LETTERS FROM CONNECTICUT SERVICEMEN IN VIETNAM

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CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6
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May 18, 1965
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Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6 May 18, 1965 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD- SENATE against a hostile conspicary,,the father had to protect his family from drought and fam- ine. The hidden and unknown forces of a capricious nature were the sworn enemies of man's life and work. Our attitudes toward nature have, there- fore, been determined by this primordial struggle. We still react with self-protective devices when we are threatened by these hidden forces: The hands perspire, the adrenalin flows, the hair bristles. One of the .consequences of our knowledge that man's history on earth is far longer than had been thought is the recognition that these techniques of self-defense, appropriate to the jungle but pathetically unsuited to the realities of urban existence, belong to the agelong heritage of the race and cannot be abolished by a simple fiat either of rational morality or of religious obedience. Religious obedience has, in fact, often em- phasized the conflict of man with nature. Much of what Christians have said and written about the relation between man and the rest of the creation has been inspired by the command of the Creator, described in the Book of Genesis, to "have dominion over the earth" and over the fish, the fowl, and all the other beings that populate it. This command has supplied the divine sanction for scientific research into the ways of the natural world and has declared that man's investigations of these ways are appropriate to his place as the crown of the creation and the vice-gerent of God in the natural order. But the same command has also supplied a sanction for the exploitation of nature which, in the 19th and 20th centuries, has as- sumed the proportions of an international scandal. For the first time in human history, modern technology has placed into man's hands the capacity to alter permanently the very character of his natural environment. Streams that have supported fish for millen- nia are now so choked by filth that nothing can live in them or on them. The forests and the plains have been denuded of their vegeta- tion, leached out and eroded and stripped by the relentless winds. The very air surround- ing all of us on earth has been poisoned. Thus the creation in which its Maker takes His delight has become a stench in the nos- trils of God. Our own period of human his- tory has compounded the felony by spewing forth into the atmosphere the noxious dusts of its atomic weapons, whose final results will not be known until future generations. The effects of all this on man is becoming evident. His "natural resources," his recrea- tion, his sources of food have all been dam- aged or impaired, and farsighted men every- where recognize that such pollution simply cannot go on. But they recognize this largely because of the way all these atrocities affect man. Yet man is not alone on this earth. The rest of the creation needs to be defended, too. It has no great lobby in the various capitals of the world, but it ought to have a defender and friend in the Christian believers of the world, whose reverence for the Creator ought to make them fiercely indignant over the atroc- ities of man's inhumanity to nature. The creation is mute, although it does speak in accents that are pleasing to the ears of God. Who will speak in its behalf? Those who be- our Armed Forces, the majority of them from Connecticut. I was tremendously impressed by the morale of our Armed Forces at every level. There are no faint hearts among the Americans in Vietnam, no voices clamor- ing for withdrawal because the going is rough and the perils are great. On the contrary, every single member of the Armed Forces I met, every single member of our Embassy staff, every sin- gle member of the AID team, was deter- mined that the war must be won and convinced that it could be won. I ask unanimous consent to insert into the RECORD a letter which I received from an American serviceman in Viet- nam, Ale Willard Stevane and four statements I received from officers serv- ing as advisers in the field, all of whom come from my home State of Connecti- cut, and whom I had the pleasure of meeting while I was in Vietnam. I would call the attention of my col- leagues in particular to the concluding words of Lt. (jg.) Edward R. Spitzner of Orange, Conn., whose duties have en- abled him to see the war in Vietnam in many areas: What the war does not need are those peo- ple who constantly sit back and criticize, but fail to view the total picture. If the energy that was devoted to and generated by this criticism were used as a weapon against the Vietcong, there would probably be few of the enemy still remaining in the Republic of Vietnam. I would also call the attention of my colleagues to the closing words of Airman Stevane's letter: Fight for us so we may fight for you in keeping freedom here and always in the United States. Finally, I wish to call attention to the statement I received from Capt. Nelson J. Sprague, of Manchester, Conn.: The character of the American as typified in Vietnam Is one which makes everyone proud to be part of the force. The devotion to duty exhibited by the American fighting man is phenomenal. Twelve to 16 hours a day, for week after week without the slightest decay in morale or dedication, depicts the normal scene. All efforts are being concerted into the primary objective; assisting the Viet- namese in defeating the onslaught of the Communist doctrine. These statements are, I believe, com- pletely characteristic of the attitude and the morale of our servicemen in Vietnam. There being no objection, the letters were ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows: STATEMENT OF LT. (JG.) EDWARD R. SPITZNER, U.S. NAVAL ADVISORY GROUP, SAIGON, VIET- NAM (Home, 362 Drummond Road, Orange, Conn:) As my arrival in the Republic of Vietnam (February 1, 1964) was preceded by a coup and followed by Buddhist demonstrations and the Kinh Do Theater bombing, I was naturally quite pessimistic about the situ- ation here. This pessimism was further bolstered by ensuing coups and several large battles in which the Republic of Vietnam's Armed Forces, with their American advisers, sustained heavy casualties. This same opinion is readily expressed by personnel whose tour of duty in Vietnam is Limited to the Saigon area. It was not until Thad the chance to travel, Mr. DODD. Mr. Presider during my recent 'visit to Vietnam I was able to meet with General Westmoreland and the senior members of his staff;, with at' least a dozen American officers serving as advisers in the field, including 4 officers from my home State of Connecticut; and with some W or 60 enlisted members of both north and south of Saigon, as trans- lation group officer for headquarters sup- port activity, Saigon, that this attitude changed. My Job takes me to those areas which request an American interpreter/trans- lator or testing facilities for the promotion of Vietnamese civilian interpreter/translators. In this capacity I have had the chance to see much of Vietnam over the past 15 months of duty and have grown to appreciate the people and their love of freedom. Above all, these travels have painted a true picture of the war in Vietnam; not just a picture of single battles with high losses on both sides. It seems to me that many people consider the war here a huge tally sheet, and only count the number of people killed. These people are making a terrible mistake, yet in some cases, it is the only thing from which they have to formulate an opinion. In my opinion, the real war, which never appears in newspapers or on tally sheets, is being won in the remote, isolated villages and hamlets of Vietnam. Here, the Ameri- can advisers and their counterparts are using all available means to improve the security Conditions and the social and economic well- being of the people. The results of such projects can be seen by the many smiles one receives when touring such a village. Al- though this is the one aspect of the war which has impressed me the most, I feel that we cannot forget the many sacrifices made by those units which daily engage the Viet- cong in battle. This is not a single, large war, but a war which is composed of many smaller wars which, in their entirety, form the Vietnam picture. The effective work of the advisers, coupled with a sound psywar and "Chien Hai" policy-Le., an open-arms policy which en- courages the Vietcong to defect-should bring more positive and far-reaching results in the future. Now, when morale is high, due to the recent attacks on North Vietnam, is the time to push harder and harder and to drive the Vietcong from South Vietnam. What the war does not need are those people who constantly sit back and criticize, but fail to view the total picture. If the energy that was devoted to and generated by this criticism were used as a weapon against the Vietcong, there would probably be few of the enemy still remaining in the Republic of Vietnam. There has been a tremendous improvement in the overall war effort in the last 6 months. If we can maintain this status throughout the upcoming rainy season, the Vietcong will be on the run, and running fast at that. STATEMENT OF CAPT. NELSON J. SPRAGUE, U.S. AIR FORCE (Home, 19 Ann Street, Manchester, Conn.) I am presently assigned in southeast Asia at Tan Son Nhut Airbase, Saigon, Vietnam, as a pilot for the Embassy aircraft located here. The character of the American as typified in Vietnam is one which makes everyone proud to be part of the force. The devotion to duty exhibited by the American fighting man is phenomenal. Twelve to sixteen hours a day, for week after week without the slight- est decay in morale or dedication depicts the normal scene. All efforts are being con- certed into the primary objective; assisting the Vietnamese in defeating the onslaught of the Communist docrtne. It is extremely gratifying to. witness, per- sonally, the vast buildup of American air, ground, and sea power. It is truly one of the greatest deterrent forces ever amassed In a limited war effort. It is, I believe, still early to record any decided changes in Vietcong tactics result- ing from our continuous destructive air strikes in the North. The impact on Viet- cong supplies, manpower and morale ob- viously is devastating, but presently is being well concealed in their diversified activity. Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6 Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE May- 18, 1965 The next few months will represent a turn- ing point in southeast Asia, revealing not only our actual progress in the fight against the spread of communism, but also the true intent of Communist China and the Soviet' Union in southeast Asia. I firmly believe that our efforts in south- east Asia must be intensified and expanded in order to insure the victory that we and the free peoples of the world need to preserve a free and democratic society. STATEMENT OF CAPT. RICHARD J. TERSECH, IV CORPS ADVISER (Home, 98 Cedar Ridge Road, Newington, Conn.) I have been in Vietnam for about 8 months, first as a rifle battalion adviser in the 7th ]Division tactical area about 50 miles south of. ]Saigon in the Mekong Delta. After 6 months with the rifle battalion I was made operations and training adviser in Dinh Tuong sector with headquarters at My Tho which is also the headquarters of the 7th Division. The following are my personal observations on the war as I have seen it: The Vietnamese military personnel I have dealt wit}i as an adviser to the 1st Battalion, :12th Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, are professional soldiers who love their country and who will continue to fight until they see it free. The professional ability of the offi- cers is high and the courage of the individual soldier is unquestionable. Looking back on my 6 months with the rifle battalion I can :see improvement in the locations our battal- ion occupied. These improvements include a marked increase in the number of people living in the area because of the security the battalion offered. With the increase in people there followed an improvement in the eco- nomic well-being of the community because of increased trade and improved roads. The second part of my tour in Vietnam has been as the operations and training adviser of Dinh Tuong sector. This job has given me a look at the paramilitary and civil as- pects of the war here. Again the Vietnamese working at the sector and district level are, ,for the most part, dedicated and capable men who are slowly convincing the population that the Government will help them and that the Vietcong are, in fact, Communists who wish to exploit them for their own use. This "winning the hearts and minds of the people" is slow work, but again, I can see improve- ment in conditions over what they were when I arrived in Dinh Tuong sector. STATEMENT OF CAPT. HOWARD E. BELINSITY, IV Cdars ADVISER (Home, Seymour, Conn.) I arrived in Vietnam on September 5, 1964. For my first 6 months I was assigned as the operations and training adviser, Kien Hoa Province. Kien Hoa is approximately 65 miles south of Saigon in the 7th Infantry Division tactical area. After 6 months at province level I was assigned as the battalion adviser, 1st Battalion, 12th Regiment, which operates throughout the division tactical area. Upon my assignment to the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam I found an area of fertile soil cultivated by thousands of hard- working Vietnamese farmers. It is an area which has an overabundance of rice, bananas, coconuts, pineapples, and dozens of other na- tive Vietnamese fruits and vegetables. It is the Vietnamese farmers who till the land who are the victims of this Communist guer- rilla war. In those areas of Vietcong domi- rLation it is these farmers who live in small villages and hamlets who are exploited to provide new recruits, food, revenue through taxation, and a base of operation. Left alone these people have no other choice but to un- willingly provide support for the Vietcong effort. Right now many inhabitants of these Vietcong dominated areas are becoming de- moralized because of high Vietcong taxation, a constant flow of Vietcong propaganda and promises which have fallen flat. In those areas where the government of Vietnam has control now and is working to reestablish control, the, people