not voting. I was present and
voted "aye." I ask unanimous consent
that the RECORD and Journal be cor-
rected accordingly.
The SPEAKER pro ternpore. Is there
objection to the request of the gentle-
man from Pennsylvania?
There was ho objection.
, Mr. DONOHUE. Mr. Speaker, on roll-
call No. 113 I am recorded as not voting.
I was present and voted "aye." I ask
unanimous consent that the RECORD and
Journal be corrected accordingly.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there
objection to the request of the gentle-
? man from Massachusetts? '
There was no objection.
CORRECTION OF ROLLCALL
Mr. SMITH of Iowa. Mr. Speaker,
on rollcall No. 52, on May 25, 1959, a
-/quorum call, I am recorded as absent. I
was present and answered to my, name.
I ask unanimous consent that the REC-
ORD and Journal be corrected accord-
ingly.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there
objection to the request of the gentle-
man from Iowa?
There was no objection.
WHITt. FLEET RESOLUTIONS
UNDERWAY
(Mr. EDMONDSON (at the request of
Mr. ALBERT) was given permission to ex-
tend his remarks at this point in the
RECORD.)
Mr. EDMONDSON. Mr. Speaker, yes-
terday 22 Members of this body intro-
duced resolutions calling upon the Presi-
dent to establish from our mothballed
Navy a new White Fleet of mercy -ahips,
to-carry American surplus foods, medical
aid and supplies to disaster and distress
areas all over the world.
This idea, initiated by Cmdr. Frank
Manson, of Oklahoma, is appropriately
described in this week's issue of Life
magazine as a "bold proposal for peace."
It also represents an imaginative new
approach to American foreign policy ad-
vancement, an approach which I hope
will win the overwhelming support of
this House.
Tomorrow afternoon there will be a
30-minute discussion of the proposal for
a modern-day great White Fleet, under
a special order granted to me by the
House yesterday.
The terms of House Concurrent Reso-
lution 323?and the 21 similar 'resolu-
tions for a new White Fleet?will be dis-
cussed in tomorrow's 30-minute period,
And the 22 resolution sponsors will ap-
preciate the participation of all int r
ed colleagues.
1
HE GREAT WHITE FL
(Mr. BOLAND asked and was given
? ermission to extend his remarks at this
point in the RECORD.)
Mr. BOLAND. Mr. Speaker, I want
to join my House colleagues, Congress-
man Eamomisox, of Oklahoma, and
Congressman BATES, of Massachusetts,
and Senators HUMPHREY, of Minnesota,
and AIKEN, of Vermont, in urging Presi-
dent Eisenhower to revive the Great
White Fleet of the Theodore Roosevelt
era and put the modern Great White
Fleet upon the seven seas for the pur-
poses of peace and in the cause of
humanity.
As the Springfield (Mass.) Daily News
editorially stated on Monday of this
week:
The grim might of the (Great White)
fleet was thinly covered with a peaceful
white coating, but there was no mistaking
the message carried by the fighting admiral
and 16 battleships. The Great White Fleet
impressed the world. -
Gunboat diplomacy has undergone exten-
sive modification.
Yes, indeed, gunboat diplomacy has
undergone extensive modification in the
52 years since President Theodore
Roosevelt dispatched these 16 .battle-
ships off on the historic cruise around
the world in a demonstration of new-
found United States might, after victory
in the Spanish-American War estab-
lished this country as a world power.
July 22
I want to commend my colleagues who
Introduced the resolution Yesterday and
the man who thought up the challenging
idea of a new White Fleet diplomacy,
Navy Commander Frank Manson. Also,
Life magazine is to be commended for
the excellent presentation of this idea
and a review of the accomplishments of
the Theodore Roosevelt Great White
Fleet, appearing in the July 2'7 issue.
Mr. Andrew Heiskell, publisher of Life
magazine, has aptly stated the purpose
of the new White Fleet in these words:
The new White Fleet would be equipped to
stand not only as a symbol of U.S. leadership
in the ideals of peaceful world brotherhood,
but as a practical demonstration of U.S.
medical and scientific progress.
The White Fleet could roam anywhere
in the world and be in a state of readi-
ness to give assistance where disaster
might strike. The fleet could consist of
hospital ships, cargo ships with relief
supplies of food and clothing, and air-
craft carriers and cargo ships designed to
provide power supplies or dispense tech-
nical information.
The U.S. Navy has many such ships
in its mothball fleet which could be
pressed into service for the White Fleet
idea to demonstrate America's goodwill
and implement the peaceful purposes of
our foreign aid program and foreign
policy.
Mr. Speaker, I am certain that Presi-
dent Eisenhower will give this proposal -
ympathetic consideration.
*"?-.J
A NEW "SAVANNAH" FOR A NEW
JOB
(Mr. BOLAND asked and was given
permission to extend his remarks at this
point in the RECORD.)
Mr. BOLAND. Mr. Speaker, the
United States demonstrated yesterday
that once again it has the earnest de-
sire and the know-how to put the gi-
gantic power of the atom to work for
peaceful purposes when the President's
wife, Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower, chris-
tened the first nuclear powered mer-
chant ship, the NS Savannah.
The launching of the NS Savannah
at Camden, N.J., is another milestone in
the harnessing and development of
atomic fission for the benefit of man-
kind.
Under leave to extend my remarks, I
include the following editorial from the
Springfield (Mass.) Daily News of Mon-
day, July 20, 1959, entitled "A New Sa-
vannah for a New Job":
A NEW "SAVANNAH" FOR A NEW JOB
Great Britain has Often demonstrated the
value of "showing the flag" when its rights
are endangered in any part of the world, and
the United States has used the same device
which became known in some quarters as
"gunboat diplomacy."
However, during the lifetime of Adm.
Robert D. "Fighting Bob" Evans, the use of
gunboats in diplomacy underwent a notable
change. One of his first "show of force" as-
signments took him to Chile as the com-
mander of the steel gunboat Yorktown in
1891 to caution those who were threatening
what the United States considered as its
legitimate interests there. The next year, he
took a flotilla to the Bering Sea to stop
abuses in seal fisheries.
After the Spanish-American War, how-
ever, the admiral went on perhaps his most
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/08/20: CIA-RDP61-00357R000100220027-8