PRESIDENT TRADE BAN CRACKS DOWN ON CASTRO

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP65B00383R000200230021-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 4, 2004
• Sequence Number: 21
• Publication Date: October 12, 1962
• Content Type: OPEN

22098
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE October 12
mous consent that an article entitled
"British Shipowners Oppose Bars to Cuba
Trade," published in this morning's issue
of, the New York Times, emphasizing that
protest, be printed in the RECORD at this
point.
There being no objection, the article
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
BRITISH SHIPOWNERS OPPOSE BARS TO CUBA
I am delighted the senior Senator from
Oregon has raised his voice against this
procedure. I am very grateful to him
for doing so.
I ask unanimous consent that I may
proceed for 3 additional minutes on an-
other subject.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
objection to the request by the Senator
from Wisconsin? The Chair hears none,
and the Senator from Wisconsin is rec-
ognized for 3 additional minutes.
PRESIDENT TRADE BAN CRACKS
DOWN ON CASTRO
Mr. PROXMIRE. Mr. President, I
speak as the Senator who led the fight
on the floor of the Senate against we
the language of the House in the
foreign aid appropriation bill, which
would have prohibited aid to any coun-
try whose ships were bringing military
cargoes from the Iron Curtain countries
to Cuba. In this connection, I think
that what the State Department has
done in recent days has been far more
effective than could have been done if
we had won that fight on the floor of
the Senate. Incidentally, the fight was
won in the conference.
What the President and the State De-
partment has done should be recognized
and praised by Americans all over the
country. Recent developments have
made crystal clear how effective the
State Department has been in this re-
gard.
The President will next week close
American ports to all ships from any
country whose vessels are carrying mili-
tary supplies to Cuba. Incidentally, that
is what we tried to provide in the foreign
aid bill. We have done it now, and I
believe we have done it more effectively.
But that's just the beginning.
Second, he will close American ports
to any ships that seek to come here dur-
ing a voyage in which that ship engages
in trade of any sort between a member of
the Communist bloc and Cuba.
Also, we have prevented any U.S. ship-
owner from taking part in the Cuban
trade. -
Most important of all-we lave denied
U.S. Government cargoes to any shipping
company whose vessels are used for
trading between Cuba and the Com-
munist bloc.
Mr. President, the blow to Castro in
this action can be appreciated when it
is recognized that most of the trade be-
tween Cuba and the outside world was
with our country until our embargo in
February of this year. Since then the
trade has shifted to Russia.. Of course,
the total foreign trade of Cuba has drop-
ped considerably because Russia can-
not possibly supply what we supplied.
Seventy percent of the trade of Cuba
with the outside world is with Russia.
Two-thirds of that trade is being car-
ried on in ships of allied countries or free
countries of the world. The action the
President will take will cut off virtually
all of that trade. Anyone who doubts
this will have much effect has only to
note the British reaction. British ship-
owners are protesting the President's Ex-
ecutive order vehemently. I ask unani-
T.. TRADE
LONDON, October 11.-British shipowners
insisted today that they would accept no re-
striction on their trade with Cuba.
They agreed at a meeting that they had to
reply on British diplomacy if the United
States carried out its proposed sanctions
against shipping engaged in carrying Com-
munist countries to Cuba.
The meeting, called by the Council of the
British Chamber of Shipping, was held to
discuss U.S. plans for a shipping boycott of
Cuba.
After the meeting, David M. Robinson, the
Chamber's president, said that British ship-
owners intended to retain their right to trade
throughout the world.
This was the first formal pronouncement
from the Chamber since United States pro-
posed to bar from American ports all ships of
any country if even a single ship of that
country's registry carried arms to Cuba, and
to forbid the picking up of return cargoes
in the United States by ships that had un-
loaded nonmilitary Communist freight in
Cuban ports.
Mr. Robinson also condemned a sugges-
tion by American shipowners' organizations
that owners throughout the world should
agree voluntarily to cease trade with Cuba.
Mr. Robinson said that a British Govern-
ment request to the chamber that British
concerns should not carry arms or military
equipment to Cuba had been passed on to
shipowners.
He added that there was no evidence that
British shipowners were involved in such
trade.
