EAST-WEST TRADE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP70B00338R000300070021-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 12, 2005
• Sequence Number: 21
• Publication Date: March 11, 1968
• Content Type: OPEN

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March 11, 1968 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE
Responsil?le, intelligent U.S. citizens, who
want to see us achieve our objectives in Viet-
nam, can help to stem and counteract this
irresponsible, senseless campaign to dis-
credit our allies in Southeast Asia, which
encourages the enemy, prolongs the war and
increases our casualties.
EAS~~ T-WEST TRADE
Mr. MONDALE. Mr. President, Con-
gress is now on record in opposition to
East-West trade. The votes came on the
bill to extend the lending authority of
the Export-Import Bank.
Unfortunately, this opposition comes
at a time when the solidarity of the Com-
munist bloc is cracking. The members
gathered in Budapest recently evidenced
their disarray. The Eastern European
countries have instituted broad economic
reforms in the expectation that increased
trade possibilities will help them
strengthen their economic independence.
We should be encouraging trade with
these nations, but the advantages to be
gained from East-West trade are re-
moved from the realm of possibility when
one of the chief sources of financing
such trade-the Eximbank-is prohibited
from engaging in transactions with Com-
munist countries.
What have we really done by voting
against East-West trade? While we are
patting ourselves on the back for strik-
ing a blow at communism, we have ac-
tually helped the Stalinist-type elements
in Communist nations who are opposed
to any contact with the West, preferring
instead to intensify the cold war. Our
"blow" at communism denies American
business opportunities and markets at
a time when increasing exports is crucial
to our balance of payments.
We are denying trade opportunities for
Eastern European nations which could
assist them to break away from mono-
lithic economic control by Russia. We are
denying chances for Eastern European
leaders to assert nationalistic prefer-
ences. We are denying chances to en-
courage all Communist nations to supply
consumer products.
Our "blow" at communism only makes
us appear silly in the eyes of Europeans.
I ask-how can any nation which has
been built by the strength of its economic
system wear blinders when it has an
opportunity to build economic ties
throughout the world? An uneasy world
can only benefit from peaceful and stabi-
lizing contacts through trade. I deplore
any action by Congress which makes
more difficult such economic ties.
I ask unanimous consent that an edi-
torial entitled "Some Cracks in the Com-
munist Bloc," Published in the Minne-
apolis Tribune of February 26, 1968, be
printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the editorial
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
SOME CRACKS IN THE COMMUNIST BLOC
Inadvertantly the United States is helping
to convert the economic aspect of Eastern
European communism into something sus-
piciously similar to capitalism. President
Johnson's endorsement in 1966 of "building
bridges" to the Communist world was ac-
knowledged by a proposal in Congress for
relaxed restrictions on East-West trade, but
no action was taken then or in 1967, and none
is expected this year.
Ironically, many Western Europeans felt
this to be a go-ahead, and their trade with
the East, already growing steadily, acceler-
ated in the past two years. The East Euro-
peans, in turn, have initiated broad economic
reforms. Most countries, for example, have
adopted the distinctly non-Communist rule
of permitting profit-making plants to retain
up to 50 per cent of their foreign exchange
earnings as a competitive incentive.
Politically as well as economically, the
evidence points to the growing independence
of what used to be known as Communist-bloc
countries. Least conforming has been Ro-
mania, which shocked the Soviets last year
by refusing to go along with the Communist
condemnation of Israel and support for the
Arab states.
in the spring, while incidents along the
Syrian border brought Soviet denunciations
of "Zionist aggression," a top-level Israeli
delegation accepted a Romanian invitation to
Bucharest, where they successfully completed
a commercial treaty. Even after the June war,
Romania refused to change its stand. In
December a new, expanded agreement was
negotiated, this time in Israel-not in Tel
Aviv but In Jerusalem, where the political
significance of Romanian recognition of
Israeli claims could not be missed.
Such events illustrate the changing nature
of the Cold War and the ability of other na-
tions to exploit the opportunities those
changes offer. Political realities of American
preoccupation with Vietnam probably pre-
vent similar "bridge-building" from this
country now. Our hope is that those congress-
men who recognize the changing nature of
the Communist "bloc" will eventually per-
suade their colleagues that the United States
should join the rest of the West in expanded
trade with the East.
