UNITED STATES THE TARGET: HEAT ON IN VIETNAM

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• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP66B00403R000200130007-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
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• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 24, 2005
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: March 11, 1964
• Content Type: OPEN

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1964 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -APP NI7IX A121
ante for Progress. I am confident my
colleagues will find of considerable in-
terest his report on the Current Status
of Labor Programs in Latin America,
issued as of February 28; 1964, which I
include herewith:
CURRENT STATUS OF LABOR PROGRAMS IN LATIN
AMERICA, FEBRUARY 28, 1964
Remarkable progress is now being made
on labor projects within the Alliance for
Progress. The - construction of workers'
housing through trade union cooperatives is
spurred on by a pledge of $56,250,000 from
AFL-CIO affiliates' retirement and welfare
funds, supported by 100 percent AID housing
investment guarantees. From these funds,
a $10 million AFL-CIO loan, added to $4
million supplied by the Mexican workers,
enabled the Graphic Arts Workers of Mexico
to inaugurate the building of 3,104 housing
units for their members. Another AFL-
CIO loan in the amount of $3 million, to-
gether with $6 million to be supplied by
AID, will be used to finance the establish-
ment of a workers' bank in Peru; the Inter-
American Development Bank will undertake
the financing of the initial administrative
costs to the extent of $100,000 for a 2-year
period. These are among the most dramatic
programs now in process under the aegis
of the American Institute- for Free Labor
Development Social Projects Department.
The IDB has earmarked another $15.million
for union housing projects in Columbia, Bo-
livia, El Salvador, Honduras, and the Do-
minican Republic through the American
Institute.
The American Institute for Free Labor
Development has been in operation for
20 months, under the sponsorship of the
AFL-CIO. The institute works closely with
the free and democratic trade unions
of Latin America and is dedicated to im-
proving the lot of the rank and file workers
and the environment in which they live. It
has also been able to secure the active co-
operation of governments and of business.
The Institute at the present time has two
principal activities. The first is education
and the results have been impressive: 3,668
labor leaders have received training under a
hemisphere-wide system which includes edu-
cation centers in 12 Latin American coun-
tries-Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Co-
lombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Hon-
duras (Regional Center for. Central America
and Panama), Jamaica (Regional Center for
the English-speaking West Indies), Peru,
Uruguay, and Venezuela; 206 leaders have
been trained at the center in Washington in
a course which includes 3 months of inten-
sive study followed by 9 months of paid
internship in the respective home country
working on specific union projects.
The second activity of the American Insti-
tue is in assisting trade unions in Latin
America to develop feasible projects for pres-
entation to local, private international, or
U.S. Government sources of financing. The
results of the activities of the Social Proj-
ects Department are described above. The
Latin American trade union requests for as-
sistance on projects which would engender
a high ratio of "self-help" effort now num-
ber 108, covering housing, medical, producer
and other forms of cooperative development,
as well as vocational training, workers' banks
and community type projects. The requests
for housing alone would amount to loans of
$330 million, if fully implemented.
Labor is becoming an integral part of the
Alliance for Progress machinery; the cre-
ation of the Special Committee of the Inter-
American Economic and Social Council on
Labor Affairs will accelerate this effort
through the decisions of the second meeting
of the IA-ECOSOC in Sao Paulo, November
1963, following the recommendations of the
Inter-American Conference of Ministers of
Labor held in Bogota in May 1963 (the first
such meeting In Latin America). The Com-
mittee on Labor Affairs will carry but the'
principles of the Charter of Punta del Este
and the recommendations of the Labor Min-
isters (Declaration of Cundinamarca), "with
special attention to the suggestions and
measures concerning the role of ministers of
labor and democratic trade unions in na-
tional programs for economic and social de-
velopment."
(See the report on the first meeting of
the committee held in Lima, Peru, Jan. 31-
Feb. 6, 1964.)
It is clearly the U.S. purpose that the
workers of Latin America have the opportu-
nity to share increasingly in the benefits of
the Alliance programs through their creative
participation in the development process in
order to accelerate the necessary change and
reform. There exists within the U.S. Gov-
ernment today an almost unprecedented de-
gree of unanimity and collaboration for the
purpose of achieving this objective. To se-
cure this cooperation a bold departure was
required. Early in the days of President
Kennedy's administration, a unique organi-
zational structure was devised and was op-
erating successfully within a very short time,
harnessing governmental and private initia-
tives, primarily of organized labor in this
country, and eliminating problems of juris-
diction.