willingly support the national government. Given the necessary economic aid and assistance these once Viet- cong dominated villages again prosper and regain their high rates of productivity. At the village and hamlet level what is needed right now is the necessary aid and assistance to support the pacification program and to build roads, bridges, schools, dispensaries, and other community facilities. Box 121, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF., APO 96337. Hon.THOMAS H. DODD: Not long ago I wrote you a letter while stationed in the States giving my opinion to stay in Vietnam. Last week I arrived here at DaNang Air Base, Viet- nam. The morale of the troops that I as- sociate with is high. We want to win this fight for freedom. Each of us has to work at least 12 hours a day and there is no com- plaint even when it is Sunday. The food is not the greatest and neither are the recrea- tion facilities. They are a lot better than I had anticipated. Fight for us so we may fight for you in keeping freedom here and always in the United States. I remain, Respectfully, WILLARD STEVANE, AF11360060, 23d CAM. RECORDS AND THE INVASION OF PRIVACY BY FEDERAL AGEN- CIES Mr. LONG of Missouri. Mr. Presi- dent, the Subcommittee on Administra- tive Practice and Procedure of the Com- mittee on the Judiciary, over which I preside, has been conducting an investi- gation of invasions of privacy by Federal agencies. The investigation has uncov- ered quite a few violations of this basic human right. Indeed, the further we dig, the dirtier it gets. Judging from the mail, there are many citizens aware and concerned about the threat to their privacy. I have recently received a letter from a doctor of polit- ical science at Oklahoma City Univer- sity. In addition to expressing his con- cern over our loss of privacy, the doctor enclosed a reprint of an article he wrote for the Social Science magazine. In the article, he discusses another method of invading the individual's right to be left alone. The article is short and I request that it be reprinted at this point in the RECORD. There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows: RECORDS AND THE INVASION OF PRIVACY (By Stanley P. Wagner, chairman, Depart- ment of Political Science, Oklahoma City University) (Dr. Stanley P. Wagner, chairman of the department of political science at Oklahoma City University since 1962, studied at the University of North Carolina and Shriven- ham American University in England, and has his B.A., M.A., and Ph. D. degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. He has been coordinator of the interdisciplinary course in social science at Allegheny College and, while at Meadville, had also served as a com- missioner of the public housing.) There is a new social control mechanism in our industrial society. This is the re- sult of the accumulation of personal infor- mation on individuals., These data, col- lected on each one of us, expose people to potential public approval, disapproval, and manipulation. In the past, this caused us little concern, since there were few records on the ordinary person. But today such in- formation is quite extensive. This paper explores the threat generated by the exist- ence of our past records. There is a growing concern in our society over what is usually referred to as "the in- vasions of privacy." The nature of such invasions and the areas invaded are gen- erally described as an increase of interrup- tions and demands on our time which im- pose themselves on the solitude of our thoughts and personal activities. There is no longer even a place for privacy. The home, once considered sacrosanct and the last refuge, is now invaded by the salesman, the social worker, the pollsters, and the PTA organizers either directly or through our telephones and television sets. Besides that, the story goes, Americans have cultivated an insatiable inquisitorial habit which makes them overly concerned with the affairs of other people. European observers on the American scene are amazed at the familiarity the American citizen is willing to assume toward our noted and famous people. There is an increasing surveillance by our government of. previous areas of pri- vacy. Extension of congressional investi- gating facilities, community redevelopment groups, "Get out the vote campaigns," the extended form of the national census, com- munity industrial drives, and so forth, chal- lenge us with increasing intrusion. There was recently in New York City a dispute over music piped into Grand Central Sta- tion, where the commuter was exposed en masse. Fortunately, some felt, it was chal- lenged successfully as an infringement on a person's private solace. These types of in- trusion are evoking a fear from a serious and sensitive public that our traditional respect for privacy is in danger of being corrupted or slowly eroded entirely. A brief examination of our popular and scholarly journals reveals in some detail the specific nature of the above concern. The American Scholar has, in the past few years, published four essays on the subject. These have attempted to define the sphere of pri- vacy, its protection by law, its invasion through technology and the mob, and the reforms necessary to win back and preserve man's private domain? The major portion of the February 10, 1955, issue of Reporter magazine was devoted to a description of the increased activity of private Investigators in this country, whom these investigators were watching, and why, Harper's magazine of July 1955 carried an article by one of America's great novelists, William Faulkner, on the erosion of our pri- vacy. Mr. Faulkner expressed grave reser- vations over the ways in which the American press or representatives of an organized group investigate what the novelist called the personal life of a man. H. B. White, writing in Social Research in June 1951, spoke of a "right of man to be let alone, a right against the world," which is disappear- ing and which the author deemed valuable for the world.2 Harold Lasswell has an article in Conflict of Loyalties entitled "The Threat to Pri- vacy." In addition to the dangers already 'Richard Rovere, "The Invasion of Pri- vacy," American Scholar, Autumn 1958, pp. 413-421; August Heckscher, "The Reshaping of Privacy," ibid., Winter 1958-1959, pp. 11- 20; Granville Hicks, "The Limits of Privacy," ibid., spring 1959, pp. 185-193; Gerald John- son, "The Invasion of Privacy," ibid., autumn 1959, pp. 447-457. 2 Howard B. White, "The Right to Privacy," Social Research, June 1951, p. 191. Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6 Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6 May 18, 1965 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE ate with_the documents that I had at that time. I could have done so. A few days later we 11 drafted Senate Resolution 212, which I submitted, sup- ported by the majority leader `and the minority leader and unanimously agreed to by the Senate. I pay my respects to Senators on both sides of the aisle for recognizing the problem and proceeding accordingly. -1 shall not discuss what happened later. I would,, have discussed the situa- tion in greater' detail and had intended to, because without being conceited I am proud of the contribution that I have made in supplying information to the committee. Perhaps my success is what is embarrassing them. In any event they have accepted this information with about the same enthusiasm and appreci- ation as a little boy does castor oil. I was surprised though when it came out in the press that they were critical of my not getting more information for them. But when asked to come here today and outline their criticism they ran out. . The newspaper account gave the im- pression that the informant was a spokesman for the majority members of the committee, and what were alleged to be excerpts from the report revealed that charges were specifically made that I had, deliberately and willfully-perhaps those exact words were not used-with- held information from the committee, or that I had.not told the committee the truth in some instances; or that I had in other ways not 'cooperated as they had a right to expect; or that I had mis- led the committee. At that time I did not know what was contained in the report. Most of those statements were inferences. As the dis- tinguished Senator from Kentucky [Mr. CoorER1 has stated, they were not specific charges. Taken alone, they did not exactly make such a charge, but one would draw the impression that such was intended. . Certainly I resent such a cowardly attack. I was placed in the position when the press asked "Do you want to com- ment?" of _ being obliged to say, "How can one comment on something which I have not seen." - Not one Word had I heard from the committee-and not only that but when challenged to be here today and either retract or back up these charges they ran away. I accept their silence as a complete surrender. But before I conclude, I want to leave this warning. Do not ever let this hap- pen again I had asked the committee members and the chairman of the Committee on Rules and Administration to be present today either repudiate the allegations or make them in person. I regret very much that the chairman of the com- mlttp.e.,did r}ot see fit either to repudiate them o to ,make them in person. i wais prepared to discuss the entire history of the Baker case from the be- ginning to what they hope is the end. However, I shall not take the time of the Senate now. I have plenty of time-I shall still be here-and t a i not abo, tt to be intimidated. In fact,, my curiosity grows as the resistance intensifies. Who knows-someone may yet find out where that $100,000 in cash came from. Before I conclude, I notice that the chairman of the committee is again present. Perhaps he has had a change of heart and is ready to speak out. I offer to yield to him again if he wishes to present any charge or make any remarks of any nature. Surely he can express his own views. I assure the Senator from North Caro- lina that there will be no interruption. Unlimited time will be given, and I will guarantee him a detailed reply to what- ever criticism he dares to make. I shall even go so far as to ask unanimous con- sent, if the chairman cares to present ariy charges, that the rules of the Senate be waived and that the Senator be per- mitted to say what he pleases. I should like to know if there is any criticism that the committee chairman or any member of the committee desires to make or, as far as I am concerned, that any Senator desires to make. The Senator from North Carolina is present in the Chamber. He retains his seat and rejects the challenge. Appar- ently he does not wish to speak. Silence speaks louder than words. Mr. MANSFIELD. Mr. President, I should like, in my own time, to make a few remarks about the situation which has developed here today. I have seen the reports in the press. I do not know where the reports came from. From making some inquiry this morning, it is my understanding that copies of the proposed report draft had been given to all nine members of the committee. I say as 1 Senator-and I am sure I can speak for 98 other Senators in this body-that in my opinion the distin- guished senior Senator from Delaware is a man of integrity and honesty. Cer- tainly no Member of this body would dis- parage him in any way. It is my further understanding that there will be a meeting of the full com- mittee tomorrow, at which time the drafts, which I have not seen, will be brought before the committee for con- sideration. Personally, I feel absolutely certain in my own mind that no member of the committee, Republican or Democrat, released the proposed draft which was given to him, as I understand, on a con- fidential basis. I thought I ought to rise at this time and say to the senior Senator from Delaware that it is my hard and fast opinion that no Senator looks on him with disrespect, ahd no Senator has accused him of doing anything unethical or unworthy. Mr. WILLIAMS of Delaware. I thank the Senator from Montana. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. NEL- soN in the chair). The Senator from North Carolina is recognized. Mr. JORDAN of North Carolina. Mr. President, it is very important that the RECORD show that the Committee on Rules and Administration has not met or taken any other action whatever con- cerning a report of its activities under Senate Resolution 367, agreed to Sep- tember 16,1904-.' On March 18, 1965, a staff draft of a suggested report was distributed to each member of the committee in a sealed envelope marked "Personal and confi- dential." This was done exactly 2 months ago today, and, as in the case- with all working drafts, suggestions and comments were invited from all mem- bers of the committee. On May 13, 1965, a second version of the working draft- including a number of suggestions and corrections-was distributed to each member of the committee. To my knowledge, no caucus has been held by either the Democrats or the Re- publicans on the committee to discuss or consider either draft. Tomorrow, the committee is scheduled to meet and begin going over the working draft line by line and page by page. We plan to follow the same practice and procedure on this report as we follow on all the reports we consider. It would be highly out of order for me to engage in a discussion of the contents of the working draft until the commit- tee has met and acted. Throughout the investigation I have declined to discuss such matters until after the committee has acted. I do not intend to begin at this point discussing what the committee will do, or weighing the pros and cons of news- paper interpretations of what the com- mittee may or may not do. The com- mittee will report on its activities. The report will speak for itself, and anyone will be free-and I am sure this freedom will be fully exercised--to put any in- terpretation he chooses on the report. The draft that has been referred to as a release has never been released by the committee. It is a galley. proof. The sec- ond draft of a report is galley proof. It has never been considered by the com- mittee, or any segment of the committee. It will be taken up tomorrow, and at that time a report will be made available, after it has been passed on by the com- mittee. Mr. MANSFIELD. Mr. President, will the Senator yield? Mr. JORDAN of North Carolina. I yield. Mr. MANSFIELD. Mr. President, I would not be fair to myself if I did not say that, in my opinion, the distinguished Senator from North Carolina is one of the most capable Members of the Senate. He is a man whose integrity and honesty are absolutely unquestioned. I know that he and his committee have had a very embarrassing situation to contend with for a year and a half. I also know that the Senator and his committee are trying to do a decent and honest job. I am sure that will be the result when the final report is issued by the committee which the Senator from North Carolina honors by being chair- man. Mr. JORDAN of North Carolina. I thank the Senator. VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965 The Senate resumed the consideration of the bill (S. 1564) to enforce the 15th amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6 Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6 The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Ty- DINGS in the chair). The question is on agreeing to the amendment, No. 187, of- fered by the Senator from Montana [Mr. MANSFIELD] for himself and the Senator from Illinois [Mr. DIRKSEN] to the amendment in the nature of a substitute, as amended and modified (No. 124), of- fered by the Senator from Montana [Mr. MANSFIELD] and the Senator from Illi- nois I Mr.DIRKSEN]. Mr. MANSFIELD. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. JAVITS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without obj ection, it is so ordered. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York is recognized. Mr. MANSFIELD. Mr. President, will the Senator yield? Mr. JAVITS. I yield. ORDER FOR ADJOURNMENT Mr. MANSFIELD. Mr. President, there will be a considerable amount of discussion on this amendment and the bill this afternoon by various Senators. I should like at this time to ask unani- mous consent that, when the Senate con- cludes its business today, it stand in ad- journment until 12 o'clock noon to- morrow. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. UNANIMOUS-CONSENT AGREEMENT Mr. MANSFIELD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there be a morning hour tomorrow extending from 12 noon to 12:30 p.m. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Mr. MANSFIELD. And I ask unani- mous consent that the time between 12:30 and 3 o'clock p.m. be divided be- tween the majority leader, or whomever he may designate, and the distinguished Senator from Mississippi [Mr. STENNIS], for the purpose of arriving at a vote on the pending amendment by 3 o'clock to- morrow afternoon. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Mr. JAVITS. That leaves 21/2 hours on the amendment, one and a quarter hours on a side, without any limitation on the debate today. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Mr. DOMINICK. Mr. President, re- serving the right to object, I gather the vote is to be at 3 o'clock but I wish to state to the distinguished Senator from Montana that I am doing some research on problems raised by this amendment right now. I do not have an answer on some of it. It is entirely possible, if the research turns up what I fear it may, that the discussion might have to be very "plain." I gather, in the condition of the present amendment, that it cannot be amended. Is that correct? CONGRESSIONAL The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct. The amendment is in the sec- ond degree. Mr. DOMINICK. And that no substi- tute can be offered for it. The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct. Mr. DOMINICK. So if something were wrong in the amendment, the only thing we could do would be to vote it down and offer another amendment. Mr. MANSFIELD. That is correct. The Senator raised that point yesterday. Mr. DOMINICK. Then I withdraw my objection. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the unanimous consent re- quest? Without objection, it is so ordered. The unanimous-consent agreement was subsequently reduced to writing, as follows: UNANIMOUS-CONSENT AGREEMENT Ordered. That the Senate proceed to vote not later than 3 o'clock p.m. on Wednesday, May 19, 1965, on amendment numbered 187 offered by the Senators from Montana and Illinois [Mr. MANSFIELD and Mr. DIRE:sEN], relative to poll tax, to the substitute amend- ment by Senators MANSFIELD and DIRKSEN, No. 124; as amended, for the bill (8. 1564) to enforce the 15th amendment to the Con- stitution of the United States; Provided, That all time for debate after the transaction of routine morning business on Wednesday, May 19, 1965, not to exceed 12:30 o'clock p.m., shall be equally divided and controlled by the Senator from Montana [Mr. MANSFIELD] or whomever he may desig- nate, and the Senator from Mississippi [Mr. STENNIS]. COMBAT TROOPS T RECORD - SENATE May 18, 1965 manders here are preparing to send Amer- ican combat troops, now on guard duty at three air bases, into battle anywhere in Vietnam. This full participation is expected to be- gin shortly. The' public reaction that this expanded use of American troops is likely to have both in Vietnam and the United States Is being weighed. Their use has been dictated by the serious shortage of Vietnamese Government reserve forces. A program has been under way for months to raise 100,000 or more additional regular and paramilitary soldiers. But the date for completion of the buildup has been advanced to the middle of next year. PREPARE FOR MORE MEN As much as possible the American military strategists want to keep the U.S. paratroopers and marines out of areas heavily populated with Vietnamese civilians. There is also the likelihood that the first use of Americans in the expanded combat role would come during a crisis in which Vietnamese troops were pinned down by supe- rior numbers of Vietcong. The Americans would then be dispatched as relief troops, a role that critics would be hard put to protest. The American logistics team now operating in South Vietnam is laying the groundwork for, quick and efficient reception of many more American troops if the need arises dur- ing the Communist offensive. The precautions have been made more nec- essary by new intelligence reports that thou- sands of North Vietnamese soldiers have massed on the Laotian border near South Vietnam's central highlands. The whole of the 325th Division of the North Vietnamese Army is known to be on the border with some units already having crossed Into, South Vietnam. More recent reports suggest that elements of the 304th Division have also taken up border positions. American strategists here believe that the action last week at -Songbe was designed to pull the South Vietnamese Government's ready reserve troops out of the Central high- lands, to pave the way for attacks by the regular North Vietnamese units. They note that if this was the Communist goal, the tactic failed. American airpower helped drive the Communists out of Song- be without drawing on the reserve troops. But American commanders expect the man- euver to be attempted again. At Bienhoa, where an accident Sunday took more American lives than any Vietcong at- tack or terrorist incident, the toll seemed likely to reach 27 Americans dead. Five of the 10 undetonated bombs left near the airbase runway yesterday have now exploded, 1 from its own delayed-action fuse and 4 from the efforts of demolition teams. As the bodies are identified, the United States is declaring the men dead. For that reason, the total today was changed to 5 killed and 22 missing with little expectation that the missing would be found alive. In the series of explosions of bombs loaded onto B-57 Canberra jets for an attack on the Vietcong, 103 American servicemen were in- jured, 2 severely. An investigation team from the Defense Department arrived here tonight to study the incident. Mr. JAVITS. Mr. President, reports are current today in the New York Times fromSaigon that American commanders in South Vietnam are preparing to send American combat troops into battle "anywhere in Vietnam." I ask unanimous consent that that news story may be printed in the RECORD at this point in my remarks. There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows: FULL COMBAT ROLE FOR GI's Is LIKELY IN VIETNAM SOON-U.S. COMMANDERS PREPARE TO SEND TROOPS To COUNTER EXPECTED RED OFFENSIVE (By Jack Langguth) SAIGON, May 17.-U.S. political and mili- tary officers here agree that any meaningful talks with' North Vietnam on the war win not be possible until the Vietcong's expected summer offensive is halted. They believe that North Vietnamese mili- tary leaders will be persuaded to enter nego- tiations only if they have been shown that the major offensive has failed. For that reason little optimism has been heard here that the pause in air strikes against the north, now in its fifth day, would lead to any change in Hanoi's policy. Some Western analysts here have noted recently a slight shift toward the positions of the Soviet Union in the published state- ments of North Vietnam. But they do not interpret the change as a sign that Hanoi is prepared to relinquish its efforts in South Vietnam. U.S. TROOPS READY To meet the expected Communist military offensive in the south, American com- UNITED STATES DECLINES To COMMENT WASHINGTON, May 17.-Defense Depart- ment officials declined today to confirm or deny reports that American troops in South Vietnam might be sent into combat to sup- port Vietnamese troops. The possibility of such an expanded role for the American troops has been implicit in administration actions in recent weeks in building up the strength of American forces in South Vietnam. Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6 ,.Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6 May 78, 1965 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE Mr. JAVITS. Mr. President, this full combat participation of' U.S. troops is expected to begin shortly. This story, appearing as it does during a lull or a suspension-we do not know which-of the bombing raids in North Vietnam, amid reports that the United States has just made further proposals to North Vietnam for negotiations of the settlement of the struggle there, may have been designed to demonstrate once again U.S.. determination not to be pushed out of South Vietnam. With that I agree. _ On the other hand, it may be the precurser of the President's actually preparing to send large numbers of American troops to do combat in the ground struggle, not particularly con- nected with the security of the military bases which we have there. I have said on a number of previous occasions-and I repeat, in the face of this intelligence-that I expected the ad- ministration to consult the Congress If the United States planned to effect a major change in the character of the struggle in Vietnam by the use of sub- stantial numbers of U.S. combat forces on the ground. By that I mean not just by calling up congressional leaders to the White House, but by coming to Congress as a whole for a resolution like the reso- lution adopted in August of 1964, specifi- cally supporting the President in the new course, the new plateau, of the action in Vietnam, which he proposes to pursue. In my judgment, the President has the power as Commander in Chief to commit elements of U.S. ground forces to action in Vietnam, but I hope he will not do so until he has the support of the Congress and the support of the country. I said exactly this when we were authorizing for the President what seemed to some to be a blank check mandate in respect to the $700 million resolution 2 weeks ago. I repeat again-the United States should not sneak up on ground force commit- ments in southeast Asia, if such a course is contemplated, until Congress and the American people are given an opportu- nity to approve or disapprove, before it is too late to. draw back. Withholding of congressional approval might, mean we would have to draw back at some point, and .that is not necessarily good, for the country. I wish to say that if the President were to make this his advised recommenda- tign, I would probably support it. I have done so before. But that is no excuse for not asking for congressional support. If. the, greatest strength of our society lies, as I think it, does, in the fact that people articulately are made aware of the great danger and the risk which the Government undertakes, I am confident that if the President has reasons good enough to be persuasive to him, the rea- sons will be just as persuasive to the country.. But that is no substitute for coming back to the people and to the Congress for a resolution approving of such aGtipfl,, which is what was done in August 1964. If we are to run this grave risk in Asia-and we may run that risk-it is even more ' important that we have the support of the Congress and 'the people of the United States, advisedly given and advisedly taken. The President listened to some of us before making his Baltimore speech, and after hearing us said, "I have said it 40 times, but I do not mind saying it again." When he made that speech, he received the approval of the free world for it. So although it can very well be that the President thinks it is not necessary in this instance, I hope he will listen again to some of us who feel that if we are to commit our combat forces to a ground effort, or war, if you will, in Asia, he should speak out on the subject. I hope if the President makes any such decision, it will be in consonance with and in con- cert with the wishes of Congress and the American people. MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE A message from the House of Repre- sentatives, by Mr. Hackney, one of its reading clerks, announced that the House had passed the following bills, in which it requested the concurrence of. the Senate: H.R. 225. An act to amend chapter 1 of title 38, United States Code, and incorporate therein specific statutory authority for the Presidential memorial certificate program; H.R.806. An act to amend the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act to permit the listing on labels of certain fibers con- stituting less than 5 percent of a textile fiber product; H.R. 1665. An act, to amend title 28, en- titled "Judiciary and Judicial Procedure," of the United States Code to confer juris diction upon the Court of Claims to hear, determine, and render judgment in special jurisdictional cases, and for other purposes; H.R.2414. An act to authorize the Ad- ministrator of Veterans' Affairs to convey cer- tain lands situated in the State of Oregon to the city of Roseburg, Oreg.; H.R.3413. An act to amend section 106 of title 38 of the United States Code to pro- vide that individuals who incur a disability in line of duty during certain service shall be entitled to certain veterans benefits; H.R.3415. An act to equalize certain pen- alties in the Interooastal Shipping