PRESIDENT JOHNSON REAFFIRMS
AMERICA'S COMMITMENT TO
SOUND CONSERVATION POLICIES
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, the Presi-
dent of the United States, in his environ-
mental improvement message last Fri-
day, reaffirmed our Nation's high esteem
for the natural values of the environ-
ment. The preservation of nature's
beauty and order for recreational and
esthetic enjoyment is in the best tradi-
tion of our stewardship of this land.
More recently, we have come to recog-
nize the great value of scientific obser-
vations and engineering to help correct
inadvertent abuses of our natural herit-
age. And we now have available new
opportunities to protect the land, air and
water for many previously incompatible
uses.
These problems and opportunities do
not stop at the seacoast. We have learned
that untampered wetlands or coastal
lands and waters, for example, are in
many cases highly productive-yielding
substantial quantities of shellfish, with
commercial values exceeding that of our
most fertile farmland. Conservation
means not only an end to waste re-
sources, but the reclamation of natural
wealth. And our responsibility to our
children's children provides a moral di-
mension to these efforts.
Two years ago the Congress took the
initiative to enunciate a policy to uti-
lize more effectively the seas around us-
including inshore waters over the Con-
tinental Shelf, the ocean deeps, and the
inland. seas formed by the Great Lakes.
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Enactment of Public Law 89--454 was
an expression of the conservationist phi-
losophy at its best. It looks to preserva-
tion of marine resources for constructive
use by mankind.
I am pleased that the President's mes-
sage underlines the promise of the sea,
the inshore waters and its resources, and
the determination by the Federal Gov-
ernment to intensify its efforts to study
and to utilize the sea. This is particularly
significant for the State of Maine.
The President spoke highly in the mes-
sage of the National Sea Grant College
and Program Act as a "new partnership
between the Federal Government and
the Nation's universities - which will
prepare men and women for careers in
the Marine Sciences." Skilled talented
manpower is essential to progress in our
future study and use of the sea. The
President's recommendation of $6 mil-
lion for the sea grant program for fiscal
year 1969 is a modest program for con-
tinuation of new university activities be-
ing begun in fiscal year 1969. This in-
vestment supports our institutions of
higher education, opens fresh opportuni-
ties to our young people, and plants the
seeds for realizing the great potential
benefits from the sea. We should be do-
ing far more than this, if the demands
of our military commitments were not so
overriding.
I congratulate the President on his
vision and his initiative. The deep ocean
is the final geographic frontier for ex-
ploration on our planet. He sounds a
challenging and exciting call when he
announces our intent to seek with other
nations to launch an international dec-
ade of ocean exploration for the 1970's.
He rightly characterizes this as a "his-
toric and unprecedented adventure." The
long-range benefits from tapping the
ocean's resources-in magnitudes not
now known-are reason enough for a
partnership among all the nations bor-
dering the oceans to initiate their ex-
ploration. But the opportunity offered
by a decade of ocean exploration is not
limited to national advantages. It is
above all a spiritual challenge to modern
man to explore fully his environment.
The self-discipline to master the envir-
onment without despoiling it; to preserve
and even occasionally to enhance nature
for her joint occupancy-that is the
moral imperative before us.
AFL-CIO STATEMENT ON
EDUCATION
Mr. MORSE. Mr. President, at its re-
cent convention at Bal Harbour, Fla., the
executive council of the AFL-CIO issued
a forward-looking statement on educa-
tion. I ask unanimous consent that it be
printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the state-
ment was ordered to be printed in the
RECORD, as follows:
STATEMENT BY THE AFL-CIO EXECUTIVE COUN-
CIL ON EDUCATION, BAL HARBOUR, FLA., FEB-
RUARY 20, 1968
Few achievements of the Kennedy and
Johnson Administrations have been as im-
portant or long lasting in their effect as the
broad range of educational legislation en-
acted by the Congress. The entire span of
educational services from pre-school pro-
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE March .11, 1968
grams to college and adult education pro-
grams have been strengthened by the federal
government's new commitment to share in
the financial support of education. President
Johnson quite properly described the 89th
Congress as one that would go down in his-
tory as the "Educational Congress."
in his education message to the 90th Con-
gress, on February 5, 1968, the President ex-
pressed his belief that the mid-1960's "will
be remembered as a time of unprecedented
achievement in American education." The
AFL-CIO shares this view, even as it recog-
nizes that staggering problems still remain
and that what has been accomplished must
be regarded only as a beginning.