The efforts and interests of the various
agencies of the U.S. Government have
reached a high degree of coordination
through an interagency Latin America Labor
Committee, established by the Secretary of
State in 1961. The committee examines
specific problems in the Latin American
labor area,-reviews the general effectiveness
of overall labor activities of the United
States in Latin America, and proposes com-
plementary action as appropriate. It is
charged with keeping activities under con-
tinuing review in order to insure that rec-
ommended programs are carried out and
needed modifications are made to meet
changing circumstances.
Some of the projects in which the IDB is
participating are illustrated above. Exam-
ples of earlier projects include loans for
workers' housing in Argentina, Chile,. and
Colombia. Other organizations are partici-
pating, notably the International Labor Or-
ganization and the Pan American Union.
The ILO has extensive activities on both
regional and national bases and also admin-
isters labor projects in the amount of $11
million financed jointly by the special fund
of the United Nations and by the Latin
American countries themselves; these proj-
ects include the provision by the ILO of ex-
perts for a total of 2,200 man-months. -
National trade union advisory, committees
are being established in the various coun-
tries of Latin America, pursuant to agree-
ment in IA-ECOSOC. An Inter-American
Training Center for Ministry of Labor Per-
sonnel which is in the process of being cre-
ated in Lima, Peru, and other regional train-
ing centers such as the center for research
on vocational training in Montevideo, are
indicative of the new initiative of labor in
the Alliance for Progress.
Foreign Steel Imports
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
OF -
HON. J. EDGAR CHENOWETH
OF COLORADO
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Wednesday, March 11, 1964
Mr. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, the
rapid Increase in foreign steel Imports is
a matter of great concern to this Nation.
I wish to include as part of my remarks
a statement made by Rudolph Smith, of
Denver, executive vice president of the
Colorado Fuel & Iron Corp., before the
U.S. Tariff Commission on February 20,
1964. Mr. Smith calls attention to the
adverse effect of these imports on the
C.F. & I., and similar steel companies.
The main plant of the Colorado Fuel'
& Iron Corp. is located in my district in
Pueblo, Colo. This is a subject in which
I am intensely interested. I feel that
we should take every possible step to pro-
tect our domestic steel industry from
these foreign imports.
Mr. Smith's statement follows:
STATEMENT BY RUDOLPH SMITH, EXECUTIVE
VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COLORADO FUEL &
IRON CORP., DENVER, COLO., BEFORE THE
U.S. TARIFF -COMMISSION, FEBRUARY 20, 1964
Mr. Chairman, members of the Commis-
sion, I am Rudolph Smith, executive vice
president of the Colorado Fuel & Iron Corp.
I started to work for C.F. & I. at our Pueblo,
Colo., steel plant in 1927 and have held such
jobs as engineer, superintendent open hearth
department, works manager, and vice presi-
dent operations. I am deeply interested in
the welfare of steelworkers.
C.F. & I. has a vital interest in the forth-
coming GATT negotiations as a member of
the American steel industry and, more specifi-
cally, because of the- adverse effect of the
import-export imbalance upon our company
in particular. We welcome this opportunity
to present the facts underlying our position
to this Commission. -
There will, of necessity, be some duplica-
tion in the matters covered by our statement
and statements made earlier by represen-
tatives of other steel companies, because the
basic facts pertinent to our industry in
general are equally pertinent to our com-
pany. We will try to minimize duplication
by limiting this statement to carbon wire
rods, wire and wire products, and deformed
concrete reinforcing bars, and also by relat-
ing the problems created by imports to C.F.
& I. in particular,
C.F. & I. hag'been manufacturing and dis-
tributing steel and wire products since be-
fore the turn of the century and now has
plants at Pueblo, Colo., South San Francisco,
Calif., Trenton and Roebling, N.J., and
Palmer, Mass. The importance of C.F. & I.
to the Rocky Mountain area in particular
and to other areas is considerable in terms
of the employment furnished, products pro-
duced, and the general welfare. C.F. & I.
pro-ducts serve the basic industries of the
West, such as mining, agriculture, transpor-
tation, construction, and others, as well as
reclamation and defense projects. It is of
vital importance to the employees of C.F. &
I., its shareholders and to the general pub-
lic that our company remain strong and
vital in both its western and eastern divi-
sions. In this regard, reference is made to
the fact that the- Department of Labor
has classified Pueblo, Colo., and Palmer,
Mass., as areas of substantial unemployment.
