FAILURE OF THE HOUSE TO PASS AIRTIGHT BAN ON AID TO COUNTRIES TRADING WITH CUBA, AS PROPOSED INTHE CRAMER AMENDMENT, WILL COME BACK TO HAUNT THE CONGRSS BECAUSE THE AMENDMENT PASSED LEAVES A GAPING LOOPHOLE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP65B00383R000200250023-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 9, 2004
• Sequence Number: 23
• Publication Date: August 23, 1963
• Content Type: OPEN

14844
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD = HOUSE
came hard since few were given much en-
couragement to dig them out as was demon-
strated on June 1, 1970, when lightning sud-
denly struck.
Angered by discovery of irregularities in
Washington that FNS had ignored for
months, a well-known newspaper serving a
market of over a million readers opened an
attack on administration laxity and charged
FNS with silent complicity in the matter,
simultaneously recalling earlier predictions
that it would turn out to be "an American
Tass."
The same bright young Government official
(older now, and presumably more resource-
ful) was stung by this into recalling the
half-forgotten proviso to the effect that FNS
would be withdrawn from anyone "mis-
handling" the news. He promptly invoked
it.
The next day readers of this newspaper
found it shorn of all international, national
and even regional news. Having only a few
reporters left (FNS. was by then even report-
' ing sports and theater news) it could present
only a few scraps of local gossip and was
obviously not long for this world.
This lesson was not lost on the rest of the
press nor on radio and TV stations. After
a cautious study of the ruin to which their
excontemporary's brashness had brought
him, they opted for the safety of conformity.
FNS thus survived unchallenged, except by
a rather worrisome unofficial system all-too
familiar to dictators. Known popularly as
the grapevine, this proved an inexhaustible
source of the wildest rumors. It upset every-
body, perhaps most of all the administration
itself, but continued to `spread like wildfire
despite the most relentless attempts to stamp
it out.
Too TRUE To BE GOOD
To some readers the American Tass [see
above] may seem pure fantasy. In actual
fact it's far from it.
The Department of Agriculture has already
launched a wire service competitive with
that of PAM News Corp. Its information is
gathered at the taxpayer's expense then of-
fered gratis to anyone who wants it and is
.willing to pay what it costs A.T. & T. to in-
clude them in its circuit and realize a small
profit.
Since PAM, a commercial enterprise, must
charge not only for the use of wires, opera-
tors, and tickers but for newegathering costs
that USDA-charges off to the taxpayers, the
result Is intolerable pressure on the commer-
cial service. Few forms of free enterprise can
stand up for long under this type of com-
petition.
How has this come about? And how was
it that the Federal Communications Com-
mission, which is usually so discriminating
in specifying who should start this service
or that and what the kiddies ought to be
watching on TV, refused to do anything
about it?
Let us get that out of the way first. When
the American Newspapers Publishers' Asso-
ciation and PAM took the issue to FCC the
Commission took one look at who wanted to
offer the news service (USDA) and con-
cluded that since it was a Federal agency the
issue was "not cognizable by the Commis-
sion."
Well, I'm not going to indulge in the losing
litigants time-honored right to "cuss the
judge," but there are other aspects of the
issue that I think you will find as disturbing
asIdo.
There follow pertinent paragraphs of the
American Newspaper Publishers' Association
and PAM News Corp. and the decision of the
FCC in connection therewith. A beautiful
brochure has been printed and is being used
by A.T. & T. salesmen to promote this service.
A background statement issued by the De-
partment of Agriculture says in one para-
graph:
"According to USDA's Agricultural Mar-
keting Service, the new system will not bring
in any revenue to the Federal Government,
and will not result in any additional cost to
the Federal Government."
And another paragraph:
"Under this plan, subscribers apply directly
to the company that owns the teletype cir-
cuits, which handles all the work of con-
tracts, billings, collections, etc., without cost
or income to the Federal Government. The
plan is designed to increase access to infor-
mation, particularly to detailed specialized
information, detail on local markets, and
other information already being collected
and summarized."
Two more paragraphs:
"The private common carrier that owns
the teletype system leased by the U.S. De-
partment of Agriculture has been obligated
to protect the confidentiality of information
flowing over that system, until the informa-
tion was released by the USDA's Agricultural
Marketing Service.