He said he "did not quarrel" with a U.S.
statement that 78 British ships carried car-
goes to Cuba between January 15 and Au-
gust 31.
LONDON, October 4.-Shipping sources said
today that Communist China had appeared
on the London market as a bidder for char-
tered shipping for the first time in more
than a year.
The Chinese were reported to be seeking to
charter vessels for 4 to 7 months.
According to a report today in the Finan-
cial Times, a British business newspaper, the
Chinese want to stipulate that chartered
ships must call at Cuban ports.
In the past, Communist China has made
a substantial number of charters in London,
the newspaper said, and its absence in the
last year had been one factor in the low
freight rates in recent months.
London has told the United States that
the British Government has no power to in-
terfere with the chartering or to ships to
carry goods to Cuba.
The United States has proposed a series
of reprisal measures to halt Western shipping
from engaging in the Cuban trade. The
U.S. measures are causing some owners, who
would otherwise have accepted the Chinese
offers, to hesitate, the Financial Times said.
STOCKHOLM, October 11.-Sweden indi-
cated disapproval today of a U.S. plan to try
to bar non-Communist shipping from carry-
ing nonmilitary cargoes to Cuba from the
Soviet bloc.
The Government announced that the
Swedish Embassy in Washington had com-
municated Sweden's "anxiety" over measures
abridging "the possibilities of freedom of
the seas."
The Government said it had also told the
United States that "as far as we know, no
Swedish ships have been carrying arms to
Cuba."
Mr. PROXMIRE. Norwegian ship-
owners are protesting the action, but
they are agreeing to go along with it.
The West German, Greek, and Turkish
Governments have agreed to comply
and to go along with us. I ask unani-
mous consent that an article by Frank
Porter entitled "United States Ignores
Outcry on Cuba Shipping Ban," pub-
lished in the Washington Post of recent
date, be printed in the RECORD at this
point.
There being no objection, the article
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
UNITED STATES IGNORES OUTCRY ON CUBA
SHIPPING BAN
(By Frank C. Porter)
British and Norwegian shipowners yester-
day attacked drastic American plans to re-
taliate against free world ships carrying
Communist bloc cargoes to Cuba.
At the same time, there were indications
that the United States intends to take a
tough line, no matter what opposition de-
velops overseas. .
"It comes down to this: Do they want to
trade with Cuba or do they want to trade
with us?" one Government source said.
State Department and other Government
officials spent most of yesterday hammering
out details of the four-point program, which
is expected to go into effect early next week.
The program provides f or-
Closing American ports to all ships from
any country whose vessels carry military
supplies to Cuba.
Closing American ports to any ship which
seeks to come here during a voyage in which
it engages in trade of any sort between the
Communist bloc and Cuba.
Preventing any U.S. shipowner from par-
ticipating in Cuban trade.
Denying U.S. Government cargoes to any
shipping company whose vessels are used for
trading between Cuba and the Communist
bloc.
Questions on putting these policies into
effect, enforcing them, and clearing away any
obstacles were reportedly discussed at yester-
day's sessions at State. One trade official
said unofficially that the Trading With
the Enemy Act will undoubtedly be invoked
and that the program may be administered
by the Division of Foreign Assets Control
of the Treasury Department.
Government spokesmen say they believe
no free world ships have as yet carried arms
to Cuba.
In Oslo yesterday, the Norwegian Ship-
owners Association said it "viewed with con-
cern any development where shipping is be-
ing used as an instrument of foreign policy."
But it said that its annual convention fully
endorsed a request that members refuse to
carry goods to Cuba.
British shipowners were more adamant.
Their trade group, the Council of Shipping,
decided unanimously to oppose any restric-
tions on their trade with Cuba, United Press
International reported. "It is a matter of
gravest concern to owners engaged in' trade
that they could be involved in sanctions,"
the council said.
The British Government has advised ship-
owners not to carry strategic goods to Cuba
but it has no legal power to prevent them
from doing so.
West Germany has endorse a decree ev
pected to cut off almost all its shipping tr; ,_
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -SENATE !ilOr7
American citizens on American soil. This
cannot be the meaning and purpose of our
desire to multiply contacts between the
United States and Communist countries.
