CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - HOUSE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP67B00446R000300120015-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 4, 2003
• Sequence Number: 15
• Content Type: OPEN

1966 Approved For W~2RR I /J : 678 FOO0300120015-0 14437
educators in fields totally unrelated to speech today is to challenge the candi-
tlfeir official duties. dates for the presidential nomination in
I am certain that the overwhelming the Republican Party and ask them to
States have no desire to become com- ana say precisely what they mean.
missars for the Postmaster General.
REPUBLICANS HIDING BEHIND "O
ON VIETNAM
(Mr. BENNETT of Florida asked and
was given permission to address the
House for 1 minute and to revise and
extend his remarks.)
Mr. BENNETT of Florida. Mr. Speak-
er, now, right now is the time for each
major Republican candidate for Presi-
dent to speak out on what he proposes for
Vietnam. Our country has been bar-
raged with statements that we should
"get in or get out" of Vietnam. The
President's policy of trying to assist the
local government to victory, maintaining
the war as basically their war; has been
derided as a foolish policy. How many
times have we read that first this Re-
publican candidate and then that one
says, "It is time to get in or get out."
Well, now is the time for these presi-
dential candidates to speak out as they
offer themselves for the Republican nom-
ination. Which do they recommend?
Do they recommend that we get in or that
we get out? The American people are
entitled to know. A large segment of the
American People, the Republican Party
will choose one of them in the next few
weeks as their standard bearer. It is
therefore their duty to state their de-
cision instead of taking the cowardly
position of hiding behind that little word
"or."
If they think we should get in with
American troops and make the war our
war in every respect, should not they
have the courage to so so? If so, how
many divisions do they recommend be
sent and when? Or, if they feel that we
should get out, would not it be better
to say so now so the people would know
what the choice is between the candi-
dates?
Personally, I have always felt that an
effort should be made to eliminate par-
tisanship in international affairs, and I
am sorry that the Republican candidates
have injected politics into the very seri-
ous situation in Vietnam, but they have
done so and have actually made it their
chief campaign vehicle so far. Since they
have done so and since they repeatedly
say "get in or get out," the time has now
come for them to say which they pre-
fer so the American people will have a
clear choice.
It is obvious from things that have
been said by leaders in the administra-
tion that the policy of the present admin-
istration is to win in Vietnam but to at-
tempt first to do it by assisting the local
government rather than making the war
our war. If that fails every indication is
that our country will go in with American
troops and make the war our war in
every respect. Personally, as a Member
of Congress who has been a member of
the House Armed Services Committee
for many years, I think that for the time
being it makes sense to pursue the cur-
rent policy, but the sole purpose of my
INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY-THE
KEYSTONE OF FREEDOM
(Mr. RIEHLMAN asked and was given
permission to address the House for 1
minute, and to revise and extend his-re-
marks.)
Mr. RIEHLMAN. Mr. Speaker, to-
morrow I will welcome to the Capital two
youngsters from Syracuse, N.Y., who won
first prizes in a teen-theme essay contest
which I recently sponsored.
They are Miss Karen E. Corso and Mr.
C. Michael Haskins who wrote on the
subject of "Individual Responsibility-
the Keystone of Freedom."
Sponsoring this contest is one of the
outstanding privileges I have had in pub-
lic life. I have been provided a rare
insight into the thinking of our young-
sters today, not only through the win-
ning essay but from the more than 500
other submitted.
I am looking forward to showing these
two youngsters around their Capitol to-
morrow and I hope they will receive as
much inspiration from the tour as I did
from their essays.
I am inserting the two essays at this
point. They speak eloquently for the
writers:
MR. HASKINS' ESSAY
To me, individual responsibility means the
duty of each and every one of us to accept
our own responsibility for good citizenship
and good govrenment. It means that we
must keep ourselves well informed on the
issues of the day and those of the not too
distant past, for often today's issues are only
the result of yesterday's unsolved or partly
solved problems. This knowledge will help
us form valid, intelligent opinions, and a bet-
ter understanding of the issues involved. We
must, if we think it necessary, make our
elected representatives aware of our opinions
about important legislation. We must never
adopt the attitude of "let someone else do it."
We must be very careful not to deny any
of our fellow citizens, no matter what their
race, creed, or color, the same rights and
privileges of citizenship which we expect for
ourselves. No injustice, however slight,
whether or not we are directly affected,
should be beneath our notice.