"Therefore, it required written authoriza-
tion to provide this extension of service to
private subscribers. The idea was discussed
of having the Agricultural Marketing Serv-
ice approve each application. It was being
rejected as being time-consuming and un-
necessary. Instead, a catchall reservation of
the right of the USDA to cancel service was
included in the authorizing letter."
I wonder what a "catchall" reservation is?
A sentence in the next paragraph:
"Since it is impossible to foresee what il-
legal use or flagrant abuses might be made
by individual subscribers, the reservation
also includes the right to cancel service to
.individual subscribers."
I wonder who determines what "flagrant
abuses" are?
Another sentence:
"In fact, even aside from the news media
the USDA does not expect that it will be
necessary to cancel service to any individual
subscribers."
' Isn't it nice to know that the USDA doesn't
expect that it will be necessary to cancel
service.
In a letter dated August 9, 1963, addressed
to Senator KENNETH B. KEATING, Mr. G. R.
Grange, Deputy Administrator, Marketing
Services says as follows:
"The PAM News Corp. relays to its cus-
tomers Federal-State market news reports
plus supplemental market information which
it collects directly. Whether the direct con-
nections to our leased wire circuit will ad-
versely affect its business may depend on the
value which its customers place on the sup-
plemental information they receive from the
PAM News Corp. Press associations, news-
papers, radio and television stations, busi-
ness firms, and all other interested persons
may, if they desire, have access to the mar-
ket news circuit. We have no basis for mak-
ing it available to some and denying it to
others, as long as there is no false-or illegal
use of the Federal-State market news
reports."
As I remarked earlier, if you will weigh
these words against the projections drawn
in the American Tass, I don't think you'll
find the latter overly fanciful. Perhaps
you'll feel as I feel, recalling the title of one
of Shaw's plays, "It Is Just Too True To Be
Good."
(Mr. JOHANSEN (at the request of
Mr. FINDLEY) was granted permission
to extend his remarks at this point in
the RECORD and to include extraneous
matter.)
[Mr. JOHANSEN'S remarks will ap-
pear hereafter in the Appendix.]
FAILURE OF THE HOUSE TO PASS
AIRTIGHT BAN ON AID TO COUN-
TRIES TRADING WITH CUBA, AS
PROPOSED IN THE 'CRAMER
AMENDMENT, WILL COME BACK
TO HAUNT THE CONGRESS BE-
CAUSE THE AMENDMENT PASSED
LEAVES A GAPING LOOPHOLE
(Mr. CRAMER (at the request of Mr.
FINDLEY) was granted permission to ex-
tend his remarks at this point in the-
RECORD and to include extraneous mat-
ter.)
Mr. CRAMER. Mr. Speaker, because
of the misrepresented effect of the
amendment banning aid to countries
trading with Cuba, written into the for-
eign aid bill, H.R. 7885, just passed by
the House, and because of the manner
in which my amendment, putting teeth
into this foreign aid ban was defeated by
a tie vote of 162 to 162, and then only
after the chairman in a seldom pre-
cedented action voted to create the teller
tie, I believe it my duty to clarify the
RECORD.
The amendment as passed is a mean-
ingless, halfhearted attempt to give the
public the impression that Congress is
insisting on stopping aid to countries
that trade with Cuba when this is not
the case on the record.
The House had an opportunity to cut
off aid to countries trading with Cuba
by adopting my amendment to the Fas-
cell-Rogers amendment.
In order to put the issue in focus, I
reprint hereafter 'the Fascell-Rogers
amendment as passed and my amend-
ment which failed by a tie vote.
The Fascell-Rogers amendment is as
follows:
Page 14, line 10, strike out "graph:" and
Insert in lieu thereof "graphs:".
Page 14, line 10, strike out the'quotation
marks and immediately after line 10 insert
the following:
"(3) No funds authorized to be made
available under this Act (except under sec-
tion 214) shall be used to furnish assistance
to any country which has failed to take ap-
propriate steps, not later than sixty days
after the date of enactment of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1963-
"(A) to prevent ships or aircraft under its
registry from transporting to Cuba (other
than to United States Installations in
Cuba) -
" (1) any items of economic assistance,
"(if) any items which are, for the purposes
of title I of the Mutual Defense Assistance
Control Act of 1951, as amended, arms, am-
munition and implements of war, atomic en-
ergy materials, petroleum, transportation
materials of strategic value, or items of pri-
mary strategic significance used in the pro-
duction of arms, ammunition, and imple-
ments of war, or
"(iii) any other equipment, materials, or
commodities; and
"(n) to prevent ships or aircraft under its
registry from transporting any equipment,
materials, or commodities from -Cuba (other
than from United States Installations in
Cuba) so long as Cuba is governed by the -
Castro regime."