Steep imports into the United States
reached an all-time high in 1963. This fact
alone merits serious consideration when tar-
iff reductions are discussed. It, is particular-
ly significant for C.F. & I. in view of the tre-
mendous scope of imports of products cov-
ered by this statement.
Let us consider the import situation rela-
tive to these specific products, as shown on
page 11 of our brief. There were 305,000 tons
of wire rods, wire and wire products, and
reinforcing bars imported in the 5-year pe-
riod 1933 through 1937; only 23,000 tons in
the 5-year period 1943 through 1947; and
8 million tons. in the 5-year period 1958
through 1982. As a consequence, in this lat-
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -APPENDIX March 11
ter period, an average of 12,000 U.S. steel-
workers per year were displaced by foreign
steel Imports.
U.S. exports of these same product cate-
gories, on the other hand, were 823,000 tons
in the 5-year period 1933-37; 2,750,000 tons
In the 5 years of 1943-47, and only 308,000
tons in the period 1958 through 1962.
The highest employment of American
steelworkers in producing wire rods, wire
and wire products, and reinforcing bars for
export was an average of 4,000 per year In
the 5-year period 1943 through 1947. In the
years 1958 through 1D62 exports provided
employment for an average of only 460 steel-
workers per year.
This trade imbalance is also reflected by
the present position of American steel pro-
ducers in relation to the world steel market.
The U.S. share of the world steel market
has steadily declined from 48 percent in
1950 to 25 percent In 1982. More specifically.
the U.S. share of the world trade in the
products which are the subject of this state-
ment has also declined In the face of an in-
creasing world market.
Imports of the basic product lines covered
by our brief were about two million tons in
the year 1982, which would have provided
employment for over 14,000 full-time steel-
workers. American exports of these same
products in 1962 were only 96,000 tons.
Further, the exhibits to our brief show that
In 1962 Imports accounted for substantial
portions of the domestic market. Imports
of foreign wire rods represented 39.2 percent
of the domestic consumption of this product
by the United States. With respect to other
product lines, Imports are now supplying
the domestic market to the following ex-
tent:
Percentage of U.S. Domestic Consumption-
1962
Commodity : Percent
Wire nails and staples-------------- 46. 1
Drawn wire------------------------ 8.3
Reinforcing bars------------------- 20.4
Woven wire fence------------------ 38.9
Barbed wire------------------------ 47.6
When It. is considered that 38 percent of
C.F. & Is production at its fully integrated
plant In Pueblo consists of products covered
by our brief, and that there Is an even great-
er percentage in wire and wire products pro-
duced at its other plants, the adverse impact
of imports upon this company Is both ob-
vious and serious.
Several factors have contributed to the
trade imbalance faced by this company and
other steel producers. The fact that the
tariff rates of the United States on steel
products have declined steadily from 1930
has made our country the prime target of
excess: foreign production. U.S. tariff re-
ductions on all steel products during this
period have averaged more than 50 percent.
On the other hand, tariff rates imposed on
many steel products by other countries have
been substantially higher than the rates of
the United States. In addition, ECSC coun-
tries have recently Increased their tariff rates
to 9 percent. There are also numerous and
highly restrictive foreign nontarlff barriers,
some of which are listed in our brief. and
the imposition of foreign tariffs on a CIF
basis rather than on the f.o.b. value creates
an average increase of 10 percent In foreign
over United States effective tariff protection.
The average hourly employment costs of
steelworkers in the United States are much
higher than those of other steel producing
countries, as shown by the tabulation on
page 28 of our brief. It should be stressed
that C.F. & I. recognizes the importance and
skills of its steelworkers and willingly
assumes a strong responsibility for the eco-
nomic well-being of it people. The Ameri-
can steelworker has achieved a remarkably
high standard of living and we have no
desire or intent to reduce that standard.
However, the trade Imbalance in steel con-
stitutes a threat to the living standards of
these steelworkers. Further encroachment
of foreign imports on U.S. domestic markets
can only lead to greater unemployment In
the steel industry, and particularly in the
product categories discussed In this state-
ment.
In recent years. foreign countries have
constructed entirely new steel plants or
modernized numerous existing facilities.