Act, 1933; H.it.3596. An act to provide for the dis- position of judgment funds on deposit to the credit of the Skokomish Tribe of In- dians; H.R. 3976. An act to amend the act of July 26, 1956, to authorize the Muscatine Bridge Commission to construct, maintain, and operate a bridge across the Mississippi River at or near the city of Muscatine, Iowa, and the town of Drury, Ill.; H.R. 3997. An act to amend section 753(b) of title 28, United States Code, to provide for the recording of proceedings in the U.S. dis- trict courts by means of electronic sound recording as well as by shortland or mechanical means; H.R.4421. An act authorizing the Admin- istrator of Veterans' Affairs to convey cer- tain property to the city of Cheyenne, Wyo.; H.R. 4525. An act to amend the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, to provide for the con- tinuation of authority to develop American- flag carriers and promote the foreign com- merce of the United States through the use of mobile trade fairs; H.R. 4526. An act to extend the provisions of title XII of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, relating to war risk insurance, for an addi- tional 5 years, ending September 7, 1970; H.R. 5242. An act to amend paragraph (10) of section 5 of the Interstate Commerce Act so as to change the basis for determining 10469 whether a proposed unification or acquisition of control comes within the exemption pro- vided for by such paragraph; H.R.5246. An act to amend sections 20a and 214 of the Interstate Commerce Act; H.R.5988, An act to provide that Com- missioners of the Federal Maritime Commis- sion shall hereafter be appointed for a term of 5 years, and for other purposes; H.R. 5989. An act to amend section 27, Merchant Marine Act of 1920, as amended (46 U.S.C. 883); H.R.6032. An act to amend the act au- thorizing the Mann Creek Federal reclama- tion project, Idaho, in order to increase the amount authorized to be appropriated for such project (act of August 16, 1962; 76 Stat. 388); H.R. 6164. An act to authorize the Secre- tary of the Treasury to permit vessels other than vessels of the United States entitled to engage in the coastwise trade to transport passengers between the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to attend the Seventh Assembly of the World Conven- tion of Churches of Christ; H.R. 7031. An act to provide for the estab- lishment and operation of a National Tech- nical Institute for the Deaf; H.R. 7181. An act to provide for the com- memoration of certain historical events in the State of Kansas, and for other purposes; H.R. 7484. An act to amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for the rank of lieu- tenant general or vice admiral of officers of the Army, Navy, and Air Force while serving as Surgeons General; H.R. 7596. An act to amend title 10, United States Code, to remove inequities in the ac- tive duty promotion opportunity of certain Air Force officers; and H.R. 7969. An act to correct certain errors in the Tariff Schedules of the United States. ENROLLED BILLS SIGNED The message also announced that the Speaker had affixed his signature to the following enrolled bills, and they were signed by the Vice President: S. 702. An act to provide for the disposi- tion of judgment funds on deposit to the credit of the Quinaielt Tribe of Indians; and H.R. 2998. An act to amend the Arms Control and Disarmament Act, as amended, in order to continue the authorization for appropriations. HOUSE BILLS REFERRED The following bills were severally read twice by their titles and referred as indicated : H.R. 225. An act to amend chapter 1 of title -38, United States Code, and incorporate therein specific statutory authrrity for the Presidential memorial certificate program; H.R. 3413. An act to amend section 106 of title 38 of the United States Code to provide that individuals who incur a disability in line of duty during certain service shall be en- titled to certain veterans' benefits; and H.R.7969. An act to correct certain errors in the Tariff Schedules of the United States; to the Committee on Finance. H.R. 806. An act to amend the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act to permit the list- ing on labels of certain fibers constituting less than 5 percent of a textile fiber product; H.R. 3415. An act to equalize certain penal- ties in the Intercoastal Shipping Act, 1933; H.R.4525. An act to amend the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, to provide for the continua- tion of authority to develop American-flag carriers and promote the foreign commerce of the United States through the use of mobile Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6, Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6 10470 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD SENATE May 18-1965 H.R. 4526. An act to extend the provisions Mr, EASTLAND. Mr. President, the found 'in volume 1, page 194 of the corn of title XII of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, pending substitute amendment reads as mittee hearings: relating to war risk insurance, for an addi- follows: Now, I think, as I have explained, I think, tional 5 years, ending September 7, 1970; SEC. 9. (a) In view of the evidence pre- in answer to questions by Senator Haar and H.R. 5242. o f act to amend (Ac seated to the Congress that the constitutional by others, you could eliminate the poll tax so section as ton 5 of the Interstate bs for determining right of citizens of the United States to vote under the 15th amendment if you could so as to change the basis for determiinning is denied or abridged in certain States by the show that its effect has been to disenfran- of cohtr l c within the proposed unification a pacquisition pro- requirement of the payment of a poll tax as chise Negroes in contravention of the terms omes vided for ntrol by y such paragraph; exemption via condition of voting, Congress declares that of the 15th amendment. SI.R.5246. An act to amend sections 20a the constitutional right of citizens of the However, the Attorney General went and 214 of the Interstate Commerce Act; United States to vote is denied or abridged in such States by the requirement of the on to state that he could not support an __ ____ _ _~-_~.a.Y _,..a a., .. l.:ll .,...~hih{}irln ??}fn 11CP ---- - sioners Of the Federal Maritime Commission V-Y ... - shall hereafter be appointed for a term of 5 Mr. President, I was present at all of of a State poll tax as a requirement vote. for the reason that he had no evi- .n.n. oaoa. n- - - has been no testimony of a suosLantuai Merchant Marine Act of 1920, as amended in either the House or Senate that used in a discriminatory manner (46 U.S.C. 883); and nature I quote further from his answer to a H.R. 6164. An act to authorize the Secre- the poll tax has been used to discriminate question by Senator ERVIN. The Attor- taxy of the Treasury to permit vessels other against citizens who desire to register and ney General stated: than vessels of the United States entitled vote. Time and again the Attorney Gen- My difficulty on this, on the elimination of to engage in the coastwise trade to trans- eral of the United States, both in the poll taxes is that I do not believe I have the port passengers between the United States House and Senate, repudiated that argu- facts to make a record that poll taxes have and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to merit. There has not been a witness be- been abused in violation of the 15th amend- attend the Seventh Assembly of the World fore the Senate committee or the House ment. Convention of Churches of Christ; to the committee who has presented any such Committee on Commerce. That testimony appears in volume I, H.R. 1665. An act to amend title 28, en- evidence. at page 94 of the hearings. titled "Judiciary and Judicial Procedure," The nearest to it is that the Attorney Mr. President, I desire to emphasize of the United States Code to confer jurisdic- General of the United States stated in that point. The Attorney General of tian upon the Court of Claims to hear, de two instances, once in Tallahatchie the United States, with the vast powers termine, and render judgment in special ju- ri3dictional cases, and for other purppses; and County, Miss., in the Dugan case, and in of that office, with the Federal Bureau H.R.3997. An act to amend section 753 (b) another county in Mississippi, that the of Investigation at his beck and call, of title 28, United States Code, to provide for sheriff refused to accept the payment of with his great avenues of information, the recording of proceedings in the U.S. dis- a poll tam gave this testimony: trict courts by means of electronic sound At the very same time that he made My difficulty on this, on the elimination of recording as well as by shorthand or me- that statement he repudiated the argu- the poll tax is. that I do not believe I have Judici ai means; to the Committee on the ment that is made for the amendment. the facts to make a record that poll taxes udiciary. There has been no evidence presented have been abused in violation of the 15th H.R. 2414. An act to. authorize the Admin- istrator of Veterans' Affairs to convey certain that the amendment is based on the pre- amendment. le,nds situated in the State of Oregon to the mise "In view of the evidence presented The proponents of the amendment city of Roseburg, Oreg.; to the Congress." have not shown one scintilla of evidence H.R.4421. An act authorizing the Admin- istrator Mr. President, all the evidence is to sustain this foundation: "In view of of veterans' Affairs to convey cer against the amendment. All the hear- the evidence presented to the Congress." aaro property to the city of Cheyenne, Wyo.; rags are against the amendment. The No evidence has been presented to and x.R.7031. An act to provide for the es- amendment is based on a false.premise. Congress showing that the right of citi- tablishment and operation of a National The Attorney General testified before the zens of the United States to vote is de- Technical Institute for the Deaf; to the Judiciary Committee. He first testified nied or abridged in certain States by Committee on Labor and Public Welfare. on his advice to the President of the the requirement of the payment of a H.R. 3596. An act to provide for the dispo- United States in regard to the legality of poll tax as a condition for voting. sitfan of judgment funds on deposit to the credit of the Skoko h Tribe of Indians; a statutory prohibition against the poll I quote further from the Attorney Gen- HA. 6032. An act 4p amend the act au- tax. I am quoting the Attorney Gen- eral. This testimony appears in volume thorizing the Mann Creek Federal reclama- eral's testimony. 1, page 142 of the hearings. tion project, Idaho, in order to increase the I gave him the same advice that I have Senator HART asked this question: amount authorized to be appropriated for given the committee here. I think if Fed- But you expressed some doubt with re- such project (act of August 16, 1962; 76 Stat. eral qualifications as such are to be set, then from 388); and it requires a constitutional amendment to spect to history to eput 1you in a position evidence eargue H.R. 7181. An act to provide for the tom- do so. But at the same time State qualifica- raemoratfon of certain historical events in tions that have been used in violation of that the poll tax had in fact been used as the State of Kansas, and for other purposes; the 15th amendment and have been used for a device to discriminate and, therefore, was in violation of to the Committee on Interior and Insular discriminatory purposes can in my judg- the 15th amendment. Affairs. Attorney General KATZENBACH. Yes. meat, as I have repeatedly testified here, be H.R. 3976. An act to amend the act of July suspended. I think that is consistent with What more evidence do we want? 26, 1956, to authorize the Muscatine Bridge the decisions cited in my statement. The amendment is based on "evidence Commission to construct, maintain, and op- en' to Congress." No evidence ate a bridge across the Mississippi River at Throughout his entire testimony he presented or near the city of Muscatine, Iowa, and the repudiated the argument of those who was presented to either the House or the town of Drury, Ill., to the Committee on sponsor the amendment. Not one scin- Senate. The leading advocate of the bill Public Works. tilla of evidence has shown that a pat- before the committee, the Attorney Gen- H.R. 7484. An act to amend title 10, United tern of discrimination exists because of eral of the United States, has repudi- States Code, to provide for the rank of lieu- the poll tax. It could not be shown in ated the very premise the on which the the Army, Navy, Navy, an ndiceAirF Force r Force of while officers serving g o my State, because a person 60 years of amendment is based. its Surgeons General; age or older is exempted from the pay- I asked the Attorney General this H.R. 7506. An act to amend title 10, United ment of the poll tax. So are the lame, question: States Code, to remove inequities in the ac- the blind, and the disabled. It is levied Do you agree that a $2 poll tax that any tive duty promotion opportunity of certain on people of all races without regard to member of any race can pay is discrimina- Air Force officers; to the Committee on race, color, or creed. It is a tax that is tion? .Armed Services. Attorney General KATZENBACH. I have no used to raise money for the public school information, Mr. Chairman, which would system. lead me to believe that this point-I am not VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965 I quote further from the Attorney in possession of facts that a $2 poll tax did The Senate resumed the consideration' General's testimony to show that this is operate in a way which would be a violation of the bill (S. 1564) to enforce the 15th a very bad amendment. Senator FoNG of the 15th amendment. amendment to the Constitution of the asked the Attorney General a question, I have always thought that a legisla- United States. and I quote his reply. This testimony is lative declaration is not a casual thing. Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6 Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6 May 18, 1965 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -HOUSE, "The day following the VA closing' an- nouncement, National Commander Donald E. Johnson keynoted the American Legion's stand: 'I doubt if it is the will of the _Ameri- can people that this society be built at the expense of those who have risked their lives that this Nation, under God, might endure, and who now find themselves in need of the services which their Government in Wash- ington is best equipped to render. "'I now call for a total mobilization of the efforts and resources of the American Legion to prevent this disastrous proposal from be- coming reality.' "He asked that Legionnaires write or wire Washington, D.C., and protest the closings to President Lyndon B. Johnson, VA Adminis- trator William J. Driver, chairman of the House Committee 'on Veterans' Affairs OLIN E. TEAGUE, chairman of the Senate Subcom- mittee on Veterans' Affairs RALPH YAR- BOROUGH, and their own congressional rep- resentatives. "On January 28, Commander Johnson testified before the Senate Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee and presented the views of the nearly 2.6 million members of the American Legion in opposition to the proposed VA cut- back. NEW VA CHIEF "President Lyndon B. Johnson has nomi- nated William J. Driver, 46, to be the new head of the U.S. Veterans' Administration (title: Administrator of Veterans' Affairs). Driver, a career VA employee since 1946, has been second in command of the VA as Deputy Administrator since February 1961. "Driver's, nomination and the resignation of Past National Commander John S. Gleason, Jr. (1057-58), who had been appointed Ad- ministrator by the late President John F. Kennedy in January 1961, were announced on December. 26, 1964, by President Johnson, Gleason has returned to his position as an officer of the First National Bank of Chicago. "President Johnson said he was particularly pleased to announce Mr. Driver's nomination because he is the first career official to.admin- ister the affairs of America's veterans. "Driver, a World War II and Korean war vet, holds numerous military decorations, in- cluding the Distinguished Service Medal. He has earned, the VA's, two highest awards, the Exceptional Service Medal, and the Meri- torious Service Medal. In 1964, he also was awarded the Career Service Award of the Na- tional Civil Service League. "The new VA chief began his career in the Contact and Administration Services, switched to Compensation and Pension Serv- ice, and then later directed the entire bene- fits program as Chief Benefits Director before becoming Deputy Administrator in 1961. "Driver has had a leading role in many VA changes in recent years. These include- "1. The veterans pension law, Public Law 86-211. '2. New York measurement and per-' formance standards and other reorganiza- tion and planning programs. "3. The large-scale application of auto- matic data processing and the establishment of a new department of data management. "A native of Rochester, N.Y., the new Ad- ministrator was born May 9, 1918, was educated in that city, and was graduated cum laude from the University of Niagara with a degree in business administration in 1941. "World War II intervened and Driver joined the U.S. Army in July 1941, was discharged November 1945, and went to work for. the VA in February 1946. "While working at the VA by day, he at- tended George Washington University in Washington, D.C., by night, earned his LL.B. degree, and was admitted to the District of Columbia gar of Law in 1952, He is a.mem- ber of Wynnewood Legion Post 511 of Dallas, Tex." No, 89--16 NUMBER OF PATIENTS INVOLVED IN CLOSINGS Mr. MINSHALL. How many patients are in- volved in total, in the closing of the 11 hos- pitals? Mr. DRIVER. 2,080. Mr. MINSHALI. And you say there Is ade- quate nearby hospitalization in all of these cases? Mr, DRIVER. Yes, sir. Mr. MINSHALL. For these 2,000? INCREASE IN NUMBER OF PATIENTS TREATED Mr. DRIVER. Yes, sir. In this regard, there has been much made about the fact we will, for some temporary period, not have as many beds in operation as we had Immediately prior to the closing. I think that, really, this misses the main point, in that it is not the number of beds you have that is the pay- off, but how many patients can you treat. In 1960 we treated 637,000 patients with about the same number of beds we have now. In 1961 we went from 637,000 up to 664,000, an increase of 27,000. In 1962, from 664,000 to 689,000. In 1963, from 689,000 to 713,000, and in 1964 we went up to 739,000. In 1965 it was 746,000, and our estimate for 1966 Is up another 15,000 to 761,000, even with the closings. This projection for 1966 is after closings. On top of this, Congress has authorized us to establish 4,000 nursing home beds. They will be filled immediately by 4,000 long-term patients who are occupying medical beds to- day. This means that we could treat, on the average, 48,000 more patients In the year they are in full operation. We are also supporting, starting in 1966, 2,700 patients in nursing beds that we would move from VA hospitals to private or public nursing home facilities, making another 2,700 beds available for acute care. So we are constantly increasing the total number treated, and to take care of these 2,000 patients poses no problem within the VA system. INVESTMENTS IN HOSPITALS AND DOMICILIARIES Mr. EVINs. What is the total investment in these 14 facilities you propose to close? You told us you proposed to save $20.5 million. What is the Federal investment in these fa- cilities? Mr. DRIVER. In terms of the structures themselves? Mr. EVINS. In terms of-dollars. Mr. DRIVER. I would say just under $100 million. Mr. Evlxs. Just under $100 million. Mr. DRIVER. We estimate the replacement cost of all of the facilities at $100.3 million. EFFECT OF CLOSINGS ON EMPLOYEES Mr. EVINS. What do you propose to do with all of the doctors, nurses, employees, and other workers of the Veterans' Administra- tion in these facilities? Mr. DRIVER. We hope they will transfer to other VA facilities. We need them all. Mr. EvINs. You do not propose to elimi- nate any of those? Mr. DRIVER. No, sir. We put a job freeze on in January, and we are now able to offer firm offers to anyone who wants them. Mr. EVINS. But there will be increased cost because of the transfer of employees. Mr. DRIVER. There really would not be. We know that most of the employees will not transfer, and we will not need the same number of employees after we move these to other hospitals. For example, we have 3,266 employees now caring for these 2,080 patients. Mr. EVINS. Repeat those figures again, please. Mr. DRIVER. We have 3,266 employees car- ing for the 2,080 patients. After we move, of these 3,266 we will need 1,288 at other hospitals to Increase the staffing in order to care for this average daily patient load. So there wil be a net saving of 1,978, employees for a total of $15.5 million in the 11 hospitals. Mr. Evnes. A little less than 2,000 em- ployees will be dropped from the rolls? Mr. DRIVER. The net effect in our payroll; yes, sir. Mr. Moxx. But, by and large, those are administrative employees, not direct patient care employees, and that Is how you can make a saving. Mr. Evuss. When you build these hospitals and refurbish them and expand others, you will have to put more on the rolls in those areas. Mr. DRIVER. This would be to take care of more patients, Mr. EvIus. RURAL ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES (Mr. STALBAUM asked and was given permission to extend his remarks at this point in the RECORD and to revise and extend his remarks.) Mr. STALBAUM. Mr. Speaker, to- day I am introducing a bill which specifi- cally spells out the fact that the non- profit rural electric cooperatives are not subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Power Commission. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Executive order establishing the Rural Electrification Administration in 1935, and when Congress gave REA its statutory, existence in 1936, neither action divided or watered down the sole responsibility of that agency for foster- ing and financing the electrification of rural America. I might add that REA has done an admirable job of carrying out that assignment under the guidance of a number of outstanding Administra- tors, including the present Administra- tor, Norman Clapp, who is a native son of my home State of Wisconsin. The Rural Electrification Act makes no reference to the Federal Power Commis- sion. The Federal Power Act is equally silent in regard to the consumer-owned, nonprofit, cooperative electric associa- tions financed by loans from a sister agency, the REA. Nothing in the legislative history of either act indicates any intent on the part of Congress that FPC have jurisdic- tion over the rural electric co-ops. Quite the contrary. Several attempts have been made in the past to have Congress enact legislation which would provide FPC with jurisdiction over the electric cooperatives in various respects. The Congress has consistently refused.to en- act such legislation. Mr. Speaker, despite this consistent legislative history against FPC jurisdic- tion over the rural electric co-ops, 2 years ago the Federal Power Commission in- itiated an attempt to take such jurisdic- tion. In a test case, the FPC ordered three rural electric cooperatives to "show cause" why they should not com- ply with the FPC's regulations on rate schedule filing, accounting, and report- ing. One of the "guinea pigs" chosen for this experiment was Dairyland Power Cooperative of La Crosse, Wis., a genera- tion and transmission co-op with an ex- cellent record of service to its 27 mem- ber distribution cooperatives. The three co-ops singled out by FPC in its "show cause" order have had to Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021=6 10520 Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - HOUSE May 18, 1965 expand considerable amounts of money and time in preparing for and testifying at the lengthy hearings held by FPC on the jurisdictional question. It can be anticipated that the co-ops would appeal an adverse FPC decision to the courts. The only reason why they have not yet had to go the whole expensive route through the courts is because congres- sional reaction to the FPC's activities as a result of this being called to their at- Mention by representatives of both polit- ical parties in the area involved, forced the FPC to defer issuing a decision until January 1, 1966, in order to permit fur- ther congressional consideration of the matter. Mr. Speaker, early passage of clarify- ing legislation such as I am introducing today is needed to prevent resumption of this costly and senseless FPC proceed- ing. In reading the record of the FPC's "show cause" hearings and the hearings held by the Senate Commerce Committee on this subject, it is abundantly clear to me that the FPC does not understand the basic difference between the consum- er-owned rural electric cooperatives, which are nonprofit enterprises, and the investor-owned power companies, which are operated for a profit. In a rural electric cooperative, the in- terests of the consumer are protected by his vote as a member. In other words, a rural electric co-op is self-regulating. "Owned by Those We Serve" is an ac- curate slogan which is proudly displayed by the rural electric cooperatives. It underscores the fact that there is no need for outside regulation other than that provided by REA to insure the sound and constructive use of REA loan funds. On the other hand, the commercial power companies serve two interests. They sell electricity to consumers but must also return a profit on those sales to their investors, most of whom are not consumers of the company. The need for Federal and State regulation to pro- tect the customers of an investor-owned power company is obvious. Mr. Speaker, my home State of Wis- consin recognizes the fundamental dif- ference between the rural electric co- operatives and the investor-owned power companies by exempting the co-ops from the regulatory jurisdiction of the Wis- consin Public Service Commission. In Wisconsin, we know that the electric co- operative's consumers exercise control over the rates and other policies of their co-op through their "one-member, one- vote" rights. I share with the rural people of my State the justifiable pride which they take in the accomplishments of their 30 rural electric cooperatives. One of them, Rock County Electric Co-op of Janesville, serves over 2,000 rural con- sumer-members in my home district. Of the 127,000 farms in Wisconsin, 98.9 per- cent are receiving central station elec- tricity today, as compared with only 19.6 percent when REA was created in 1935. Low consumer density and low revenue per mile make the service job harder for the rural electric cooperatives than for the power companies. REA-financed co-ops in Wisconsin serve only 3.2 con- sumers per mile and average only $538 in revenues per mile of line, as compared with 23.1 consumers and $4,828 in rev- enues per mile of line for the Class A and B commercial utilities. The continuing objective of the rural electric cooperatives in Wisconsin and across the Nation is to provide the elec- tric service required by their consumer- members under rates and conditions comparable to those available in urban communities. Why should we make this difficult task even more difficult by per- mitting the cooperatives to be saddled with the added expense and delays which will inevitably come if they are subjected to regulation by the Federal Power Com- mission-regulation for which no need exists? Mr. Speaker, I urge that Congress spell out its long-established position that the nonprofit rural electric cooperatives are not under the jurisdiction of the Federal Power Commission. MORTGAGE MARKET FACILITIES ACT OF 1965 (Mr. ASHLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his re- marks.) Mr. ASHLEY. Mr. Speaker, I intro- duce, for appropriate reference, a bill to improve the secondary market for con- ventional mortgages and to make certain that the funds required for adequate housing will be available in the future. This legislation is similar to S. 644 in- troduced by Senator SPARKMAN on Jan- uary 22 of this year. The purpose of this measure is to organize the mortgage mar- ket in a more orderly manner and thus assure a more even flow of mortgage funds throughout the United States. While it is true that mortgage funds are generally available at the present time, there are many pocket areas where a glaring lack of mortgage credit exists. As a result of this lack of uniform na- tionwide marketability in the mortgage area, an undue spread in interest rates develops between capital-surplus and capital-scarce areas. It is also true that in many instances the localities where capital is not readily available are the same economically depressed localities. that the President is attempting to assist through his antipoverty program. My proposal establishes