My amendment added this sentence to
the Fascell-Rogers amendment:'
The restrictions contained in this section
may not be waived pursuant to any author-
ity contained in this Act or in - any other
provision of law.
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - HOUSE 14843
Commission asking for suspension of the
market news service Inaugurated August 1
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
There is serious question whether the U.S.
Government has statutory authority to enter
into the business of collecting and dissemi-
nating news In competition with private
news agencies.
Deeply involved is the broad principle of a
free press and the danger of censorship Im-
plicit in the Department's news service rules.
The service can be terminated by the
USDA. The Department reserves the right
to cancel at any time the connection of any
and all subscribers who "abuse" the service
by misrepresentation of reports, or for any
other reason when In its sole judgment, such
cancellation Is desirable.
According to the ANPA this raises the
possibility of censorship in Its most odious
form.
As newspaper publisher myself, I am es-
pecially concerned lest this become the first
step toward an expanding role of Govern-
ment in controlling the distribution of news.
I believe it would be in the public inter-
est to ask responsible officials of the De-
partment of Agriculture to appear before the
Committee on Agriculture in public hear-
ings to get the facts.
Sincerely yours,
PAUL FINDLEY,
Representative in Congress.
Here is the text of a statement on this
issue by the American Newspaper Pub-
lishers Association, dated July 25, 1963:
ANPA PETITIONS FCC To SUSPEND AGRICUL-
TURE DEPARTMENT MARKET NEWS SERVICE
ANPA filed a petition. July 22 with the
Federal Communications Commission asking
forsuspension of the market news service to
be inaugurated August 1 by the U.S. Agricul-
ture Department.
Specifically, petition calls for suspension
or rejection of the new A.T. & T. tariff which
establishes the service. All contracts for the
service must be between the subscriber and
A.T. & T., subject to Agriculture Department
approval.
ANPA petition argues there is no statutory
authority permitting the U.S. Government to
enter the business of collecting and dissemi-
nating news, In competition with private
news agencies. ANPA also maintairfe that
the Government would be permitted to exer-
cise censorship "in one of its most odious
forms," since the Agriculture Department
could deny the service to a subscriber at any
time for alleged "misrepresentation of re-
ports, or for any other reason when In Its sole
judgment such cancellation is desirable."
Petition was also filed in this matter July
22 by P.A.M. News Corp. (Ridder newspapers).
Text of ANPA petition follows:
"The American Newspaper Publishers As-
sociation (ANPA), 750 Third Avenue, New
York 17, N.Y., pursuant to the provisions of
1,463 of the rules, hereby petitions the Com-
mission to suspend and set for hearing or re-
ject seventh revised page 41 of A.T. & T.
Tariff FCC No. 208, published to become ef-
fective August 1, 1963.
"In support whereof, petitioner states:
"I. The above-named page, effective Aug-
ust 1, 1963, was filed under A.T. & T. Trans-
mittal No. 7576, dated July 1, 1963, which
sta te5 :
"'This filing Is being made In compliance
with the decision and orders of the Federal
Communications Commission adopted Jan-
uary 28, 1963, FCC 63-66 (34 FCC 217) and
May 27, 1963, FCC 63-491 (34 FCC 1004) In
dockets Nos. 11645 and 11646.'
"2. However, this particular tariff page was
not filed to comply with any decision or order
of the Commission but was filed to establish
for the first time an entirely new type of
service not heretofore furnished,
"3. On May 20 and July 10, 1963, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture announced the
establishment of a New Market News Service
and a copy of these two announcements are
attached hereto as attachments A and B.
Also, the Department of Agriculture recently
issued a bulletin describing the new service
more fully and a copy of this bulletin (AMS
510) entitled 'A New Market News Service' Is
attached as attachment C. It Is this New
Market News Service that the new AT. & T.
tariff page purports to establish although
this fact is not disclosed in the A.T. & T.
transmittal letter as should have been done
under the Commission's rules (sec. 61.33).