Quite the contrary, It is in the very Interests
of international peace and understanding to
oppose such detrimental policies of a Com-
munist regime.
NOMINATION OF JOHN G. GREEN,
OF WISCONSIN, TO BE COLLECTOR
OF CUSTOMS
Mr. MORSE. Mr. President, I should
like to have the attention of the junior
Senator from Wisconsin [Mr. Psox-
MIRS].
Last night I read the CONGRESSIONAL
RECORD for the day before yesterday, con-
taining the discussion as to the problem
with regard to the collector of customs in
Wisconsin, which involves a controversy
between the junior Senator from Wis-
consin and the senior Senator from Wis-
consln IMr. WILEY].
I should like to have the RECORD show
that in my judgment it Is most regret-
table that steps were not taken early
enough in this session to obtain the con-
firmation of the nomination of Mr.
Green to be collector of customs in the
State of Wisconsin. I feel that the
position which the junior Senator from
Wisconsin [Mr. PROxMIRE] has taken In
this matter, as reported in the CONGRES-
SIONAL RECORD, is unanswerable; and
that the senior Senator from Wisconsin
is completely wrong in the position he
has taken on this issue. I shall state my
reasons.
The senior Senator from Wisconsin,
so the RECORD shows, alleges that the
appointment of Mr. Green really was re-
quested by the Senator from Massachu-
setts [Mr. SMITH]. As a lawyer accus-
tomed to looking for proof, evidence, and
documentation of allegations, I wish to
say I think the senior Senator from
,Wisconsin "fell flat on his face," so to
speak, In respect to that argument, for
the correspondence placed in the RECORD
by the Junior Senator from Wisconsin
[Mr. PROxMrRE] leaves no room for doubt
that the, correspondence itself shows
that, the.'appointment was at the initia-
tion of the junior Senator from Wiscon-
sin and had his approval and enthusi-
astic support from the very beginning.
The second point I wish to make is`
that this issue involves each one of us.
It may be the junior Senator from Wis-
consin today, but it may be the majority
leader tomorrow, or the senior Senator
from Oregon `the next session, or any
other Senator at some time In the future.
These matters of historic tradition and
precedent in the Senate in regard to such
subjects as nominations are of concern
to each of us when we find a situation
such as'has developed In the State of
Wisconsin over the appointment of the
collector of customs. '
I qte in the RECORD that the senior
enator is willing to declare a
personally obnoxious, that Sen-
'W = his standing in the Senate by
alsing an objection to a nominee.
The i?RESII)ING OFFICER. Th time
of the Senator from Oregon has expired.
Mr. MORSE. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that I may proceed
for 2 more minutes.
The PRESIDING OFICER. Without
objection, It is so ordered.
Mr. MORSE. The REcoiip is perfectly
clear that the senior Senator from'Wis
consin has taken the position that he
really does not have anything against
the nominee _ personally. I can only
reach one conclusion; he must have
something against the junior Senator
from Wisconsin. At least, he is not in a
position to cooperate with his colleague
in regard to the nomination. I think
that is regrettable and reflects discredit
upon the senior Senator from Wisconsin
and not the junior Senator from Wis-
consin.
Third, I point out that we are dealing
with a matter of patronage. The posi-
tion of collector of customs is a patron-
age position. That is our system. So
long as it is the system, the majority
party has the traditional right to make
the appointment and, in the absence of
any showing of disqualification on the
part of the nominee, on the basis of the
four historic criteria which have always
been applied under the advise and con-
sent clause, the nomination should be
confirmed.
As the Senator from Wisconsin knows,
the senior Senator from Oregon has ap-
plied those historic criteria ever since
the famous fight in 1945 involving the
nomination of Henry Wallace to be Sec-
retary of Commerce, when, as a Repub-
lican, I defended that nomination by a
Democratic President because there was
no showing on my side of the aisle that
Henry Wallace violated any of the four
historic criteria.
I say, on the basis of those four his-
toric criteria, that patronage positions
should automatically be filled, unless the
opposition can show that the nominee
does not fulfill one or more of those cri-
teria.
There Is not a scintilla of evidence in
this record as to the nomination to be
collector of customs in Wisconsin which
raises any question as to the nominee's
qualifications under those criteria.
