THE WHITE FLEET

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP61-00357R000100220028-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 20, 2013
• Sequence Number: 28
• Publication Date: July 21, 1959
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

IIPP-
? Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/08/20: CIA-RDP61-00357R000100220028-7
12640 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD SENATE
month. Well, whatever else this veteran
may have lost, he seems to have kept his
sense of humor as in his letter to me, he
said the Veterans' Administration says that
his condition has improved but that he
doesn't see how an amputation can improve
as "it didn't grow back any that I can see."
I personally feel that a rating of 50 per-
cent is entirely too low for a young man
who has lost a leg in the service of his
country. Now if you are going to base this
tragedy of ?the loss of a young man's leg
strictly on mathematics, perhaps the Vet-
erans' Administration is right?since a hu-
man being is born with two legs and since
100 percent is the norm, it followings that
if you lOse one leg and divide 100 by 2, you
get 50. But this is not only an unrealistic
approach but..the most callous way of rea-
soning I have ever seen.
Well, to get back to the case of this par-
ticular veteran, Mr. Schafer, after receiving
his letter of May 15, I wrote to him under
date of May 19 and told him I would do
everything I could to help him have his
compensation restored to the original rating
of 50 percent and on that same date, I wrote
to the Veterans' Administration center at
Fargo. Under date of May 25, I received a
report from the center and the pertinent
paragraph reads as follows:
"Under the provisions of our current rat-
ing schedule, amputation at a lower level
permitting the use of a prosthesis evaluates
in the degree of 40 percent. In order to
have a higher rating for an amputation, the
amputation must not be improved by pros-
thesis controlled by natural knee action.
Since Mr. Schafer's disability is at a lower
level, he has normal, natural knee action,
and his disability is improved by the use of
a prosthesis. According to our schedule, his
maximum evaluation is 40 percent."
Thereupon, I took Mr. Schafer's case up
with the Administrator of the Veterans' Ad-
ministration by letter dated June 3, and
under date of June 25, I received another
report of which I want, at this point, to
quote just a part of one sentence, as later,
with your permission, Mr. President, I want
to introduce all of this correspondence in the
RECORD. This portion of that sentence is as
follows; "The determining factor in the de-
gree of disability sustained is whether or not
there is natural knee action with prosthesis
In place."
I have read that statement, several times
and each time it becomes more absurd.
This veteran, Mr. Schafer, has his left leg
off below the knee and the Veterans' Ad-
ministration holds that because he has knee
action he has a lesser degree of disability.
But the question is, Knee action on what?
He has no leg below the knee for the knee
action to act on. Now this device that the
Administration calls "prosthesis" is in this
case, nothing more nor less than an artificial
leg whether it be made of wood, cork, alumi-
num or some sort of composition, when he
uses his knee action the most that can hap-
pen is to cause this artifical appendage to
wobble, and because he can accomplish this,
his disability is not equal to 50 percent.
If the operation of the Veterans' Adminis-
tration rating schedule can work an injus-
tice such as this, something should be done
to revise this schedule and the sooner the
better.
At this point in my remarks I attach the
letter of May 15 addressed to me by Mr.
Schafer, my letter of May 19 to the Veterans'
Administration Center at Fargo, the report
dated May 25 from the center at Fargo, my
letter of June 3 to the Administrator of
Veterans' Affairs, and the report of June 25
from the Chief Benefits Director.
MANDAN, N.DAK., May 15, 1959.
DEAR MR. SENATOR LANCER: I am a World
War II veteran with a service-connected dis-
ability.
Last year / had trouble with my leg and
had to go to the veterans' hospital at Fargo
for treatment. After my release from the
hospital I received this letter.
The.y say that my condition has improved,
but I just can't see how an amputation can
improve. It didn't grow back any that I
can see.
Would you please straighten this out for
me.
Please answer me as soon as possible as I
have only 3 months left to appeal my case.
Letter from the Veterans enclosed.
Yours truly,
ALEXANDER SCHAFER.