We should feel free to criticize our Govern-
ment and our legislative processes but it
must be constructive, never criticism for its
own sake. We have all heard presumably
loyal citizens berating their Government in
a way that would bring joy to the Kremlin.
Obviously, we should be law-abiding citizens
for good laws are the very foundation of
our society. If we do not approve of cer-
tain laws we should seek to have them
changed by legal means, not by defiance.
If we personally do nothing to change
things we believe are wrong, if we take no
part in electing the people who represent us,
if we remain indifferent about our duties as
citizens and no not exercise our right to vote,
we are disfranchising ourselves and forsaking
the greatest opportunities American democ-
racy can offer.
I believe it is the individual responsibility
of every one of us to actively participate in
local, State, and national affairs for only
by doing so are we performing our full duty
as American citizens. This does not mean
that we should all aspire to political careers
by any means; it does mean that we should,
for example, attend meetings and lectures
which can help us to keep well informed.
I also feel very strongly that it is our in-
dividual responsibility to form our own
opinions based on clear, informed thinking.
We are surrounded by columnists and com-
mentators, many of them well informed
though too often biased, who endeavor to
mold our opinions. Certainly we should
evaluate their views but by all means let
our opinions be our own. We must learn
to think for ourselves.
Freedom is our birthright but we cannot
expected to simply take it for granted with-
out putting forth our best efforts to retain
it. Millions have given their lives in the
fight for freedom. The least we can do is
to dedicate ourselves to preserving what they
have won. That, I think, is our greatest in-
dividual responsibility. Let's not shirk it.
MISS CORSO'S ESSAY
Individual responsibility is the cornerstone
of liberty and the keystone of our Nation's
freedom. Responsibility is accepted by an
individual in varying degrees--depending on
his attitude. Accepting responsibility is the
badge of leadership.
Our present society demands education
and_ knowledge that must start early in life.
Initiative is rewarded. In school, the pupil
learns independent thinking and self-
determination. He talks responsibility; he
thinks responsibility. He does not really
know responsibility-but he feels it.
Responsibility is loyalty to people, church,
and State. It is an attitude. It is a respect
for your neighbor's rights-and it is self-
respect. It is an awe of the power of God.
It is studying and putting forth one's best
efforts. Responsibility is a willingness to
work.
Responsibility is the urge to accomplish
and to reach an objective. It is accepting
challenge. It defines morality and doing
what is right. It is setting example by your
deeds. Responsibility whets the imagination.
Responsibility is a fierce defense of liberty
and freedom. It is pride in heritage and in
our history. Responsibility is simply but
eloquently expressed by Lincoln that "this
Nation under God shall have a new birth
of freedom and that government of the
people, by the people and for the people shall
not perish from the earth."
Preparation for responsibility must be
stepped up to strengthen our youth on a
person-by-person basis. Instead of a lot of
headshaking, our parents and educators
need to take stock of themselves. They need
responsibility of their own to instill inspira-
tion and responsibility in this Nation's chil-
dren. Theirs is a profound responsibility.
Let us share a variety of viewpoints and
strive with impatience to improve ourselves.
Let us restore God to his rightful place
in the constitution of our great Nation.
Let us abolish suspicion, discrimination
and intolerance; let us build character in
person and in Nation. Let this be our
responsibility.
America has been blessed with abundance
and generosity to share. In the barren
troubled world in which man lives, our coun-
try stands out as an oasis-and a symbol.
America was spawned in a desire for free-
dom and the right of self-government
Americans are born as freemen with a free
will. Our leaders are chosen to accept re-
sponsibilities and make our Nation's deci-
sions. - This defines a free government. Let
us always preserve it and may God always
bless our land.
The young people of today will be meas-
ured as the men of tomorrow. The roots of
our Nation run deeply imbedded in liberty
and we have defended it with all of our
energy. Youth must be responsible for the
destiny of our Nation in a complex tomor-
row. Our new citizens will go on trial-the
Approved For Release 2003/12/02 : CIA-RDP67B00446R000300120015-0
 14438
Approved For CO sgeR2P TONAL: RF,CORD67BU 6 2000300120015-0 June' 24
eyes of the world will be the jury-and his-
tory will record the verdict.
ONLY HALF OF IMPORTED HARVEST
CREW AT WORK
(Mr. TALCOTT (at the request of Mr.