Therefore, in my judgment, the senior
Senator from Wisconsin has no merito-
rious standing in opposition to the nom-
ination.
After all, this is a patronage job. So
long as we have the patronage system,
the majority party ought to have the
right to fill the position, and It should
not be necessary to wait, as we shall now
have to wait, to have a matter such as
this cleared up because of a technicality,
merely because the Committee on Fi-
nance reported the nomination by way
of a poll rather than a vote in the com-
mittee.
I close by saying that r sincerely hope
the President of the United States will
make an interim appointment. It is my
understanding the President can make
an interim appointment. In view of the
objection raised by the senior Senator
from Wisconsin, which, in my judgment,
has no merit on the record, I think the
President of the United States owes It to
the junior Senator from Wisconsin to
appoint Mr. Green on an interim basis
to be collector of customs. Then, when
the Congress comes back into session in
January, we can proceed to take the
nomination from the Finance Committee
and place it before the Senate.
The senior Senator from Wisconsin
ought to be made to answer the ques-
tion now as to whether he has changed
his mind and wishes to raise a point of
objection to the nomination on the
ground that the nominee is personally
obnoxious.
Mr. PROXMIRE. Mr. President, I
thank the senior Senator from Oregon
from the heart. I deeply appreciate
what the Senator has said. It is very
helpful, indeed.
John Green was nominated on March
1. On March 26 I wrote to the senior
Senator from Wisconsin and urged him
to return an approval slip. He wrote
back the next day, and said that he
would look into the question.
I again wrote to the Senator on March
30, and I asked him once again to indi-
cate his approval.
It was obvious then that I was not go-
ing to get much action from the senior
Senator from Wisconsin, so I started
working on the Finance Committee. I
asked the distinguished chairman of the
Finance Committee to hold hearings on
the nomination. He said he was hold-
ing the hearings up until the senior
Senator from Wisconsin would consent
to have a hearing.
Eventually there was a hearing on June
13.
The reason the nomination was never
reported was that at the request of the
distinguished senior Senator from Wis-
consin, a Democratic member of the
committee objected to having the nom-
ination taken up. The committee is a
very busy committee, as the Senator
from Oregon realizes. If I have called
the chairman of the committee once on
this issue, I have called him at least a
dozen times. I talked with members of
the committee; with the distinguished
senior Senator from Illinois, and with
the Senator from Tennessee. They co-
operated and did all they could. We tried
everything we could think of to have the
nomination reported from the commit-
tee. It was impossible to get the nomina-
tion from the committee until the closing
days of the session, when a quorum of the
Finance Committee could not be ob-
tained. The chairman of the committee
tried a number of times to get a quorum.
He could not get a quorum. This was
the only way to have the nomination
reported.
I am glad that the senior Senator from
Oregon has raised this point. This could
be a very bad precedent, indeed. It
might mean that any time a minority
Senator wishes to block an appointment
all he will have to do is to persuade one
member of the committee to stall the
appointment to death. If he can stall it
until the end of the session, he can then
make a point of order as to polling the
committee, and nothing can be done. I
think this is a precedent we should not
permit to be established. .
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1962 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE 22039
with Cuba. Greek shipowners have approved will keep on doing what is necessary to keep
a Cuban boycott. The Turkish Government Castro afloat. The United States hopes the
has agreed to prohibit state-owned vessels cost will continue to mount.
from engaging in Cuban commerce and has One hope here is that worsening economic
asked private shippers not to haul Soviet conditions and increasing diplomatic isola-
cargoes there. tion will further known current differences
As explained by American officials, the em- inside Cuba between the hard-core Commu-
bargo is designed to make the Soviet com- nist Party leaders and Castro's other sup-
mitment to sustain Cuba economically and porters who are not Communists. But so
militarily as expensive and difficult as pos- far there is more hope than hard fact in
Bible. this line of reasoning.
It has also been pointed out that any Official sources do believe, however, that
added hardship suffered by Cuba as a result Castro himself daily walks in fear of in-
of withdrawing free world shipping would ternal enemies.
serve as an example to other Latin American What all this type of policy amounts to
nations which might be tempted to follow is a hope that at some point something will
the Castro road. give inside Cuba.