U.S. financial and technical assistance has
helped make many of these projects possible.
As the steel capacity of these countries ex-
ceeded their domestic requirements, the
countries began to distribute an Increasing
part of the excess production to U.S. markets.
Low tariff rates, higher prices of American
steel products, and general freedom from
nontariff barriers, were conducive to their
plans for export expansion. Also, some for-
eign producers have followed the practice
of selling their products In the U.S. market
at prices lower than in their home market.
The foreign producer In addition has the
advantage of having his home market pro-
tected by higher tariffs and nontarlft trade
barriers.
World steelmaking capacity exceeds world
demand, and with new steel capacity being
added. foreign steel producers will continue
to Intensify their export sales. Further It
can be expected that foreign countries will
continue to protect their domestic steel pro-
ducers as evidenced by the recent ECSC tariff
Increase-
C.F. & I. and other American steel pro-
ducers have taken vigorous action to meet
the competition of foreign steel and have
attempted to bring about a more equitable
balance between Imports and exports. C.F. &
1. has worked diligently to Increase the vol-
ume and profitability of its sales, and partic-
ularly In wire rods, wire and wire products,
and reinforcing bars. Large capital expendi-
tures have been made to modernize our
plants and Increase their efficiency. Manu-
facturing operations have been consolidated,
some marginal product lines have been elim-
inated, our research program has been
broadened. and an aggressive Sales program
for both domestic and export markets has
been maintained.
I have attempted in this statement and In
our brief to provide Information which will
be of assistance to the Commission in pre-
paring Its advice pursuant to the Trade Ex-
pansion A,,t. In this connection I have noted
that the act specifically refers to an investi-
gation of the conditions, causes, and effects
relating to competition between foreign and
domestic producers of particular articles.
I submit that the information presented
demonstrates that the domestic steel In-
dustry-and particularly companies such as
CF. & I producing wire rods, wire and wire
products, and reinforcing bars-has been
seriously and adversely affected by the large
Imports of steel and the great imbalance be-
tween imparts and exports. I further sub-
nUt that the trends In imports and exports
which I have attempted to describe can only
mean tin the imports and the imbalance
will increase. If certain corrective measures
are not taken.
Therefore. I respectfully recommend that
the Commission advise the President that
there generally should be no further reduc-
tions in duties on steel products. As to
modifications of duties and import restric-
tions. I suggest the following:
1. 'tariff and nontariff trade barriers
among the steel producing countries of the
world should be equalized. If necessary to
accomplish this objective. U.S. duties should
be increased and in the case of barbed wire.
which is presently duty free, tariffs should
be imposed.
2. In the case of products such as wire
rods, wire nails. and barbed wire, where
American steel producers have lost 40 to 50
percent of their domestic market, quantita-
tive limitations should be imposed upon Im-
ports as an interim measure to correct the
Imbalance.
We believe that the steel industry of the
United States must be kept strong in the
Interest of preserving our national well, be-
ing. We further believe that the several
members of the stsl Industry have exerted
their best efforts In the face of discrimina-
tory conditions In order W keep this in-
dustry at the highest possible level. We now
request your assistance in correcting the
conditions which are presently restricting
the efforts of the steel Industry to achieve
this objective.
Again, we wish to express our appreciation
for the opportunity to appear before this
Commission and for your courtesy and
United\Atetes the Target: Heat on in
Vietnam
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
OF
HON. HALE BOGGS
OF LOUISIANA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Wednesday, March 11, 1964
Mr. BOGGS. Mr. Speaker, under
leave to extend my remarks in the
RECORD, I include the following article
from the Christian Science Monitor:
UNITED STATES THE TARGET : HEAT ON IN
VIETNAM
(By Roscoe Drummond)
SAIGON, VIETNAM,-The Vietcong Com-
munists are miscalculating the fiber of
Americans.
They are counting on the U.S. public at
home getting so frustrated with this seesaw
war that it will want American troops pulled
out as the going gets tougher.
The new tactic of the guerrillas is to cen-
ter terror bombings on U.S. military person-
nel who are advising the South Vietnamese,
and on their wives and children.
Obviously their purposes are these:
To panic the families of U.S. forces and
diplomatic staff.
To cause an evacuation of dependents
which would have a most depressing effect
on the Vietnamese Government and people.
To persuade the American people that this
struggle is too much for them..
And to undermine the morale of American
Armed Forces In South Vietnam.