HARVEY of Michigan) was granted per-
mission to extend his remarks at this
point in the RECORD and to include ex-
traneous matter.)
Mr. TALCOTT. Mr. Speaker, I ain
trying to keep my colleagues and the
American consumer, taxpayer, and tax
user informed about the problem of ob-
taining adequate farm labor to harvest
crops which supply the food we eat.
To replace the bracero program, farm-
ers, and labor organizations are desper-
ately trying every suggestion proposed.
Someone suggested to the California
farmers that they go to the Deep South
to recruit farm labor. The Garin Co., a
large grower, did just this. After 30
days, the Salinas Californian newspa-
per made the following objective report
In the May 29, 1964, issue:
Half of the crew of Mississippi Negroes im-
ported a month ago by the Garin Co. to
harvest Salinas Valley lettuce isn't on the job
anymore.
Of the 46 men recruited by the company in
the Mississippi delta towns of Meridian,
Natchez, Jackson, and Hazelhurst, just 22
went,to work this morning.
There are now not enough Mississippians
with the company to form an efficient lettuce
harvesting crew. Those remaining were in-
tegrated Monday with two bracero crews-of
the sort they and other American domestic
workers are supposed to replace after Decem-
ber 31, when the Mexican national program
expires.
WHAT HAPPENED? -
What happened to the members of the ex-
perimental crew who gave up the labor of let-
tuce harvesting?
Garin Co. records show this: One man was
sent back, sick, to Mississippi; four reportedly
got homesick and returned to Mississippi of
their own volition, and four were fired be-
cause they didn't work much. No one knows
just exactly what's become of the remaining
14, although some of them are said to have
found other jobs in the Salinas area that
either pay more than $1.05 an hour, or are
easier, or both.
Aggregate man-hours of work available
from the Mississippians from April 28
through May 21 was 6,721. Man-hours ab-
sent total was 1,097. Nevertheless, John P.
McCarthy, of the Garin Co., who helped re-
cruit the experimental crew, says "we haven't
given up on it yet."
McCarthy told the Californian that "the
fellows remaining on the crew seem to be
working very well" and that "competition
between them and the braceros" has stepped
up their productiveness. Besides, the bra-
cero crews are experienced and working on a
piece rate, which brings the individual
worker substantially more than $1.05 an
hour. (The all-Negro crew "made" the piece
rate-and earnings over and above the
hourly guarantee-just once on the basis of
its production.)
Three of the Mississippians-Roosevelt
Howard and William Smith, of Natchez, and
James Skinner, of Jackson-haven't missed
an hour of work. A fourth man who was in
the perfect attendance category, Charlie
Smith, of Meridian, quit work this morning.
McCarthy says that "we were under the
impression thatall of the men were experi-
enced field hands" when they were recruited.
This didn't happen to be the case. But
most of the 22 men remaining are bona fide
agricultural workers.
Since the Mississippians were integrated
with the two bracero crews, there have been
very few absences from work among them,
McCarthy says. He believes that they may
have shaken down into a stable work force.
But the company-while it is considering
worker recruitment from Texas-isn't rush-
ing back to Mississippi for more men. "We'll
take a long, close look at the situation be-
for we decide to recruit (there) any more,"
McCarthy says.
Absenteeism among the Mississippi crew
began on May 5 and reached a high point on
May 21, when just 11 men reported for work.
NOT CUTTING, PACKING
Garin field foreman Joe Brooks said this
morning that the Mississippians are being
used as carton spray and pad men, wind
rowers and loaders in the fields. The cutting
and packing of lettuce is generally being
done by braceros, of which the company
now has 271 out of a total work force of
325.
The Garin Co. screened some 159 workers
in Mississippi before selecting the 46 men it
bussed to California at a cost of $2,874.40. A
bonus arrangement between the company
and the new men is that each one of the
workers who stays on the job for 3 months
will get a free bus trip back home. The
company is deducting $5 a week from the
checks of the men to reimburse it for trans-
portation costs. A charge of $1.75 a day is
assessed each man for room and board at the
company's McFadden road camp, where the
Mississippians are housed with 103 braceros.
McCarthy conceded that the experimental
crew members have been averaging less than
$50 a week take-home pay thus far. But
with the Valley's heavy lettuce harvesting
now getting underway, he says that they'll
be earning more than $50 a week.