About 70 percent of Cuban trade presently The blurry part of the picture of U.S.
is with the Soviet Union and other Com- policy on Cuba has to do with sub rosa ac-
munist-bloc nations. But more than two- tivities involving Cuban refugees and'other
thirds of total Cuban trade has been carried non-U.S. citizens who might be willing to
in free world ships. help In harassment of the Castro regime.
Thus, 35 percent of Communist cargoes American officials are chary of using the
have been transported by vessels under term "harassment," to describe this aspect of
charter of nonbloc nations. U.S. policy. There Is much talk of how
A recent Maritime Administration report difficult some of them have bungled various
indicates that free world ships made 571 clandestine attacks inside Cuba. And it
calls at Cuban ports from January 1, is said that Castro's internal security forces
through August 31. No vessels flying the U.S. have grown more efficient, thus making such
flag visited ports other than the naval base things as sabotage more difficult.
at Guantanamo Bay. Whether this is just alibi talk for inaction
Ships from Greece, the United Kingdom, is not totally clear but there are reasons for
West Germany and Norway accounted for 60 thinking so. On the other hand, the ad-
percent of the total. Following is a break- ministration can hardly be expected to talk
down by country: out loud about clandestine operations. The
Greece, 125 trips; United Kingdom, 109; problem is whether any American hand in
Norway, 55; West Germany, 50; Denmark, such operations can be kept secret. Refu-
33; Spain, 30; Lebanon, 29; Italy, 22; Japan, gees are notoriously gabby and Cubans are
20; Yugoslavia, 20; Sweden, 19; Liberia, 18; at the top of the list.
Netherlands, 14; Panama, 8; France, 5; Bel- The net of all this is that the administra-
gium, Finland and Chile, 3 each; Morocco, tion, in part under political pressures to "do
2; and Honduras, Switzerland and Turkey, 1 something about Cuba," Is doing about all it
each. can do through normal diplomatic channels.
But there is no more than a vague hope that
Mr. PROXMIRE. Mr. President, I this sort of thing can someday topple Castro.
ask unanimous consent to have printed What more can or will be done at the
at this point in the RECORD an article covert level is fuzzy. Cuban refugee groups
entitled "United States Tries To Make are full of complaints of lack of cooperation.
Soviet Support of Cuba as Expensive as On one point there is a clear administra-
Possible," written by Chalmers M. Ro- tion policy line. There is no link between
berts and published in the Washington the Berlin problem and the Cuban problem
Post of recent date. susceptible of any sort of "deal" with the
There being no objection, the article Soviet Union. There are differences of opin-
Khrushchev
would do if there
was ordered to be printed In the RECORD, were Ion as to what
a full- scale e American assault on Cuba, ,
as follows: but no one in authority seems to doubt that
UNITED STATES TRIES To MAKE SOVIET SUPPORT short of that the Soviet boss will do every-
OF CUBA AS EXPENSIVEEAS POSSIBLE thing necessary to hold his Latin American
(By Chalmers M. Roberts) beachhead.
A new phase in the Kennedy administra- And between Berlin and Cuba, U.S. sources
tion's policy toward Cuba is now coming into are positive that Berlin is the major league
focus. But there are still some blurry as- problem, however much Cuba arouses Ameri-
pects. can anger.
In the first place, the administration is Mr. PROXMIRE. Mr. President, one
leaving on the shelf the possibility of a of the most outstanding writers of fl-
frontal U.S. military assault to topple Fidel nancial news, Sylvia Porter, commented
Castro's regime, as President Kennedy said last night in the Washington Evening
publicly a month ago. Up to now nothing has occurred to alter this view and no change Star on this subject. In the conclusion
is now in sight unless Castro by some new of the article she said:
move threatens American security or Inter- The "kicker" is No. 2-for what it does is
ests more than he does today. give the free world's shippers a choice be-
In the second place; the United States is tween making short-term profits on Soviet-
trying to make support of Cuba by the So- Cuban trade or long-term profits on hauling
viet Union as expensive as possible. United States cargoes-and we offer the
It Is doing this by putting an economic world's largest total of cargoes of all sorts.