"4. Petitioner requests that this new tariff
page be suspended or rejected.
"5. This Is a new venture of the U.S. Gov-
ernment into the business of collecting and
disseminating news In competition with
private news agencies. Petitioner knows of
no statutory authority by which the U.S.
Department of Agriculture may expend Fed-
eral tex funds for this purpose.
"6. The highly Improper nature of the
new service is characterized by the following
conditions imposed upon the service:
SERVICE CAN BE TERMINATED BY USDA
The new service is available to all who
want it, and no application need be made
to USDA to receive service. However. USDA
reserves the right to cancel at any time the
connection of any and all subscribers who
abuse the service by misrepresentation of
reports, or for any other reason when. In its
sole judgment, such cancellation is desirable.
(See p. 4 of attachment C.)
"7. This provision would permit U.S. Gov-
ernment censorship in one of Its most odious
forms. Any newspaper seeking to subscribe
to this new service could be denied service
for any reason. Any newspaper already sub-
scribing could have Its service canceled
without notice or reason. Editorials written
by a newspaper that the Department of Agri-
culture didn't like would, under the above-
quoted provision be grounds for denial or
cancellation of service.
"8. Thus, this news service has transcend-
ent Importance. If It Is not halted now, it
could lead to further ambitious attempts by
this and other U.S. Government agencies to
expand and enter into competition with
private news agencies. An expansion of this
concept would result in a government-con-
trolled news service such as presently exists
in some other countries Including the Soviet
Union. where the so-called news service Tass
is government owned and operated.
"9. The tariff violates sections 201, 202. and
;314 of the act and section 61.09(b) of the
rules reading as follows:
"'(b) When tariffs or supplements are is-
sued on less than statutory notice, under
permission, decision, order or regulation of
the Commission, strict compliance with all
conditions named therein and all rules and
regulations of the Commission not expressly
waived will be required: otherwise they will
be rejected.'"
Whereforepetitioner requests the Commis-
sion either to suspend or - reject the tariff
page referred to above.
Here is a comment on this problem as
it appeared in the August 19 Journal of
Commerce:
THE AMERICAN TABS
(By Eric Ridder)
What gets me-now that we're well Into
the 1970's and I look back ruefully at the
past decade--is that it only took 5 years to
kill the Independent American press and that
the execution was carried out with such a
minimum of malice.
it really came to a head in 1965 (get the
date, 1965) when the major Federal depart-
ments decided at a Washington meeting to
establish a single wire service for the rapid
collection and interdepartmental dissemina-
tion of current Information in widely scat-
tered fields. There was, after all, a certain
logic to it. Quite a number of agencies had
been collecting their own information for
years. Why shouldn't all these activities be
combined into one giant circuit?
They were, and in no time at all a large
assemblage of reporters, teletype operators
and other personnel was woven into a wire
system slightly larger than the combined
networks of the Associated Press and United
Press International. There were some grow-
ing pains at first, but by 1967 it was plain
that the new Federal News Service (FNS)
was second to none, its coverage then ex-
tending into stock prices, business annual
reports, and (seemingly for the enlightment
of the Department of Justice) even into
homicide and other local police matters.
The Service grew so rapidly that it was
virtually Inevitable that before 1967 was
out a bright and highly influential young
Government official should suggest, first to
the Bureau of the Budget and then to Con-
gress, that "this service is being provided
with the taxpayers' money and should be
made available to anyone who Is willing to
pay for It and will not abuse the use of It."
The proposition was promptly challenged
as a move to set up "an American Tass" (a
reference to the Soviet Government's news
service monopoly). AP and UPI objected
strenuously that it constituted an unwar-
ranted interference with free enterprise.
But these ob)ections got nowhere. The
stage had been already been set back In the
summer of 1963 when the Department of
Agriculture offered a crop and market re-
porting service to anyone willing to pay
AT. & T. a rate for the wire service sufficient
to return the company a profit. This, too,
had been challenged, among others by the
American Newspaper Publishers Association,
for it was plain that the probable effect of
this would be to put a commercial service in
the same field (the PAM News Corp.) out of
business. USDA had been quite unmoved
by this eventuality. So was the Federal
Communications Commission. When it saw
that another Federal agency had been named
respondent In the publishers' petition It
backed off at once with the explanation that
propriety of USDA's wire service to non-Gov-
ernment Individuals was "not cognizable by
the Commission."