These tactics are not succeeding here. I
doubt they are having the effect which the
Communists hope they wi'l have in the
United States.
But there is every evidence that the guer-
rillas Intend to continue to slm their terror
expressly at the Americans i:s their effort to
paralyze U.S. policy.
Three times In recent weeks separate
bombings have been directed at U.S. person-
nel; once in a softball staditun where Ameri-
cans predominated; again at a downtown
movie theater where Americans made up the
entire audience. There were deaths and in-
juries both times.
The third bombing was a highly sophisti-
cated pinpoint attempt to deplete a group
of U.S. specialists essential to security-the
demolition corps.
This was the technique: Two Communist
agents atotched a suspicion-looking object
to the outside of a house occupied by an
American officer. When the officer noticed
it on his arrival home, he took the proper
and expected action; he summoned a demo-
llt:on detail. When they arrived in their
jeep. a bicyclist pedaled by and aimed a
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,~-9 64` CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - APPENDIX A1275
grenade at their car. Fortunately it bounced
off the windshield and exploded a 3-foot
hole in the yard.
When the suspicious object was removed
from the side of the house, it was found to
be a grapefruit wrapped like a, bomb. It
was a decoy. The Communist's target was
not the house, not the young army officer.
It was the crucial demolition detail whom
they had lured to the scene, tried to kill-
and bungled.
These are grim and ugly incidents. There
is no reason to expect that the Vietcong
will discontinue them until they can no
longer operate with impunity anywhere in
South Vietnam. Special teams of United
States and South Vietnamese security
guards are giving added protection to Ameri-
can residents. But the dangers are just
beginning.
What is most encouraging is that the
terror bombings are not terrorizing either
U.S. troops or their families. There are
more than 2,000 wives and children of U.S.
military and diplomatic personnel in South
Vietnam. So far not more than two have
said they would elect to go home. The
others have showed no sign of wanting to
leave.
This is why I say the Communists are
miscalculating the American stamina. Their
campaign of terror is not only failing to
intimidate; it is clearly having the opposite
effect among Americans at every level here.
They more than ever are determined to see
it through. I would hope-and expect-
that most people in the United States would
respond the same way. I know that some
Americans at home tend to think of this
struggle as a hopeless, meaningless war too
far away to bear an the vital interests of
the United States.
It isn't true. At stake is not only the
freedom and independence of 14 million
South Vietnamese from a Communist take-
over. Their freedom is important but the
crucial stage is the security of this gateway
to all Southeast Asia, .where 200 million free
Asians feel the hot breath of Communist
China's imperialistic ambitions.
The Communists are aiming their terror
tactics at the Americans because they know
that without U.S. forces helping South
Vietnam, they can unhinge this gate-and
have their way.
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
OF
HON. RALPH HARVEY
OF INDIANA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Wednesday, March 11, 1964
Mr. HARVEY of Indiana. Mr. Speak-
er, under leave to extend my remarks in
the RECORD, I include the following arti-
cle from the Shelbyville (Ind.) News of
March 9, 1964:
THE 70-HOUR WEEK
In Washington, a congressional committee
has been listening to arguments for and
against the idea of placing an additional
penalty on overtime. The idea is that if the
Government forced employers to pay double-
time for overtime-or even more-the few
hours of overtime here and there could be
consolidated into some new jobs.
Perhaps the lawmakers ought to call in
the postmasters. The Washington Star re-
ports the Budget Bureau has discovered that
"many thousands" of substitute post office
clerks are working up to 70 hours a week-
all at straight time. The regular employees
have had their overtime extended, too.
The Star further reports that while the
post office workers apparently hold the over-
time records, other departments 'are working
a lot of overtime, also.
What's the reason for this? Principally it
is that President Johnson has promised that
the Federal payroll will not increase in num-
bers. As this was to be in the interest of
economy, and as the work is being done and
paid for anyway, it looks like a subterfuge.
The money is being spent, even if new em-
ployees aren't getting it.
By contrast, the businessman's reasons for
not hiring new workers in preference to
overtime are many and valid. He doesn't
have to fool anyone as the Government is
trying to do.
Some overtime is the result of emergencies
and rush orders. Some occurs because there
are no qualified applicants available. Some
is worked because no extra machines or shift
time are available to fill the volume of orders.
Sometimes an employer avoids hiring a new
worker because he knows he would soon have
to lay him off when a peak has been passed.