squeeze on Cuba. Both Latin American and The choice, experts believe, is almost cer-
Western European nations are being asked tainly to be what we want it to be
.
and cajoled into trimming or eliminating Russia will, of course, be able to replace the 1. We're going to close all U.S. ports to
their trade ties to Cuba. This policy has ships. But it'll be far more expensive, far all ships of ahy country if any of that na-
had some success recently, but the admin- tougher, far more burdensome for her to tion's ships carries arms to Cuba.
istration has not goine to the point of pre- push the Cuban buildup. From an eco- 2. We're going to withhold any U.S.-owned
emptive buying of goods which other nations nomic-commercial standpoint, this is truly or financed cargoes from a foreign shipowner
sell to Castro. However, it may come to drastic action against the Soviet satellite 90 if any of that shipowner's vessels is used to
that. miles from our shores. carry Soviet cargoes to Cuba after the crack-
Nobody doubts that the Soviet invest- down goes into effect.
ment in Cuba now is considerable enough I ask unanimous consent that the 3. We're going to bar from all U.S. ports
both in terms of prestige and money, nor ? article be printed at this point in the any ship which delivers even clearly non
that Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev RECORD. military Soviet cargoes to Cuba and then
There being no objection, the article
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
SOVIET-CUBA TRADE FACING CURBS
(By Sylvia Porter)
As the United States proposes to curb free
world shipping, carrying cargoes from Rus-
sia to Cuba, two obvious questions arise: How
big has the Soviet bloc's trade with Cuba
become? -low lucrative has carrying these
cargoes from Russia to Cuba been to non-
Communist shipping nations?
The answers to both questions are: The
Soviet bloc's trade with Cuba has grown at
an enormous rate in the past 2 years and
carrying the cargoes has been exceedingly
lucrative to shipowners in the free world's
maritime nations, including our closest al-
lies.
Soviet trade with Cuba this year will reach
$750 million, according to a study published
in Geneva on the Iron Curtain economies
by the Economic Commission for Europe.
The ECE is a United Nations organization
with headquarters in Geneva.
This represents a 40-percent jump over
Russian-Cuban trade in 1961 and this trade
In 1961 was in turn 300 percent above 1960.
Poland's sales to Cuba more than tripled
from 1960 to 1961, rising from $4 million to
$23 million, while her purchases from Cuba
more than doubled, rising from $10 million
to $24 million.
U.S. TRADE REDUCED
Rumania's sales to Cuba climbed from next
to nothing in 1960 to $11 million in 1961.
Czechoslovakia's trade followed a similar
course, is scheduled to increase another 20
percent this year.
While our trade with Cuba has been re-
duced from 4.3 million tons in 1959 to 75,000
tons in 1961 (mostly medicines), the Soviet
bloc nations have taken our place.
Implicit in the statistics on the tremen-
dous rise in Soviet Russia's trade with Cuba
is the answer to the second question about
its financial value to nations whose ships
are transporting the millions of tons of food,
materials, machinery. The estimate is ship-
ping fees on the traffic are now running at
over $100 million a year-a welcome bonanza
at a time of world-wide maritime recession.
Between January 1 and the end of August,
a total of 433 ships carrying free world flags
docked at Cuban ports.
In the 3 months of June, July, and August,
the U.S. Maritime Commission reports, own-
ers of 189 ships of free world nations made
185 trips in and out of Cuban ports, with
ships of such countries as Greece, Britain,
West Germany, and Norway accounting for
more than 60 percent of the trade.
Under mounting pressure from us, though,
the nations have begun to act. Turkey has
banned all shipments; West Germany and
Italy are blocking the trade via licensing
policies; Denmark has told shipowners. she
doesn't approve of the shipments; Norway
has asked shipowners to "reconsider" hauling
cargoes; Britain is "considering" our request
for restrictions; Greece is asking shipowners
to cancel chartering agreements.
ACTIONS OUTLIVED
And now the United States, on its own, is
taking action to tighten the trade noose
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22040 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE October 12
come to our ports to pick up cargoes to carry Chicago Daily Times on October 11 be Nations largest defense contractor with
home. printed at this point In the RECORD. more than $1 billion In Government con-
4, We are forbidding all U.S. flagships or There being no objection, the article tracts.