So the point was made and carried in
1965 that if any fight were to be won on the
subject, it should have been won in 1963
when the issue first came out into the open
in earnest. Moreover, there had been other
precedents In the field of electric power. As
in the USDA case earlier, the Government
then went ahead and arranged with A.T. & T.
to distribute Its service to anyone who would
pay for it and not mishandle the news. Bill-
ings and collections would be tip to AT. & T.
itself. The Government sincerely hoped
that private news services would not suffer,
but left the plain implication that if they
did, It was their own hard luck.
A pause followed and lasted until certain
newspaper and broadcasting media, strug-
gling hard for survival, cancelled their regu-.
lar news service contracts and subscribed
to FNS, which offered lower rates.
The effect of this was to reduce the funds
available to the private wire service. As the
quality and scope of their services began to
decline the whole thing began to snowball.
By 1969 both AP and UPI were out of busi-
ness. Though somewhat bewildered at first
by the swiftness of these events. FNS found
itself a monopoly.
Like BBC in England, FNS tried to be ob-
jective. It was, up to a point, but there
were times (especially during elections years)
when it could not quite forget which side of
its bread the butter was on. Administration
critics got rather short shrift. Scandals in-
volving the administration went largely un-
reported because they did not quite qualify
as constructive news. Some editors learned
of them and7reacted vigorously, but the facts
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1963 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - HOUSE
It is obvious from a careful analysis of
the action of the House in refusing my
amendment and passing the watered-
down aid ban amendment of Fascell-
Rogers, that the House in effect did
nothing that is not already accomplished
under present law.
Under present law, the President has
discretion to cut off or withold aid to
any country if he determines it to be "in
the national interest"-for whatever
reason he and the State Department de-
cide. This is inherent in the aid pro-
gram. It is specifically spelled out under
section 614 of the Foreign Assistance Act
of 1961.
Section 614 specifically provides:
The President may authorize in each fiscal
year the use of funds made available for use
under this Act-when the President deter-
mines that such authorization is important
to the security of the United States.
Thus, it is obvious that the President
can waive the provisions of the Fascell-
Rogers amendment and permit aid to go
to countries when he cares to so exercise
that discretion.
As a matter of fact, that is the loop-
hole that has resulted in 50 percent of
the ships going to Cuba to continue to
be free world ships. The President used
section 614 to get around the amend-
ment-similar to the Fascell-Rogers
amendment, passed in the fiscal 1962
foreign aid appropriations bill-to even
permit Greece to ship oil to Cuba.
Thus, my amendment was to make the
aid ban on countries trading with Cuba
mandatory, because the experience un-
der the 1962 ban-similar to the Fascell-
Rogers ban-proved that the President
and the State Department would exercise
their discretion to waive that amend-
ment under section 614 in a manner that
defeated the purpose of the amendment.
My amendment would have removed
the discretion contained in section 614
and thus make such a ban airtight. This
is the only way to stop trading with Cuba
by friendly foreign aid recipient nations.
I think the House missed its only real
opportunity to cut off such trade when it
failed to pass my amendment. I shall be
watching with special interest the trad-
ing that continues between Cuba and for-
eign aid recipients in 1963 and 1964 un-
der the watered; down Fascell-Rogers
amendment, which I believe will be the
final and clinching proof of my position.
WHERE ARE COMMUNISTS ON
THE RUN?
(Mr. SCHADEBERG (at the request
of Mr. FINDLEY) was granted permission
to extend his remarks at this point in the
RECORD, and to include extraneous mat-
ter.)
Mr. SCHADEBERG. Mr. Speaker, I
have listened intently to the entire de-
bate on the Foreign Assistance Act and
the one major argument given time and
time again was that we needed to pass
this bill in order to prevent the spread
of communism. The argument was sub-
stantiated even by the suggestion that
we now have the Communists on the
run. Had not there been so much talk
on the bill which I feared might make
the debate on this $41/2 billion bill-a
most serious matter for the taxpayers
who must pay for it-a circus rather
than the important consideration it is,
I would have asked time during the de-
bate to ask for some evidence to substan
tiate the argument.