Absenteeism also often necessitates over-
time.
An additional penalty for overtime work
would make goods more expensive for all of
us, of course. It probably would make a few
jobs, and might destroy some. It could out
the take-home pay of many millions.
If the Government really believes in elim-
inating overtime to make new jobs, what's
going on in the post office?
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
OF
HON. BRUCE ALGER
OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Wednesday, March 11, 1964
Mr. ALGER. Mr. Speaker, when farm
programs become more ridiculous there
is no doubt the Democrats will direct the
absurdity. For over 30 years' they have
been doing an excellent job of reducing
American agriculture to the most impos-
sible position of being directed in every
move by Washington desk farmers, many
of whom have never seen an honest-to-
goodness American farm. The once
mighty free American agricultural plant
is slowly being Sovietized through the
process of making free farmers wholly
dependent upon the Federal Govern-
ment.
Soon we will be asked to pile absurdity
on absurdity by approving an impossible
cotton bill to which has been added a
more impossible wheat bill and the
American buyers and taxpayers as usual
will foot the bill.
As, a part of these remarks I would like
to call attention to the comment in an
editorial from the Chicago Tribune,
"Subsidies Galore," and one from the
Wall Street Journal, "Accent on Absurd-
ity." The editorials follow:
[From the Chicago (Ill.) Tribune]
SUBSIDIES GALORE
Under stiff White House pressure, the Sen-
ate has approved a bill authorizing new sub-
sidies for cotton and wheat. The measure
now is in the House where the Johnson ad-
ministration hopes to twist enough arms to
bring quick approval. Any delay in enact-
ing it into law involves the risk that the bill
will be too late to 'affect this year's crops,
which means the administration would have
ew handouts to dangle before rural vot-
n o n
ers in the a'lectien campaign.
The proposed cotton program is such an
economic absurdity that even the commit-
tee chairman, Senator ELI.ENDER, a Louisiana
Democrat, was opposed to it. He agrees with
the American Farm Bureau Federation that
if Secretary of Agriculture Freeman would
administer the present law properly-which
means lowering price supports-there
wouldn't be any need for a new program and
the taxpayers could be saved some money.
The Agriculture Department is caught in
a dilemma of its own making because it
raised the support price after the Kennedy
administration took office and now has cot-
ton running out of its ears. Having stimu-
lated production with high prices, it would
be simpler and sounder to undo this mistake
by lowering supports to discourage overpro-
duction and make cotton more competitive.
But the administration's solution is to pile
on more subsidies.
The Senate bill does propose to lower
suports from 32.47 cents 5r pound to 30 cents
a pound for the first year, after which the
Secretary would have authority to raise or
lower them within prescribed limits. But
growers of more than 10 acres of cotton who
agree to reduce plantings by a third are to
get a bonus of 4.5 cents a pound. And grow-
ers of 10'acres or lTss-well over half of all
growers-are to be guaranteed 34.5 cents a
pound without any cut in acreage, which is
a reward to the small, inefficient producers
at the expense of the larger, more efficient
ones. Moreover, under certain limitations
growers may exceed their reduced plantings
by 10 percent to produce cotton at the ex-
port rate of 24 cents a pound.
But exporters still are to receive a sub-
sidy, as at present, so American cotton can
compete abroad at lower world prices. And
a new subsidy is to be granted handlers so
that domestic mills can buy our own cotton
at the same price paid by foreigners. Thus
the Government proposes to spoon feed the
cotton industry with what in effect are four
different subsidies.
The wheat program is a warmed-over ver-
sion of the same one farmers emphatically
rejected in last May's referendum. It guar-
antees a high price for that portion of the
crop consumed domestically and a lower
price for export wheat for those farmers who
submit to planting controls. But instead
of being mandatory, the program this time
is being promoted as a voluntary plan, al-
though the price guarantees are purposely
set so high that the majority of farmers
probably could not afford to stay out of it.
Shortly after taking office, President John-
son issued a statement suggesting he was
seeking better farm programs and asking,
"How can we use the pricing mechanism
of the free market with more vitality than
presently?" The obvious answer is to stop
finding new ways to subsidize the farm
economy. Agriculture and taxpayers gen-
erally will be better off if the House rejects
this bill.
[From the Wall Street Journal, Mar. 6, 1964]
-ACCENT ON ABSURDITY
With the Federal farm program sinking to
new depths of foolishness, farmers may be
nearing the day when they'll need protection
against their would-be political friends.