D.S. owned ships to carry goods to and from it maintain an office of 35 to 40 persons
Cuba. was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, I, Washington to service the contracts and,
The kicker is No. 2-for what it does is give as follows: often, to see what can be done to get more.
the free world's shippers a choice between Loornorrs IN Lossrrrro Law PREVENT EN- Its representatives roam the corridors of
making short-term profits on Soviet-Cuban roaCEmENT_9mrssx-YLIa-OLD Acr KEEPS the Pentagon.
trade of long-term profits on hauling U.S. CONGRSSa, FT79LIC TN DARK It has no registered lobbyists. But then,
cargoes-and we offer the world's largest total (By James McCartney) neither, apparently, does any other of the
of cargoes of all sorts. The choice, experts Nation's top defense contractors.
almost certainly t o what we WASHINGTON.-The American Medical As- More than 6.000 individuals or groups have
believe, sociatlon has been credited with one of the registered since the law went on the books
is is al
want It to be.
Russia will, of course, be able to replace great lobbying campaigns of modern times but no one knows what that means. If some-
the ships. But It11 be far more expensive, with its drive this year to kill hospital care one had registered in 1946 and died the next
forthe aged under Social Security. da his name would still be on the lists,
far tougher, far more burdensome for her to But It doesn't show in the lobbying ex- y
push the Cuban buildup. From an eco- penes the AMA has reported under the and will presumably stay there through
eternity
tries on the same continuous voyage to by James McCartney, published in the' The General Dynamics Corp., is the
nonic-commercial standpoint, this Is truly
drastic action against the Soviet satellite 90
miles from our shores.
Mr. PROXMIRE. In conclusion, this
is not an act of war. It Is not an act of
but it will be singularly effective.
war
,
The President and the State Department
deserve a great deal of credit for this in-
genious action.
PUBLIC KEPT IN DARK ON LOBBY-
ING BY LOOPHOLES IN LAW
Nor does the law cover "groups or corpora-
tions" which do not solicit or collect
money-a large category indeed.
The law was passed in 1946 almost as an
afterthought as part of the Legislative Re-
organization Act, which "streamlined"
Congress,
It has been existing as an afterthought
almost ever since. It was dealt a crippling
blow In 1984 when the Supreme Court ruled,
among other things, that it covered only
groups with the principal purpose of in-
fluencing legislation.
Many groups-like- the NAM and the
ADA-say this is not their "principal pur-
pose" and thus they need not register. No
one is around to say they must.
c85
e
and Loan League, a lobby which won a on lobbyists-has never moved. The Supreme Court, however, did not mean
smashing victory over the President this The result of the peculiar, unenforced to kill the effectiveness of the law, which
year, and In other cases, the lobbyists law is to create the impression that lobbying many lawyers believe was poorly drawn in
Is regulated, while, In fact, it is not, the first place.
can report or not report, pretty much The National Association of Manufacturers Chief Justice Earl Warren in render-
with on how they want to operate, has a Washington office of about 40 persons Said
inthe Chief s opinion:
with the result that the public Is kept and the stated goal of acting as the "spoken- "A full realization of the American ideal
in the dark. the present lobbying reg- man for American Industry.'
elation law serves virtually no purpose But the NAM does not register under the of gdsovernm ne sin Ilelece d representatives sy e-
whatsoever. regulation of Lobbying Act. to extent on
Americans for Democratic Action, at the properly evaluate ? ' * pressures.
I ask unanimous consent that this opposite political pole from the NAM, was "Congress has not sought to prohibit pres-
thoughtful article, entitled "Loopholes formed to voice liberal, independent views. sures. It has merely provided for a modicum
in Lobbying Law Prevent Enforcement," It doesn't register under the act either. of information from those who for hire at-
Mr. PROSE. Mr. President, I
have been inserting In the RECORD a
series of articles on the lobbying problem
by James McCartney of the Chicago
Daily News, who is an outstanding
Washington correspondent.