I might ask just where are the Com-
munists on the run?
In Cuba, with missiles in place to pro-
tect the, Communist government of
Castro from those who, loving freedom,
want to take back the country stolen
from them?
In Cuba where there is in process the
building of a submarine base?
In Cuba which has been turned into
a Western Hemisphere base for subver-
sion schools and propaganda mills,
munition depots and radar monitoring
stations?
In Venezuela where terrorism and
sabotage are on the increase? -
In British Guiana where the first Com-
munist toehold on the Latin American
Continent is forming?
In Laos where Averell Harriman's
troika regime is pulling the country
straight down the drain for a Commu-
nist takeover?
In Korea where the "truce" is broken
from time to time?
In Berlin where the wall is daily
beefed up and Communist guards still
shoot unarmed civilians?
On the high seas where our military
forces trace the movement of freedom
fighters to head them off before touch-
ing their native soil they desire to re-
claim?
In Russia and East Europe where thou-
sands of Congolese and other Africans
are being trained for the next round of
rebellion in Africa?
In Yemen where Soviet engineers are
rolling out an airstrip on a staging point
for Africa and points west?
In Africa's Golden Horn where Soviet
experts are building a new port for So-
viet trawlers submarines and warships?
In the United States where Gus Hall
and his tribes infiltrate the campuses of
our Nation's universities and the Com-
munist Party announces, as top priority,
its effort to increase racial turmoil and
violence both North and South?
In Haiti where the pot is boiling with
increased ferocity?
All this after spending nearly $110
billion in 18 years for foreign aid to fight
communism.
The argument that we need the for-
eign aid program to combat communism
would have more merit if part of the
money that has been requested had not
gone into the support of Communist
countries which are part of the We
against which we are waging the cold
war.
It would have more merit if our pres-
ent- foreign policy was not one of accom-
modation and appeasement, for the pur-
pose-using the President's own words-
"to make the world safe for diversity,"
which simply means to make the world
safe for communism-coexistence on an
equal basis.
It would have more merit if our mili-
tary policy was not one which is built
on the premise that in order to keep
the peace we must have a nuclear stale-
mate, for example, disarm ourselves
down to the level of the enemy.
The argument would have more merit
if we had not abandoned the Monroe
Doctrine and helped dig the grave in
which we buried it.
I make one other observation. The
argument that we must be humanitarian
and thus continue this multibillion-dol-
lar gift business, lacks respect for the
will of the people as to how their money
for aid should be spent.
In the hearing before the subcommit-
tee a representative of a large church
body-I will not mention either his
name or tiie,name of the denomination
in whose behalf he allegedly appeared
since I am sure he did not appear for
this lobby purpose as a result of the
direct vote of the members of its re-
spective denomination-testified upon
questioning that the giving of his de-
nomination for foreign aid-foreign mis-
sion-averaged out to $1.50 per member
per year. This is what, people volun-
tarily gave. This bill represented a re-
quest for foreign aid amounting to $100
for every family of four-not a -volun-
tary but a mandatory gift which they
would be forced to give because the Gov-
ernment would tax them for it. Can
we justify forcing our citizens to par-
ticipate in a giving for foreign aid pur-
poses and this to the tune of $25 a
year for every member of the family,
large or small?
ONE-MILLIONTH CARLOAD OF LET-
TUCE SHIPPED FROM SALINAS
VALLEY, CALIF.
(Mr. TALCOTT asked and was given
permission to address the House for 1
minute, to revise and extend his remarks,
and include a newspaper article.)
Mr. TALCOTT. Mr. Speaker, this
week the Salinas Valley shipped its mil-
lionth carload-railroad carload-of
head lettuce. This is a lot of lettuce.
It means a" lot of things to many people.
It is only one of many fresh fruit and
vegetable crops grown in, and shipped
from the Salinas Valley. It has helped'"
to provide a bountiful sustenance for
many persons -throughout the United
States-most of the produce is shipped
to the Eastern States. It has provided
many good jobs for many thousands of
persons of all skill levels, callings, trades
and professions throughout the United
States. It has contributed more to the
raising of the standard of living of as
many people as any other industry.
The obligation of helping to feed the
United States, and much of the world,
will continue. We are proud of our rec-
ord. We are anxious to discharge our
obligation even better.