The program's increasing accent on ab-
surdity is especially evident in the wheat-
cotton bill now wending its way through
Congress. Seldom has any legislation seemed
so well contrived to create costly confusion.
Take the wheat provisions of the bill. A
year ago the wheat farmers rejected an ad-
ministration plan for the tightest Federal
regimentation ever, accompanied by a vast
increase in the redtape of regulation. Farm-
ers then began holding down their planting,
preparing for the first time in decades for
something vaguely like a free market.
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - APPENDIX MaMh 14
But the farmers' friends In Washington
were unwilling to let that come about. Their
solution? Just push through the same pro-
gram but label It voluntary instead of com-
pulsory.
In addition to a basic support price, each
farmer who cut his acreage by 10 percent or
so would get certificates to cover an export
quota and also a domesticsales quota. If he
sold his wheat to a domestic processor, the
processor would have to buy the certificates
from the farmer. If be Instead sold the grain
to an exporter, the exporter would have to
buy his certificates.
Any farmer could participate or not, as he
chose. If he decided to stay out, he would
have several choices. Hecould let his wheat
stand In the field or rot in storage, or he could
treat It as low-price animal feed. For the
usual sales channels would be closed to him.
The reason is that the program would com-
pel processors and exporters to participate;
they would have to buy certificates to cover
the wheat they purchased. By now most
farmers, processors, and exporters must ques-
tion the claim that the program would be
voluntary.
That claim is no more convincing than
the argument that the wheat program would
save the taxpayers a lot of money. The
theory Is that processors and exporters.
through their purchases of certificates, would
assume part of the cost of supporting wheat
prices. In reality, the processors would
pass along the cost of the certificates to
consumers In the prices of their products.
And in case the politicians have forgotten,
consumers and taxpayers are pretty much
the same people.
In cotton, the situation is no less silly.
First, Federal supports priced cotton out
of world markets, so the U.S. Government
began subsidizing exporters. But this made
it possible for foreign textile mills to buy
U.S. cotton and still undersell American
textile mills right in their own backyard.
So the Government now proposes yet another
subsidy to aid the U.S. mills. If two wrongs
did not make a right, It's hard to see how
a third will help matters much.
For the cotton grower, too, things would
become more confusing. If he agreed to
cut his acreage he would get one support
price. If he planted his present acres, he
would get a lower support. And if he waisted
to grow cotton for sale at the lower world
market price, he could increase his acreage
by around 10 percent.
One of the more ridiculous aspects of all
this is that, like the rest of the farm pro-
gram. It chiefly helps those the politicians
are least interested in helping. It ought
to be clear that the larger, more efficient
farmers, with their lower costs, are the ones
who benefit most from the high product
prices the programs are Intended to bring.
The less efficient but politically popular
family farmer still has a hard time of it-
but the politicians' promises encourage him
to hang on.
Some in Congress, nonetheless, presumably
view the cotton-wheat bill as a powerful
magnet for votes in an election year. But
there is a growing number of urban voters,
too. One man aware of this is Senator HAR-
RISON WILLIAMS, who urged the other day
that Congress "end once and for all the
fantastic and costly surpluses bulging In
Government warehouses." Mr. WILLIAMS 1s
a liberal's liberal, but he's also a representa-
tive of largely urban New Jersey.
If such pressures grow great enough and
the farm program continues to plumb new
depths of nonsense, the farmers one day
may face not an orderly transition to a free
market but a wrathful explosion.
Forgotten Yemen War Goes On
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
HON. SEYMOUR HALPERN
OF NEW YOU
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tuesday, March 10, 1964
Mr. HALPERN. Mr. Speaker, I am
pleased that many of our distinguished
commentators have not neglected to em-
phasize the ironic and damaging circum-
stances which still prevail In the King-
dom of Yemen.
The U.S. Government actually recog-
nized aNasserite regime in establishing
diplomatic relations with the Yemen reb-
els. This was not a popular, internal
revolt which could claim our sympathy.
The struggle for power goes on, and
the United Arab Republic continues its
large military operations against the
Royalists in an attempt to protect the
prony nationalist government it forcibly
created.
Mr. William S. White, writing in the
Washington Star of Saturday, March 6,
has written a timely piece on the sub-
ject. I ask unanimous consent to include
the article in the Appendix of the
RECORD.