'Mr. Speaker, the $50 is a net figure-
after deducting $5 per week for. return
transportation and $1.75 per day for
board and room.
When the Mississipians first arrived at the
labor camp, the Garin Co. was laying out
special southern meals for them. Recently,
however, the new men .started getting the
same food as the braceros. McCarthy says
that they have balked at substituting tor-
tillas for bread; so they're going to get bread
from now on,
FAILURE OF GARIN FARM LABOR
RECRUITMENT EXPERIMENT
(Mr. TALCOTT (at the request of Mr.
HARVEY of Michigan) was granted per-
mission to extend his remarks at this
point in the RECORD and to include ex-
traneous matter.)
Mr. TALCOTT. Mr. Speaker, yester-
day I reported for the benefit of my col-
leagues who are concerned about the
harvesting of fresh fruit and vegetable
crops about the Garin Co. experiment in
recruiting farm labor from faraway Mis-
sissippi.
A full report of the experiment cannot
be given yet. The experiment is not con-
cluded. A few of the workers which were
recruited at great cost, careful planning
and wide cooperation are still working.
Most quit shortly after arrival in Cali-
fornia. None could perform the stoop
labor well. The company lost heavily.
The State of California will be required
to increase its welfare payments. Some
union men will lose their jobs. The dis-
located workers are disillusioned and
disappointed. Crops will spoil in the
fields.
A spokesman for the Council of Call-
fornia Growers had the following to say
to the Salinas Californian newspaper,. n
May 29, 1964:
The questionable success of the Garin Co.'s
experiment with imported field labor raises
some disturbing questions.
The dwindling of Garin's crew of Mis-
sissippians by more than half in just a month
at work in the Salinas Valley is symptomatic
of "a potentially dangerous situation," Tom
Ellick, of the council, said.
MAKES PEOPLE THINK
"This should at least make people think
about the problems involved should agricul-
ture find it necessary to go out of the State
on a massive recruiting program to pockets of
poverty," Ellick said in a telephone interview.
The Council of California Growers is the
public relations arm of California agricul-
ture.
Speaking of the Garin crew, Ellick said
that "here are underprivileged people who
have been thoroughly screened by the pros-
pective employer and by representatives of
the Federal Government and the agencies of
two States. They signed up voluntarily to do
farm labor under specific wages and specific
conditions in a specified work agreement.
Yet, after they had been in the Salinas Valley
a matter of just 2 weeks, they began to follow
what is now an almost historic migration
from farm work to other types of- work."
WELFARE PROBLEMS
Ellick said that the rapid movement of
workers from rural work to job seeking in
urban areas has historically meant skyrocket-
ing welfare costs. "It seems to us that
some real serious thought should be given to
what's going to happen if agriculture has to
recruit on a large scale out of the State,"
Ellick said that the swift movement of the
Mississippians out of California's farm labor
market raises the question: "How many
American workers will it take to replace the
jobs now held by some 60,000 braceros at the
peak of the harvest season?" He said he be-
lieves that it may take "three, four, five
times as many people-and they won't go
back where they came from, either."
FACTS OF LIFE
"The facts of life," Ellick said, "do not
substantiate the contention of the AFL-CIO
that California has enough willing, unem-
ployed workers to do the job for agriculture.
? * * It's about time the State administra-
tion and the department of employment and
other powers that be found out what it
would take to get the unemployed back on
the rolls-and what wages they'd work at.
"Agriculture has to know, and it has to
know damn soon," he said.. "We need some
straight answers."
Mr. Speaker, no opponents of the bra-
cero program has had anything to say
about this experiment which failed.
GUANTANAMO NAVAL BASE :
GUARDIAN OF PANAMA CANAL
APPROACHES
(Mr. HARSHA (at the request of Mr.
HARVEY of Michigan) was granted per-
mission to extend his remarks at this
point in the RECORD and to include ex-
traneous matter.)
Mr. HARSHA. Mr. Speaker, in many
statements in the Congress concerning
the problems of the Caribbean, especial-
ly.those by my distinguished and schol-
arly colleague, the gentleman from
Pennsylvania [Mr. FLOOD], the impor-
tance of the U.S. naval base at Guanta-
namo to the security of the Western
Hemisphere has been repeatedly em-
phasized.
Approved For Release 2003/12/02 : CIA-RDP67B00446R000300120015-0