In many regards, however, the AFL-CIO
would fo further then the President's pro-
posals. We urge Congress to take the message
as the starting point for a legislation pro-
gram rather than as the outer limits of one.
Particularly in the field of higher educa-
tion there is need for going far beyond the
Administration recommendations. The pro-
posed cut of more than $500 million in funds
for construction of new facilities for higher
education will mean that thousands of young
people who stand ready for higher education
will be denied it by simple lack of space. Stu-
dent aid programs will be of little help If
there is no room for the students in the na-
tion's colleges and universities. The AFL-CIO
believes that the proposed cuts in construc-
tion funds should be restored in addition to
an increased student aid program.
The Administration proposed to increase
available student loans through the method
of subsidized and guaranteed private loans.
So far this method has been tried and the re-
sults have not been promising. Banks have
been reluctant to lend money at reasonable
rates. To encourage them, the Administration
proposes tomake the loans more attractive
by giving the lender a service fee of up to $35
for each loan. Rather than making student
loans more profitable to the banks, Congress
should, in the view of the AFL-CIO, return
to the principle of government loans such
as have been available on a limited basis
through the National Defense Education Act.
Government loans are surer to get to the stu-
dent who needs them, and they are less ex-
pensive in the long run than the guaranteed
private loan plan.
The Administration proposes a $40 million
increase in Headstart funds, but most of this
is for follow up programs. Headstart is still
much too limited. It needs to be expanded
and placed on a year around basis. To do
this will require far more federal support
than is envisioned at the federal level.
The AFL-CIO welcomes the changes rec-
ommended by the President in vocational
education. More than one-half of the young
men and women who graduate from high
school every year do not go to college. In ad-
dition, three out of every ten students fail
to complete high school.
Three-fourths of the graduating class of
1965 found employment by the fall of 1965
but less than one-half of those who dropped
out of school during the school year 1964-65
were able to get jobs. It is obvious that edu-
cation and training are essential factors that
increase the earning power of the individual
and thus, his purchasing power-the princi-
pal bridge to full employment.
Vocational education must prepare every
boy and girl who does not go to college with
the necessary skills to obtain and hold a job.
The Vocational Education Act of 1963 has
provided our schools with new and modern
tools to relate training and vocational edu-
cation to the realistic needs of the labor
market. A National Advisory Council on Vo-
cational Education, established by the Act
and appointed by the Secretary of Health,
Education and Welfare, just completed an
evaluation of the status of vocational educa-
tion. The Council came to the conclusion
that "the promise of the Act - has not been
realized.' We in the AFL-CIO concur with
that evaluation.
We believe that innovative programs, sep-
arately funded, must be encouraged to carry
out the purpose of the Vocational Education
Act of 1963. Work-study programs that com-
bine education, training, work experience as
well as income opportunities must become
an integrated part of our overall vocational
education system. In addition, residential
schools should be constructed and operated
to provide training opportunities away from
an unfavorable home environment. Specific
funds must be earmarked for the vocational
education of persons with educational, social
and economic handicaps.
The AFL-CIO strongly supports greater
flexibility in federal matching grants to the
states. Innovation projects, work-study pro-
grams and residential schools and programs
for the socially and economically disabled
require the federal government to assume a
much larger portion of the costs than pres-
ently provided by the 50-50 matching base
in the law. To carry out the programs that
are urgently needed now requires a much
higher appropriation of funds than is pres-
ently authorized in the Vocational Education
Act of 1963.
No sounder investment can be made by
the citizens of the United States than an in-
vestment in their own children's economic
future. In his message, the Fresident re-
minded us that "many of our urgent educa-
tional programs which directly affect the
young people of America cannot be deferred."
He concluded that "the cost--the human
cost-of delay is intolerable."