Needless to say the abrupt discontin-
uance of the bracero method for pro-
viding the necessary supplemental labor
to harvest crops will cause chaos and dis-
ruption to this small but important and
productive industry.
I share the following newspaper ar-
ticle from the Salinas Californian with
my colleagues primarily to acquaint
them with the importance of this indus-
try to the residents of every congres-
sional district in the United States.
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14846 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - HOUSE August 23
MILESTONE IN LErruc6 Is REACHED
The one-millionth carload of lettuce rolled
out of the Salinas Valley this morning, be-
decked with bunting and loaded with pro-
duce representing some 400 Salinas Valley
growers.
Each of the lettuce cartons is carefully
wrapped in foll, and bound for New York
where It will be sold in a special auction,
with the proceeds going to the American
Red Cross.
The iceberg lettuce was donated by mem-
bers of the Growers Shipper Vegetable As-
sociation of Central California, which rep-
resents growers in the Monterey-Santa Cruz-
San Benito County areas.
The millionth car was launched on its way
by Charles Paul, director of the California
Department of Agriculture; members of the
California State Legislature, and other dig-
nitaries, including Pamela Gamble, last
year's Miss California.
IMPORTANT MILESTONE
At the brief but historic ceremony, the
shipment of the millionth car was hailed as
an important milestone by J. J. Crosetti,
president of the Grower-Shipper Association.
Crosettl said: "The Salinas Valley today
typifies the Important role which all of Cali-
fornia's agricultural areas play in the lives
of every man, woman, and child In the United
States."
He added that, "from California's com-
paratively limited valleys and foothills, con-
taining less than 3 percent of the Nation's
farms, our State's growers provide over 42
percent of the Nation's fruits and nuts; 43
percent of the Nation's vegetables and over
25 percent of the entire Nation's supply of
food."
FIRST SHIPMENT RECALLED
Today's 1,000,000th carload in the ultra-
modern PFE mechanical reefer was a far cry
from the first shipment of iced lettuce which
left the Salinas Valley in 1921. A shipment
which ended In disaster when the car ran
out of ice before it reached Its destination.
The very chore of Icing that first car gave
birth to an anecdote still going around
Salinas. It is said the growers' order for
10 cakes of ice was doubted by the owner of
the local iceplant. He thought the order
must have meant 10 pounds. and insisted
upon seeing the car before delivering the
ice.
Within a few years, however, there were
no doubts about the demands on lee pro-
duction. Before the advent of mechanical
vacuum coolers, Salinas made and used more
Ice than the city of New York.
NEW RECORD SET
By 1937. the district shipped 26,000 cars to
set a new record for shipments from one
district in one season. By the early fifties,
these shipments had grown to 40,000 can a
year.
Although the area Is a major producer of
other vegetables, having shipped to date over
150,000 cars of mixed vegetables with no less
than 60 different varieties in a single car,
lettuce Is still king. And though today,
shipments from Salinas must share the mar-
ket with many new growing areas, the Salad
Bowl of the World still accounts for 40 per-
cent of the Nation's lettuce with about 85
percent of its shipments going out of State.
Jack Bias, executive vice president of the
Grower-Shipper Vegetable Association, sum-
marized it all very nicely as he watched the
millionth carload move out of the railroad
yards on its way to New York,
"That carload represents more than the
999,999 cars which have preceded It.- he
said. "It represents the economy of this
area, the economy of California's millions of
jobs and the major source of food for even
more millions of Americans. It symbolizes
something that all of us should be very
proud to be a part of. For It represents
California agriculture which ' ? ? even in
this world of rockets and space technology
? ? ? is still our No. 1 Industry,"
EXTENSION OF PUBLIC LAW 78
(Mr. GONZALEZ was granted permis-
sion to extend his remarks at this point
in the RECORD and to include extraneous
matter.)
Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, a ma-
jor struggle has developed on the ques-
tion of once again extending Public Law
78, which permits Mexican nationals to
enter this country to perform agricul-
tural labor on a seasonal basis.
Long before coming here, I felt that
the bracero program was wrong-the
moral concept was wrong, and the im-
pact It had on American agricultural
workers was wrong.
My efforts against extension of the
bracero law began with the hearings on
H.R. 2009, a bill that this House defeated
on May 29 by a vote of 154 to 178. Short-
ly thereafter, the Senate was given S.