an effective market mechanism that will be available in the seventies when mortgage credit will be in great demand if our population expands as is generally predicted. The proposal involves no Federal expenditure that will not be recouped by the Govern- ment. Capital requirements and man- agement skills will come from the private sector of the economy. The facilities provided in this legis- lation will be made equally available to all lenders, large and small. The legisla- tion, however, would be particularly help- ful to the small lenders who are presently unable to tie up funds in conventional mortgages because there is no effective secondary market for mortgage paper. In short, the Mortgage Market Facilities Act would provide the small and the economically isolated lender with an ef- fective tool for more active participation in a program which has much social and economic importance. The bill provides for: First. Federal chartering of private corporations to insure conventional mortgages on one- to four--family homes. The loan to value ratio would be 90 per- cent with a ceiling of $30,000 per individ- ual mortgage. Second. Federal chartering to private mortgage market corporations to provide a secondary market for conventional and PHA mortgages. These corporations would be granted authority to buy and sell mortgages and to issue debentures upon the security of insured or guar- anteed mortgages in their ;portfolio. Third. A joint Federal supervisory board is established to charter and ex- amine corporations organized under this legislation. If this Nation is to achieve the high levels of prosperity and economic de- velopment envisioned by the administra- tion, if we are to live up to the ideal of a Great Society, then we must be able to implement the flow of capital from areas of abundance to areas of chronic capital shortages. The Mortgage Market Fa- cilities Act of 1965 is an attempt to in- sure this necessary flexibility and, at the same time, take measures in contempla- tion of the forecasted increase in our population. (Mr. FLYNT asked and was given per- mission to address the House for 1 min- ute and to revise and extend his remarks.) [Mr. FLYNT'S remarks will appear hereafter in the Appendix.] (Mr. SISK asked and was given per- mission to extend his remarks at this point in the RECORD and to include a newspaper article and other extraneous matter.) [Mr. SISK'S remarks will appear here- after irl the Appendix.] INVITIGATION OF DISASTER AT BIENHOA AIR BASE (Mr. MINSHALL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute, to revise and extend his remarks, and to include a letter.) Mr. MINSHALL. Mr. Speaker, yes- terday afternoon I addressed a letter to the distinguished chairman of the Com- mittee on Appropriations, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. MAHON]. I insert the letter in the RECORD at this point. CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D.C., May 17, 1965. Hon. GEORGE H. MAHON, Chairman, House Committee on Appropria- tions, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: I respectfully request that immediately upon the return of the De- partment of Defense investigatory team from Vietnam you call Gen. William K. Martin, and his aides before the Defense Appropria- tions Subcommittee for a firsthand report on their findings at Bienhoa Airbase. Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6 Approved For Release 2003/11104: CIA-RDP67B00446R000,300190021-6 May 18, 1965 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -HOUSE In cost ' of lives and property this is the heaviest loss `we have suffered in the entire Vietnam campaign. It is ironic and terrible that this is, an apparently self-inflicted dis- aster not accountable to either enemy attack or sabotage. There is a history of bungling throughout the entire Vietnam operation, but I could not conceive of such grievous mismanage- ment as is emerging from the facts coming from Bienhoa. I do not pose as a military expert, but as a former membet of the Army with 63 months of intensive training and oversea service during World War II, and as a 7-year member of the Defense Subcomrnit- tee, I am amazed by the lack of elementary military judgment revealed at Bienhoa. The cardinal rules of dispersal and revet- ting obviously were completely ignored.' Our planes were stacked like dominoes at the air- base, lined up like sitting ducks for enemy attack. It is incredible to me that we have troop's in the field "who have-not even this much grasp of the military manual. The gross stupidity which has destroyed Ameri- can men and materiel is shocking and signals something basically wrong at the Pentagon. I suggest it is time to abandon the automatic data processing computers and use a little military horsesense. I strongly urge that while we are about to appropriate some $50 billion for defense, this entire tragedy be promptly reviewed by our subcommittee through direct in- terrogation of General Martin and his inves- tigators. Sincerely yours, WILLIAM E. MINSHALL, PROPOSED REPEAL OF SECTION 14(b) OF THE TAFT-HARTLEY ACT (Mr. GRIFFIN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his re- marks.) Mr. GRIFFIN. Mr. Speaker, the text of the long-awaited labor message of President Johnson is now available. At a time when the Nation is deeply concerned about civil rights, Mr. John- son has proposed second-class citizen- ship for millions of workers. His proposal for outright repeal of 14 (b) -with no effective protection for the legal and civil rights of individual work- ers-should be soundly defeated by Con- gress. I am convinced that a large ma- jority of the American people take that view. If workers are forced to join a union to hold their jobs, at the very least the law should effectively prevent the union, first, from discriminating on the basis of color or creed; second, from using dues for politics and nonunion business; and third, from fining or disciplining_ mem- bers who disagree with union policy. H.R. 4350, which I introduced on Feb- ruary 4, 1965, would provide the impor- tant protection for individual workers which the President has disregarded. Section 14(b) now allows the people of each State to decide whether com- pulsory unionism should be legal. This power should not be taken away from the States and the people unless and un- til Congress provides effective safeguards for the legal and civil rights of individ- ual workers who would be affected. for 1 minute, to revise and extend his remarks, and to include extraneous mat- ter.) Mr. ROOSEVELT. Mr. Speaker, I know that the gentleman who just ad- dressed the House [Mr. GRIFFIN] has made his views well known on this sub- ject. On the other hand, I think it is only proper to draw the attention of Members of the House to the fact that there has been controversy for some time with respect to section 14(b) of the Taft-Hartley Act. Many people feel that this section has resulted in the inability of labor and management to reach an agreement on their own without the dic- tate of legislation to so prevent them. It is therefore a subject which will be carefully considered by the Committee on Education and Labor. A bill undoubtedly will be presented to this House and this House may then make up its mind whether it is more for the benefit of sound collective bar- gaining and sound management and labor policy to repeal section 14(b). I would like to ask the good Members of this House to suspend judgment until the full record is presented; and to say that I believe that when the other mat- ters in the President's message are con- sidered we will find that the interests of the Nation have certainly been well ad- yanced. Mr,,Speaker, I would also like to state that I have the honor this morning of introducing the administration's propo- sals to extend the coverage of the Fair Labor Standards Act to 41/2 million work- ers. In addition to extension of coverage of the Federal wage and hours law, the President's proposal would raise over- time premium pay to twice the regular rate of pay for hours over 45 in a work- week. The general Subcommittee on Labor will get underway with hearings on these proposals on Tuesday, May 25. The Sec- retary of Labor, the Honorable W. Wil- lard Wirtz, will be the first witness. I can promise that we shall give full and fair consideration to all viewpoints. I can also state that this is a subject that the subcommittee has delved into inten- sively in recent sessions. We are very much interested in receiving facts that have not been presented to us several times in the recent past, but candor forces me to state that we shall not be receptive to reconsideration of familiar views. Enactment of the Fair Labor Stand- ards Act in 1938 was response to a tall upon the Nation's conscience. Now in its third decade the act has meant much to many: Greater dignity and se- curity and economic freedom for mil- lions of American workers. An upswing in economic growth for the country as a whole. In 1938, when Congress established the Fair Labor Standards Act, it set out to "correct" and "eliminate labor con- ditions detrimental to the maintenance of the minimum standards of living nec- essary for health, efficiency, and general well-being of' workers" This is the PRESIDENT'S LABOR MESSAGE avowed purpose and intent of the act. (Mr. ROOSEVELT asked and was The President -'lias requested immedi- given permission to address the i'iousd ate setlon on the administr atioi 's double 10521 time and extended coverage proposals. He has further requested more intensive study of proposals to raise the minimum wage and establish a shorter workweek. The subcommittee will resume consid- eration of the latter two subjects subse- quent to hearings on the administration bill. Each industry that would be newly covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act will be granted full opportunity to pre- sent its views. The subcommittee will meet in execu- tive session on Thursday, May 20, to more specifically establish procedure for consideration of the wage-hour propos- als. For the information and interest of Members of Congress and the general public, I include at this point an explana- tion of the administration's proposals: EXPLANATION OF PROPOSAL To EXTEND COVER- AGE, AND IMPROVE THE MAXIMUM HOURS STANDARDS OF THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT INTRODUCTION The bill will amend the coverage and ex- emption provisions of the Fair Labor Stand- ards Act of 1938, as amended, to- 1. Extend minimum wage and overtime protection to about 4.6 million workers in retail, laundry, hotel, motel, motion picture theater, restaurant, taxicab, hospital, con- struction and other enterprises and In log- ging operations; 2. Consolidate and clarify the act's pres- ent exemptions for the handling and proc- essing of farm commodities; 3. Apply the overtime pay standards of the act to employees of transit companies and gasoline service stations; 4. Remove inequities in the computation of overtime pay for salaried workers; 5. Extend the act to employees in the Eniwetok and Kwajalein atolls and Johnston Island; and 6. Lengthen to 3 years the act's present 2-year statute of limitations for instituting actions to recover wages due. Employees who are brought under the act by this proposal will be given the same mini- mum wage and overtime protection provided for other workers subject to the act; i.e., a minimum wage of $1.25 an hour and over- time pay after 40 hours a week. The bill will also require the payment of double time for hours worked in excess of 48 a week, decreasing to hours in excess of 45 a week over a 3-year period for employees who received overtime protection prior to enactment of the 1965 Fair Labor Standards Act amendments. A. EXTENSION OF COVERAGE How it is accomplished The bill will extend the minimum wage and overtime protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act to 4.6 million additional work- ers by (1) amending the definition of an "enterprise engaged in commerce or the pro- duction of goods for commerce". to include all such enterprises which have employees engaged in those activities and which have an annual gross volume of sales of not less than $250,000, and (2) by removing a num- ber of exemptions. Under the act's present provisions there is a lack of uniformity re- garding the sales tests applied to determine whether an enterprise is covered. A retail enterprise, for example, is covered only if the entire enterprise has annual sales of $1 million or more and it has an inflow of goods which move or have moved across State lines in total annual volume of $250,000. On the other hand, a gasoline service station (which, in fact, is also a retail establish- ment) now qualifies for coverage if it simply has annual sales of $250,000 or more. The Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6 Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -HOUSE May 18, 1965 draft bill will remove these inconsistencies in applying the enterprise basis for coverage and substitute a uniform standard which Is fairer to all concerned. In revising the act's provisions regarding these interstate enterprises, the amendments in no way affect the existing exclusion of so-called "mom and pop" stores which are operated by their owners or immediate fami- lies, and individual establishments will con- tinue to be exempt if their annual sales are less than $250,000. Specific coverage provided by the amendments The additional coverage provided by this bill will be accomplished by amending the definition of interstate enterprises in sec- tion 3(s) and by removing certain exemp- tions in sections 7 and 13, some of which now exclude employees in these enterprises. Specific categories of employment affected by this proposal are as follows: 1. Retail trade: The broadening of the definition of an enterprise "engaged in com- merce or the production of goods for com- merce" contained in section 3(s) of the act and repeal of certain exemptions will result In the extension of minimum wage and over- time protection to an additional 1.5 million employees In the retail trade. The bill provides for the repeal of the section 13(a) (19) exemption for employees of establishments primarily engaged In the business of selling automobiles, trucks, or farm implements and the section 13(a) (20) exemption for food service employees in large retail establishments. 2. Laundries and dry cleaning establish- ments: The bill amends section 13(a) (3) of the act so as to extend coverage to 176,000 employees in laundering and cleaning estab- lishments which have gross annual sales of $250,000 or more and which are part of an enterprise with annual sales of such amount. The exemption will also be amended to provide coverage for workers in laundry and dry cleaning establishments which make more than 25 percent of their sales to other than home customers. 