This morning I have before me the
fifth and final article In the McCartney
series, The article shows how loopholes
In the lobbying law prevent any kind of
effective , nfprcement. Mr. McCartney
dramatically describes how a top lobbyist
for the AL crican Medical Association
took advantage of the loophole. Cer-
tainly that organization was exceedingly
effective fling the President's inedi-
care pro f 1.
? Yet, as the writer points out, the ef-
fort of the AMA does not show In the
lobbying expenses that the AMA has re-
ported under the Nation's 16-year-old
Regulation of Lobbying Act. This Is so,
although the AMA has been eon
sclentfolis in reporting Its expenses and
reports more than any other lobby work-
ing Washington.
For a;ample, Paul R: M. Donelan, a
top AMA lobbyist reported some ex-
penses for the first three months of the
year. The expenses be reported, how-
ever, in April, May, and June, the period
when the battle over care for the aged
reached a climax were nil. He reported
no expenses at all In April, May, and
June for travel, food, lodging, entertain-
ment, or for anything else.
Mr. McCartney has shown that in the
AMA and the UR Savings
Of th
Nation's 16-year-old Regulation of Lobby- But other groups among the most influen-
ing Act. tial In the country and very much alive
One or the AMA's six registered lobbyists, aren't on the lists at all.
Paul R. M. Donelan. for example. has listed Ridiculous situations arise, too, in report-
his total expenses for the first 3 months lag lobbying expenses by organizations.
of this year for travel. food, lodging, and The American Medical Association cam-
entertainment at 50 cents--One-half a dollar. paign against hospital care for, the aged has
This would be in a period when the med- been estimated on the floor of the House to
ical issue was much In doubt and AMA ef- have cost more than $7 million,
forts intense. The AMA's reported lobbying expenses
even then, Donelan spent more for those have been much less than $200,000.
purposes in the first 3 months of the year, The fact is that the present lobbying law
according to the report, than he did during doesn't cover the kind of grassroots lobby-
April, May, and June-tfie period when the Ing campaign that the AMA has waged-by
battle over care for the aged reached a for the most common kind of major cam-
c H ar p today.
reported no expenses at all `in April. ~bbying authorities, including the
May, and June for travel, food, lodging, en- McClellan committee In 1957, have noted the
tertainment-or for anything else. trend toward massive letterwriting cam-
These expenses are not far out of line, paigns, but the lobby law completely over-
however, with those reported by some other looked them.
lobbyists engaged in big campaigns. There are other important areas the lobby
A lobbyist for the U.B. Savings & Loan registrations law does not touch, too.
League-which staged one of the largest mail it does not, for example, cover lobbying
campaigns in history this year-reported with the excecutive branch of the Govern
$9.50 as his total expenses for the first 3 went-either to enlist the support of ad-
months of the year. ministratlve officers for a legislative program
But neither Donlan nor the savings and or to influence rule and regulation making.
loan lobbyist should be blamed It the figures The president of E. I. du Pont de Nemours,
appear to be somewhat ludicrous; Crawford M. Greenewalt. who came to Wash-
The fault lies not with them but with an ington many times to visit top Government
act that has been labeled as Ineffective by officials about the "Du Pont bill" did not
almost everyone who has taken the time to register under the Lobby Registration Act.
study it-including both the American Medi- The attorney who planned the campaign,
cal Association and the Savings & Loan however, registered fully.
Leagu. e Former Senator Majority Leader Scott
An AMA spokesman as long ago as 1957 Lucas, of Illinois, now a lobbyist, estimates
described the act as "full of ambiguities"
that he spends more than 95 percent of his
and suggested that it would be "a great t agencies. He
service to the country to see the laws cleared time working with executive is no exception.
As the act stands now, no one knows who
is supposed to register or how expenses are
supposed to be listed.
And because the writers of the act failed
to set up an administrative or an enforce-
ment agency there is no one around to pro-
vide answers. The Justice Department
abandoned serious enforcement efforts years
ago because of the law's vagueness.
The last congressional group to study the
problem, a Senate committee headed by
senator JOHN MCCLELLAN, Democrat, of
Arkansas, in 1957, said the law needed a ma-
jor overhaul.
The report was signed by Senator John F.
Kennedy, since promoted.
Approved For Release 2004/06/23 : CIA-RDP65B00383R000200230021-4