The article follows:
FoacurrEN YEMEN WAR GOES ON
(By William S. White)
A forgotten war, a 17-month-old war of ag-
gression. still goes on against the ragged,
barefoot little kingdom of Yemen In the
Middle East.
The Invading forces of Nasser Egypt. sup-
plied with Soviet-made tanks and bombers
again the rifles and machineguns of the
Yemeni royalists, are larger now than 10
months ago, when Egypt agreed to a United
Nations-inspected "disengagement" that is
no disengagement at all.
Indeed, the United Nations observation
mission in Yemen has just conceded that in
the single brief period January 3-February 18
Egypt Increased Its forces by 1.000 to 2,000
men. Young Prince Abdurraman Ben Yahya
of Yemen, who is in the United States for
what looks to be the lost cause of interesting
the Western World In Yemen's plight, says
38.000 Egyptian troops are now in his coun-
try.
MILLION IN CAVES
One million of his countrymen, he adds,
are now living in caves for shelter from Nas-
ser bombers sent by the Soviet Union. Ye-
men's already pitiably small supply of arms
is running out, for reinforcements from Sau-
di Arabia are obstructed under the U.N.
"cease-fire." Rarely has an emissary come to
this country in so hopeless a state of affairs.
The Royal Yemen Government is no longer
recognized. either here or in the United
Nations. The so-called democratic revolu-
tion which dislodged it- -with the massive
help of Egyptian military forces-was
granted, during the Kennedy administration,
an American recognition which necessarily is
now maintained.
The Prince, therefore, has no official status
here; there Is no one to whom-officially-
he can put his case. What he hopes for,
nevertheless, Is some Indirect assistance for
Yemen, by which he really means some deci-
sion by Washington to put pressure on Nas-
ser to cease his attacks.
How the United States could now reverse
itself Is not easy to see, for the water of much
irrevocable history was flowed under the
bridge since this country bougght the view
that the revolution against the 'Yemen royal
regime was what It was presented to be-an
honest, local uprising to procure a more
democratic society.
What was not understood then was that
the revolution was in fact E. Nasser export.
What is now crystal plain is that though
American recognition was granted to the new
regime on condition that Nasser then arrange
to withdraw his forces, he has increased
tham instead.
Monarchal governments--even such a
pathetic little tribal "monarch" as was In-
volved in Yemen-are not popular any more.
Anybody who comes along with the claim
that he represents a "forward-looking" re-
form to get rid of such old-fashioned ar-
rangements is automatically looked upon
with favor. Royalty has a hard time getting
a hearing, as the royal regime in Yemen did
in this Instance.
It Is, at all events, not too late to examine
this case example of how sincere Western
advocates of free governmett in the State
Department are taken in by phony revolu-
tions pumped up as movements for "freedom
and Independence" by the foreign agents or
collaborators of Moscow.
A-bit more reserve before we granted rec-
ognition so many months ego would have
changed the whole picture. Nasser might
now be back in Egypt instead of beating
down the tribesmen of Yemen, crying slo-
gans that everybody must be "forward-look-
ing" while Soviet weapons are driving a help-
less. ignorant, and hopeless people much
further from real freedom than they have
ever been before.
ARRIVE IN 6 DAYS
For the truth is that within 6 days of
the outbreak of what was advertised as an
authentic. home-grown revolt against the
Yemen royal government by democratic
forces, Egyptian troops were on Yemen's
soil. They had to come by sea-and 6
days is the minimum time In which to
mount such an amphibious operation from
Egypt. If this did not show whose "revolu-
tion" this really was, what did it show?
Finally, we could usefully look back a
bit further than all this. We could look back
to 1956, when this Nation joined the Soviet
Union in the United Nations in condemning
as an "aggression" against Nasser Egypt the
attack made in actual self-defense by the
British, the French and the Israelis to try
to strike Nasser's throttling hands from their
lifeline, the Suez Canal.
When Nasser Egypt attacks somebody it
is never aggression under the peculiar de-
finitions of the United Nations.
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
OF
HON. JAMES ROOSEVELT
OF CALIFORNIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, March 5, 1964
Mr. ROOSEVELT. Mr. Speaker, it
has long been my contention, and justi-
fiably so, I am convinced, that the 26th
Congressional District of California is
quite outstanding. Something has just
happened which is so unusual and dif-
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