The adult programs described in the Pres-
ident's message, like those for younger stu-
dents, move in the right direction but at far
too slow a pace. Considering the fact that
there are 23 million adults who have not
completed the eighth grade, a program which
reached only 330,000 of them last year is
hardly a cause for rejoicing. Expanded pro-
grams, adequately funded and administered
by the states are clearly needed.
Organized labor has long recited the need
for a federally supported university labor
extension program. Those extension services
which are now in existence make a great
contribution to labor educat:iorL. They need
to be greatly expanded to meet the needs
of unions. This expansion will not come about
without federal support.
The AFL-CIO believes that federal funds
should be provided for training and educa-
tion of union members, stewards and officers
in the same way as federal grants are made
available to farmers and business.
Universities across the nation have mani-
fested a genuine interest in servicing the
needs of labor through the expansion of
meaningful labor education programs. We,
therefore, urge the Congress to give affirma-
tive consideration to supplementary aid in
this area.
In assessing our national priorities, we
need to maintain a keen awareness that
everywhere across the nation the urban crisis
continues to be America's greatest domestic
problem. In responding to that crisis there
is no more essential tool than quality edu-
cation at every level for all. Much of the un-
rest in our cities can be related to the hope-
lessness manifested by those who cannot see
any substantive improvement in the quality
of education in our inner city schools. In our
view, the rate of improvement is still too
slow and falls to meet the urgency of our
times.
Where progress has beeen made, quite of-
ten it has been obscured by rapid movement
from rural areas to the inner city. Attention
to the quality of education in the rural areas
therefore should be stepped up in the light
of these developments.
To effectively address ourselves to this to-
tal problem, high priority should be given
to the expansion of programs which com-
pensate for the years of decay, discrimination
and apathy experienced by those who dwell
in theghettos of our cities. We believe that
meaningful efforts in this direction will ul-
timately give rise to new hope to those who
have long since given up.
COMMISSION ON HEALTH SCIENCE
AND SOCIETY
Mr. MONDALE. Mr. President, I
recently introduced a joint resolution
calling for the creation of a Commission
on Health Science and Society to study
some of the social and ethical implica-
tions of the recent medical break-
throughs, including heart transplants.
The University of Minnesota has
pioneered in the development of the
techniques and information needed in its
animal research program, thereby pav-
ing the way for some of the recent break-
throughs. The university has been re-
sponsible for the training of many of the
outstanding surgeons responsible for the
recent heart transplant operations. In
addition, many in the university have
been involved in research and develop-
ment in related areas.
Dr. Jesse E. Edwards, president of the
American Heart Association and profes-
sor of pathology at the University of
Minnesota, is a leader in the field of
medical research who is well aware of the
ethical and moral implications of the
health sciences.
In a recent statement to the University
of Minnesota's Minnesota Daily, he
discussed the need for establishment of
a committee to consider the ethical prob-
lems of transplants and other medical
practices.
I ask unanimous consent that Dr.
Edwards' illuminating remarks be
printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the remarks
were ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
HEART ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT PROBES TRANS-
PLANT ETHICS
(By George Mitchell)
Human heart transplants involve serious
ethical problems, Dr. Jessie E. Edwards,
president of the American Heart Assn. and
professor of pathology, said Tuesday.
The American Heart Assn. approved the
establishment of a committee on the ethical
problems of transplants and other medical
practices in the middle of January, Edwards
said. He said that in addition to doctors it
will include members of the clergy, the legal
profession, and the judiciary and will cut
across social and racial lines.
"It will address itself to the subject of
transplants both from the view of the recip-
ient and the donor," he said, "and it will
evaluate the definitions of life and death
and the issue of who is logically responsible
for the disposition of the organs."
Edwards called heart transplants "clinical
trials." "You have to start somewhere," he
said. "It was the same for the first open-
heart operation. It had been tried an dogs,
but would it work on man? You didn't know.
We have to accept this as a fact of life. It
has to be done. The day has to come when
somebody is the first person to whom it's
done."
Asked if an ethical problem is presented by
a physician's inability to accurately predict
a heart patient's longevity. Edwards replied
that "a patient can get in a state verging on
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