3. Hotels and motels: The proposal will delete the minimum wage and overtime ex- emption in section 13(a) (2) for employees of hotels and motels. This will extend mini- mum wage and overtime protection to 275,000 additional employees employed in establish- ments doing an annual business of at least $250,000. With regard to tipped employees, the bill provides that the term "wage" shall Include the value of tips or gratuities accounted for or turned over by the employee to the em- ployer, and authorizes the Secretary of Labor to determine their fair value. Of course, only those tips or gratuities actually apportioned among employees or otherwise returned to them by the employer would be counted in determining whether the employer has met the requirements of the act. 4. Restaurants and other food service es- tablishments: The bill will amend section 13(a) (2) of the act to extend minimum wage and overtime protection to 425,000 employees of restaurants or food service establishments which have an annual gross volume of sales of not less than $250,000. 5. Hospitals and institutions for the sick and aged: Employees of hospitals, nurlsing homes, and homes for the aged are presently exempted from the act under section 13(a) (2) (iii). The bill will remove this exemption and extend coverage to employees of such establishments which have an annual gross sales volume of $250,000. It will provide minimum wage and overtime protection for approximately 890,000 employees of non-Gov- ernment hospitals, nursing homes, and homes for the aged. 6. Employees of logging contractors: The proposal will repeal section 13 (a) (15) of the act, which exempts from the minimum wage and overtime provisions logging operations Involving not more than 12 employees. Ap- proximately 87,000 additional employees will thus be provided the act's protection. 7. Motion picture theaters: The exemption in section 13(a) (2) for motion picture theaters will be repealed. This will result in the extension of minimum wage and over- time protection to 75,000 additional em- ployees. 8. Taxicab companies: Employees of taxi- cabcab companies will be brought under the act by repeal of the existing exemption in section 13(a) (12). The proposal will thus provide minimum wage and overtime pro- tection to an additional 100,000 employees. 9. Construction and other industries: The broadening of the section 3(a) definition of an enterprise "engaged In commerce or the production of goods for commerce" will pro- vide minimum wage and overtime protection for an additional 250,000 employees in the construction Industry and 650,000 in other industries which individually employ rela- tively few employees. 10. Clarification and consolidation of ex- emptions relating to handling and process- ing of farm products: The bill will remove the minimum wage and overtime exemption in section 13(a) (10) and the overtime ex- emption in section 7(c). Two other mini- mum wage and overtime exemption provi- sions closely related to section 13(a)(10) (sections 13(a)(17)-grain elevators-and 13(a) (18) -cotton ginning) will also be re- pealed. Section 7(b) (3) will provide a 14-week overtime exemption, limited to 10 hours a day and 48 hours a week, for employment in in- dustries found by the Secretary of Labor to be of a seasonal nature. As amended, it will also provide a similar exemption for han- dling and processing operations covered by the deleted provisions, except livestock slaughtering, if the Secretary finds the in- dustry to be "characterized by marked an- nually recurring seasonal peaks of opera- tion." - 11. Extension of overtime protection to certain gasoline station employees and tran- sit employees: The bill repeals the overtime exemption inspection 13(b) (2) for "any em- ployee of a gasoline service station." Ap- proximately 86,000 employees would thus re- ceive maximum hours protection. It will extend overtime protection to 103,- 000 local transit employees by repealing the overtime exemption in section 13(b) (7) for employees of street, suburban or interurban electric railways, or local trolley or motorbus carriers. 12. Extension of geographical application of act and computation of overtime: Section 13(f) will be amended to extend the act to the Eniwetok and Kwajalein Atolls and John- ston Island. The bill will also amend section 7(e) so that, except in cases where an employee works necessarily irregular hours and is employed pursuant to an individual contract or a col- lective bargaining agreement providing for premium pay, the "regular rate" will be com- puted by dividing the fixed salary by not more than the maximum workweek of 40 hours. 13. Statute of limitations and effective date: The bill will lengthen to 3 years the present 2-year statute of limitations for in- stituting action to recover wages due. The amendments made by the bill will take effect 120 days after enactment, except that the authority to promulgate necessary rules, regulations, or orders with regard to such amendments could be exercised by the Secre- tary of Labor on and after the date of enact- ment. NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION At the present time almost half of the Nation's wage and salary workers are outside the Fair Labor Standards Act. The proposal would provide minimum wage and overtime protection to approximately 4% million of the neediest of these workers. They con- stitute a group which as a whole has been denied a living wage in the midst of an un- paralleled national prosperity. The wages of exempt workers generally do not rise with increases in the cost of living, and as a result they suffer a continuing de- cline in real earnings. These workers who are denied the modest benefits of the Fair Labor Standards Act comprise a chronically depressed class. Thirty-one percent of the workers who would be extended minimum wage protection by the bill now receive less than $1.25 an hour. Their plight isevident when one con- siders that even at this wage, if a worker were employed steadily-40 hours a week for an entire year-his annual income would amount to only $2,500. Although poverty has been defined in many ways, a family income of less than $8,000 is generally re- garded as falling below the line marking the poverty level. While the assurance of a wage of $1.25 an hour to workers now receiving less than that amount would still fall short of this dividing line, it would provide some measure of Improvement in the unhealthful and dispiriting conditions to which they are now subjected by their intolerably low wages. The broader application of the act's over- time standards provided by the bill will help to discourage excessively long hours of work for those workers to whom this protection is extended. It will also tend to spread employ- ment opportunities in several categories of jobs in which the relatively unskilled can qualify for employment. Since chronic and persistent unemployment among unskilled workers is disproportionately high, this aspect of the proposed legislation is partic- ularly important. In extending the act's protection to the categories of workers dealt with in this bill, a selective approach is followed so that those needing it the most will be benefited. For example, laundryworkers have long been the lowest paid in the country. Earn- ings data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that the spread between wages in laundries and wages in low-wage manufacturing industries steadily widened between 1947 and 1960. A comparison of wages in laundries and in the fertilizer In- dustry (which is a low-wage industry but is covered by the act) illustrates this fact. Average hourly earnings in the fertilizer in- dustry were about 15 cents higher than those in the laundry industry in 1947. By 1960, the spread between the two industries had increased to 63 cents. Today, 41 percent of the laundryworkers who would be covered by this bill receive less than $1.25- an hour. Similarly, average hourly earnings in the fertilizer industry were 28 cents higher in 1947 than the average hourly wage in year- round hotels. By 1960, this differential had increased to 63 cents. It is estimated that 36 percent of the hotel and motel workers who would be extended the act's protection under this bill now receive less than $1.25 an hour in cash wages plus tips. The estimated number of other categories of workers who will be extended the act's pro- tection, now receiving less than $1.25 an hour, is as follows: Percent Retail trade (secs. 3(s) and 13(a) (2) )__ 30 Agricultural processing within the area of production (sec. 13 (a) (10) ) ------- 64 Local transit (sec. 3(s)) ---------------- 10 Cotton ginning (sec. 13(a) (18))-------- 67 Taxicabs (sec. 13(a)(12))-------------- 25 Small logging (sec. 13(a) (15)) --------- 6 Motion picture theaters (secs. 3(s) and 13(a)(2))---------------------------- 60 Construction (sec. 3(s)) --------------- 6 Restaurants (sees.3(s) and 13(a) (2) 6-- 29 All other industries (sec. 3(s))--------- 28 Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6 May 18? 19AOproved For MtW1JNJk4: ?"RfflpfflO~ 00190021-6 A2459 Exce'ss reserves move up-Stock of gold REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT TO THE ASSOCIA- impose its will by force of arms. But We 'declines TION OF AMERICAN EDITORIAL CARTOONISTS Would be deeply mistaken to think that this WEEItIy AVERAGE OF DAILY FIGURES IN THE EAST ROOM - was the only weapon. Here, as other places In millions of dollars) Good morning ladies and gentlemen, and in the world, they speak to restless people- May 12 week U.S. Government securities: Bought outright, system account------------------- Held under repurchase agreement ----?---------- ---------------Acceptances bought out- right-------------------- Discounts and advances: Member bank borrowings- Other---------------------- Float_---------------------- Total Reserve bank credit Gold stock --____-.-___--_ Treasury currency out- standing------------------ Currency in circulation -=___ Treasury cash holdings----- Treasury deposits with Federal Reserve banks. - - Forelgodeposits with Federal Reserve banks --- Otherdepposits with Federal Reserve banks--- Other Federal Reserve accounts (net) ------------ Member bank reserves: With Federal Reserve banks-------------------- Currency and coin (esti- mated) ------------------- Total reserves held (estimated)----_-,_-- Required reserves (esti- mated) ----------- Excess reserves (estimated)--- May 5 week Year ago 37, 565 625 498 16 1, 557 +64 +232 +3,661 +542 +2 +184 +16 -83 +4,312 -1,068 -172 +1,921 +327 +20 -26 +12 -118 40,332 14, 395 6,399 39, 071 744 1,010 134 191 821 18, 154 3,318 21,472 21, 094 378 -84 +195 -16 -12 +252 -10 +173 -30 +14 +936 +231 +1, 167 +1,202 -35 NOTE.-On May 12 tT.S. Government securities hold in custody by the Iederal Reserve banks for foreign account totaled $7,614 000,000, a decrease of $59,000,000 for the week and a decrease of $303,000,000 from the comparable date a year ago. The Three Faces of EXTENSION OF REMARKS of HON. DONALD M. FRASER OF MINNESOTA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Monday, May 17, 1965 Mr. FRASER. Mr. Speaker, Presi- dent Johnson's speech last Thursday to the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists is a moving account of what the United States is attempting through our foreign aid program. The war. in Vietnam, the President said, has three faces-armed conflict, the quest for a political solution, and human need. With the compassion which has marked his career, the Presi- dent described this third face, "the un- tended sick, the hungry family, and the illiterate child, It is men And women, many without shelter, with rags for clothing, struggling for survival in a very rich and a very fertile land." This he said is the most important battle in which we are engaged. Our help-to these people is the most crucial, because, in his words: A nation cannot be built by armed power or by political agreement. it will rest upon the expectation by individual men. and , .women, that their future will be better than the- past. I commend the President's sensitive remarks to my colleagues: my friends of the Association of American people rising to shatter the old ways which Editorial Cartoonists I am very happy that have imprisoned hope-people fiercely and you requested through the press office this justly reaching for the material fruits from opportunity for us to meet together, because the tree of modern knowledge. after looking at some of the cartoons you It is this desire, and not simply lust for have drawn, I thought I'd invite you over to conquest, which moves many of the indi- see me In person. After all, I had nothing vidual fighting men that we must now, sadly, to lose. call the enemy. I know that I am talking to the most in- It is, therefore, our task to show that free- fluential journalists in America. Reporters dom from the control of other nations offers may write and politicians may talk but what the surest road to progress, that history and you draw remains In the public memory long experience testify to this truth. But it is not after these other words are forgotten. That enough to call uponlreason or point to ex- is why, after I learned that you would be amples. We must show it through action here and we would meet together that I put and we must show it through accomplish- together some notes to discuss with you ment, and even were there no war--either while you were in Washington, a very little- hot or cold-we would always be active in known side of our activity in one of the humanity's search for progress. This task Is most vital places in the world-South Viet- commanded to us by the moral values of our nam. civilization, and it rests on the inescapable The war in Vietnam has many faces. nature of the world that we have now There is the face of armed conflict-of entered. For in that world, as long as we terror and gunfire-of bomb-heavy planes can foresee, every threat to man's welfare and campaign-weary soldiers. In this con- will be a threat to the welfare of our own peo- flict our only object is to prove that force ple. Those who live in the emerging commu- will meet force-that armed conquest is nity of nations will ignore the perils of their futile, and that aggression is not only wrong, neighbors at the risk of their own prospects. beginning to realize what they once scorned to believe: that we combine