1703. a bill exactly like H,R. 2009, ex-
cept that it provided for a 1-year exten-
sionof Public Law 78. This month, that
bill passed the Senate, but only after it
had been amended so that domestic
workers are guaranteed the same con-
ditions as Mexican nationals. The House
will get S. 1703. but without that amend-
ment. I hope that this House will again
defeat extension of Public Law 78, de-
spite the heavy lobbying effort now be-
ing exerted in Its behalf. For this law
is a shameful piece of legislation, a blight
on our conscience-it is a disgrace which
we have once rejected, and are now called
upon to reject again. Let us confirm our
judgment that no good can come from
a law which is unjust.
(Mr. KASTENMEIER (at the request
of Mr. GONZALEZ) was granted permis-
sion to extend his remarks at this point
In the RECORD and to include extraneous
matter.)
[Mr. KASTENMEIER'S remarks will
appear hereafter in the Appendix.]
(Mr. MOORHEAD (at the request of
Mr. GONZALEZ) was granted permission
to extend his remarks at this point in
the RECORD and to include extraneous
matter.)
[Mr. MOORHEAD'S remarks will ap-
pear hereafter in the Appendix.]
(Mr. RYAN of Michigan (at the re-
quest of Mr. GONZALEZ) was granted per-
mission to extend his remarks at this
point in the RECORD in three instances.)
[Mr. RYAN of Michigan's remarks will
appear hereafter in the Appendix.]
[Mr. RYAN of Michigan's remarks will
appear hereafter in the Appendix.]
[Mr. RYAN of Michigan's remarks will
appear hereafter In the Appendix.]
TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT
The SPEAKER. Under previous order
of the House, the gentleman from Ohio
[Mr. ASHSROO1c] is recognized for 45
minutes.
Mr. ASHBROOK. Mr. Speaker, it has
been an amazing thing to watch the com-
plete smear and distortion job which has
been done by liberal news media on the
Young Republican National Convention
which was held in San Francisco, June
25-28, 1963. It is of course to be expected
because there are bad tidings at home
for the pseudoliberal element in con-
temporary politics. Harbingers of
change are evident everywhere and the
liberals just cannot get used to it,
whether they be liberals in the Demo-
cratic Party or the Republican Party.
In truth, it is amazing to see how simi-
lar the- tactics are for those who profess
to be Republicans and their liberal
counterparts in the other party. You
can read what Governor Rockefeller,
the ADA, the official Democratic news-
paper, Drew Pearson, former Young Re-
publican Chairman Len Nadasdy, and
the AFL-CIO are saying without chang-.
ing the copy. It carries the same tune
all of the way through.
Charges have been hurled which need
to be answered. The record should be
set straight. To be fair, it must be ad-
mitted that the non-Republican liberal
community has received grist for their
propaganda mills through the irrespon-
sible statements of GOP spokesmen who
should know better such as the Governor
of New York and former Chairman
Nadasdy. It has been alleged that
radicals took over the Young Republi-
can movement. The tactics of these un-
known radicals have been depicted as
roughshod, totalitarian, Birch inspired
and controlled, fantastic-well, just
about every extreme adjective which can
be imagined. Pleas of unity have scat-
tered to the winds. This buttresses the
opinions I have had for many years. As
long as the minority liberal faction in
the Republican Party can either run
things or have disproportionate voice,
unity is fine. If the overwhelming con-
servative majority ever appears to exert
its rightful voice and looks like it might
have its say, unity goes to the winds and
the liberal element attacks its own with
all of the passion of the oppositiorrparty.
Chairman Donald "Buz" Lukens, our
new YR National Chairman, has been
singled out for particular attack. Of
course, he was not supposed to win and
it did create a traumatic experience for
those who were preparing to toast the
supposed winner. Chairman Nadasdy,
in fact, told reporters he was "in a state
of shock." In Nadasdy's case, it can't
be said that his shock moved him to
make unfortunate utterances on the
spur of the moment which he would now
regret. In his particular case, he had
been using the' old scare technique line
even before the convention so his-regret-
table and untrue charges in the post-
convention period were out of the same
cloth. Newspaper reports from his na-
tive State of Minnesota carried his
"grave" warnings about the dangers
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