unlimited pa- tience with unlimited resources in pursuit of an unwavering purpose. We will not abandon our commitment to South Vietnam. The second face of war in Vietnam is the quest for a political solution-the face of diplomacy and politics-of the ambitions and the interests of other nations. We know, as our adversaries should also know, that there is no purely military solution in sight for either side. We are. ready for uncondi- tional discussions. Most_of the non-Commu- nist nations of the world favor such uncon- ditional discussions. And it would clearly be in the interest of North Vietnam to now come to the conference table. For them the continuation of war, without talks, means only damage without conquest. Communist China apparently desires the war to continue whatever the cost to their allies. Their tar- get is not merely South Vietnam, it is Asia. Their objective is not the fulfillment of Viet- namese nationalism. It is to erode and to discredit America's ability to help prevent Chinese domination over all of Asia. In' this domination they shall never suc- ceed. And I am continuing and I am increasing the search for every possible path to peace. The third face of war in Vietnam is, at once,'the most tragic and most hopeful. It Is the face of human need. It is the un- tended sick, the hungry family and the il- literate child. It is men and women, many without shelter,, with rags for clothing, strug- gling for survival In a very rich and a very fertile land. It is the most Important battle of all in which we are engaged. For a nation cannot be built by armed power or by political agreement. It will rest on the expectation by individual men and women that their future will be better than their past. It is not enough to just fight against some- thing. People must fight for something, and the people of South Vietnam must know that after the long, brutal journey through the dark tunnel of conflict there breaks the light of a happier day. And only if this is so, can they be expected to sustain the enduring will for continued strife. Only in this way can longrun stability and peace come to their ,land. And there is another; more profound rea- $on. In Vietnam corllmunism seeks to really This is true not only for Vietnam but for every part of the developing world. This is why, on your behalf, I recently proposed a massive, cooperative development effort for all of southeast Asia. I named the respected leader, Eugene Black, as my personal repre- sentative to inaugurate our participation in these programs. Since that time rapid progress has been made, I am glad to report. Mr. Black has met with the top officials of the United. Na- tions on Several occasions. He has talked to other interested parties. Be has found in- creasing enthusiasm. The United Nations is already setting up new mechanisms to help carry forward the work of development. In addition, the United States is now pre- pared to participate in, and to support, an Asian Development Bank, to carry out and help finance the economic progress in that area of the world, and the development that we desire to see in that area of the world. So this morning I call on every other in- dustrialized nation, including the Soviet Union, to help create a better life for all of the people of southeast Asia. Surely, surely, the works of peace can bring men together in a common effort to abandon forever the works of war. But, as South Vietnam is the central place of conflict, it is also a principal focus of our work to increase the well-being of people. It is In that effort in South Vietnam which I think we are too little informed and which I want to relate to you this morning. We began in 1954 when Vietnam became independent, before the war between the North and the South. Since that time we have spent more than $2 billion in economic help for the 16 million people of South Vietnam. And despite the ravages of war we have made steady continuing gains. We have concentrated on food, and health, and edu- cation, and housing, and industry. Like most developing countries, South Vietnam's economy rests on agriculture. Un- like many, it has large uncrowded areas of very rich, and very fertile land. Because of this, it is one of the great rice bowls of the entire world. With our help, since 1954, South Vietnam has already doubled its rice production, providing food for the people, as well as providing a vital export for that nation. We have put our American farm know- how to work on other crops. This year, for instance, several hundred million cuttings of a new variety of sweet potato, that prom- ises a sixfold increase in yield, will be dis- tributed to these Vietnamese farmers. Cjr.:o Approved For Release 2003/11/04CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6 Approved 1 ihRD A2460 I 0003001900W j 18, 1965 output should rise from 25,000 tons in 1962 brave, tireless, filled with love for are doing to 100,000 tons by 1966. Pig production has lows-are doing this today. They re more than doubled since 1955. Many animal it through the long, hot, danger-filled Viet- diseases have been eliminated entirely. namese days and the sultry nights. Disease and epidemic brood over every The fullest glory must go, also, to those Vietnamese village. In a country of more South Vietnamese that are laboring and than 16 million people with a life expectancy dying for their own people and their own of only 35 years, there are only 200 civilian nation. In hospitals and schools, along the doctors. If the Vietnamese had doctors in rice fields and the roads, they continue to the same ratio as the United States has labor, never knowing when death or terror doctors, they would have not the 200 that may strike, they do have but they would have more How incredible it is that there are a few than 5,000 doctors. who still say that the South Vietnamese do We have helped vaccinate, already, over 7 not want to continue the struggle. They are million people against cholera, and millions sacrificing and they are dying by the thou- alor in the heavy ti t i more against other diseases. Hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese can now receive treatment in the more than 12,000 hamlet health stations that America has built and has stocked. New clinics and surgical suites are scattered throughout that entire coun- try; and the medical school that we are now helping to build will graduate as many doc- tors in a single year as now serve the entire population of South Vietnam. Education is the keystone of future de- velopment in Vietnam. It takes a trained people to man the factories, to conduct the administration, and to form the human foundation for an advancing nation. More than a quarter million young Vietnamese can now learn in more than 4,000 classrooms that America has helped to build in the last 2 years; and 2,000 more schools are going to be built by us in the next 12 months. The number of students in vocational schools has gone up four times. Enrollment was 300,000 In 1955, when we first entered there and started helping with our program. Today it is more than 1,600,000. The 8 million text- books that we have supplied to Vietnamese children will rise to more than 15 million by 1967. Agriculture is the foundation. Health, education and housing are the urgent human needs. But industrial development is the great pathway to their future. When Vietnam was divided, most of the in- dustry was in the north The south was en v r pa sands. The presence of personal, physical danger should be a helpful lesson to those of us who, here in America, only have to read about it, or hear about it on the television or radio. We have our own heroes who labor at the works of peace in the midst of war. They toil unarmed and out of uniform. They know the humanity of their concern does not exempt them from the horrors of conflict, yet they go on from day to da. They bring food to the hungry over there. They supply the sick with necessary medicine. They help the farmer with his crops, families to find clean water, villages to receive the healing miracles of electricity. These are Americans who have joined our AID program, and we welcome others to their ranks. For most Americans this is an easy war. Men fight and men suffer and men die, as they always do in war. But the lives of most of us, at least those of us in this room and those listening to me this morning, are un- troubled. Prosperity rises, abundance in creases, the nation flourishes. I will report to the Cabinet when I leave this room that we are in the 51st month of continued prosperity, the longest peacetime prosperity for America since our country was founded. Yet our entire future is at stake. What a difference it would make if we could only call upon a small fraction of our unmatched private resources-businesses and unions, agricultural groups and build- barren of manufacturing and the founda- ers-if we could call them to the task of tions for industry. Today, more than 700 peaceful progress in Vietnam. With such new, or rehabilitated factories-textile mills a spirit of patriotic sacrifice we might well and cement plants, electronics and plastics- strike an irresistible blow for freedom there are changing the entire face of that nation. and for freedom throughout the world. New roads and communications, railroad I, therefore, hope that every person within equipment and electric generators, are a the sound of my voice In this country this spreading base on which this new industry morning will look for ways-and those citi- can, and is, growing. zens of other nations who believe in human- All this progress goes on, and it is going to ity as we do, I hope that they will find ways continue to go on, under circumstances of to help progress in South Vietnam. who need help in our own country as staggering adversity. This, then, is the third face of our struggle people is who helping people own need help Communist terrorists have made aid pro- in Vietnam. It was there-the illiterate, the ath in broad. grams that we administer a very special hungry, the sick-before this war began. It VISTA da large response from target of their attack. They fear them. They will be there when peace comes to us-and VI of every deserves ve age, large we have no doubt know they must fear them because agricul- so will we. Not with soldiers and planes, not Americans aural stations are being destroyed and medi- with bombs and bullets, but with all the it will receive it. ce in the 20th f pea eel centers are being burned, More than 100 wondrous weapons o 'Vietnamese malaria fighters are dead. Our century. own AID officials have been wounded and And then, perhaps, together, all of the peo- kidnapped. These are not just the accidents pie of the world can share that gracious task of war. They are a part of a deliberate cam- with all the people of Vietnam, north and " to south alike. paign, in the words of the Communists, cut the fingers off the hands of the Govern- Thank you ment." Good morning. We intend to continue, and we intend to increase our help to Vietnam. Nor can anyone doubt the determination of the South Vietnamese themselves. They have lost more than 12,000 of their men since I became your President a little over a year ago. But, progress does not come from invest- ment alone, or plans on a desk, or even the directives and the orders that we approve here in Washington. It takes men. Men must take the seed to the farmer. Men must teach tile, use of fertilizer. Men must help in harvest, ,ken must build the schools, and men must'insttuct the students. Men must carry medicine Into the jungle and treat the sick, and shelter the homeless. And men- A Chance To Help Through VISTA EXTENSION OF REMARKS of HON. ROY H. McVICKER OF COLORADO IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Thursday, May 6, 1965 Mr. McVICKER. Mr. Speaker, -I would like to insert a fine editorial on VISTA, the domestic peace corps, which appeared in the Denver Post on Tuesday, May 4, 1965. This editorial gives due acknowledgment to the fact that an in- creasing number of Americans are realiz- ing that the Great Society will be at- tained only through man's humanity to his fellow man. I encourage all my col- leagues to read this article : [From the Denver Post, May 4, 19651 A CHANCE To HELP THROUGH VISTA The same idealism that led thousands of Americans to enlist in the Peace Corps to help people overseas is now leading thou- sands of others to enlist in VISTA to help people who need help in our own country. VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) has been called the domestic peace corps be- cause its members have to have some of the same attributes as the Peace Corpsmen: the ability to bring simple knowledge, skill, and encouragement to people handicapped by ig- norance; the willingness to live among the people being helped and share their poverty and hardship; the desire to work for the sat- isfaction of doing good and not for monetary reward. Throughout the Nation, VISTA are be- ginning to move into poverty neighborhoods in city slums, in troubled mine and mill towns, in run-down farm areas, in migrant workers camps, and on Indian reservations. They will not only teach the poor such fundamental things as homemaking, how to look for a job or how to make use of avail- able public services, but they will work with them to organize and repair their neighbor- hoods and their lives and to help them escape from the grip of poverty. The Government pays the volunteers basic living expenses and $50 a month. VISTA is now conducting recruiting drives at the University of Colorado and the Uni- versity of Denver to interest young people 18 or over in investing a year of their lives in this useful and unselfish undertaking. If 18 is the minimum age, there is no maxi- mum. Some persons in their 70's are already among the VISTA volunteers. Information and application blanks are obtainable not only at the campuses but at the offices of Denver's war on poverty at 810 14th Street, and, by mail from the offices of VISTA, Washington, D.C. This is a challenging and useful program, with a large potential for good. There ought National Technical Institute for the Deaf Act SPEECH OF HON. HERVEY G. MACHEN OF MARYLAND IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Monday, May 17, 1965 MACHEN. Mr. Speaker, the passage of H.R. 7031, known as the Na- tional Technological Institute for the Deaf Act, is being hailed by those of us who are deaf as being almost as signifi- cant as the invention of the hearing aid. I want to take this opportunity to offer my gratitude to Representative CAREY, Approved For Release 2003/11/04: CIA-RDP67B00446R000300190021-6