MAY 19, 1959.
Hon. WALTER R. BYRD,
Manager, Veterans Administration Center,
Fargo, N. flak.
DEAR MR. BYRD: There is enclosed here-
with a copy of the letter from Mr. Alexander
Schafer, C-9054640, regarding the reduc-
tion of his disability compensation.
Since this veteran writes me that his com-
pensation is based on the amputation of a
leg, it is a little hard for me to see how
there could be any improvement. I shall
be most appreciative if you will give me a re-
port on this case, in order that I may help
this veteran in every way possible.
With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely,
WILLIAM LANGER,
VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION CENTER,
Fargo, N. flak., May 25, 1959. _
The Honorable WILLIAM LANCER,
U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.
DEAR SENATOR LANCER: I have the copy of
the letter that you received from Alexander
Schafer of 802 Fifth Street NW., Mandan,
N. Dak., concerning reduction of his dis-
ability compensation.
Mr. Schafer served successfully in the
Armed Forces from April 10, 1943, until Au-
gust 15, 1946. In the latter part of 1945,
he sought treatment for difficulty that he
had had for the past 18 months in connec-
tion with intermittent claudication of both
calves and both feet. From that time on
until sometime in December, every effort was
made to effect improvement in connection
with the legs, but on November 24, 1945, it
was determined that amputation of the left
leg was necessary; this was accomplished on
December 5, 1945.
Service department records never clearly
indicated the exact site of the amputation,
and from the day following the date of his
discharge, we had assumed that his ampu-
tation was at a level less than two inches
below the insertion of the hamstring ten-
dons. As a result, Mr. Schafer's disability
was evaluated in the degree of 50 percent.
On May 12, 1958, Mr. Schafer entered our
hospital. He was discharged on May 21,
1958. The treatment was for a superficial
skin ulcer on the stump below the knee
amputation of the left leg. During this
hospitalization a definite determination as
to the exact site of the amputation was re-
quested. It was disclosed that the amputa-
tion was approximately five inches below the
knee.
Under the provisions of our current rating
schedule, amputation at a lower level per-
mitting the use of prosthesis evaluates in
the degree of 40 percent. In order to have
a higher rating for an amputation, the am-
putation must not be improved by prosthesis
controlled by natural knee action. Since Mr.
Schafer's disability is at a lower level, he
has normal, natural knee action, and his
disability is improved by the use of a pros-
thesis. According to our schedule, his maxi-
mum evaluation is 40 percent.
I regret that it has been necessary to take
this action to reduce Mr. Schafer's compen-
sation but, because the site of the amputa-
tion has nOw been definitely determined, an
evaluation in excess of the 40 percent cannot
be authorized.
July 21
am glad that you wrote me concerning
Mr. Schafer's problem as it has permitted me
to make an explanation of a rather difficult
problem.
Very truly yours,
W. R. BYRD,
Manager.
JUNE 3,1959.
Hon. SUMNER O. WHITTIER,
Administrator, the Veterans' Administration,
Washington, D.C.
DEAR MR. WHITTIER: This is in reference to
the case of Mr. Alexander Schafer, C-
9054640, a veteran of World War II, who is
receiving disability compensation based on
amputation of a portion of his left leg.
Under date of May 15, 1959, Mr. Schafer
wrote sue that his compensation had been
reduced from 50 percent to 40 percent.
Thereupon, I took his case up with Mr.
Walter R. Byrd, the manager of your center
at Fargo. There are enclosed herewith
copies of Mr. Schafer's letter to me, of my
letter to Mr. Byrd, together with the report
from the Veterans' Administration.
In my contacts with Mr. Byrd, I have found
him to be most cooperative and this is in
nowise to be construed as any criticism of
this official. However, I do feel that the
rating schedule of the Veterans' Adminis-
tration is in need of revision if a veteran's
degree of disability is based upon the num-
ber of inches of amputation of his leg. If
such is the case, I am willing to introduce
remedial legislation. However, before doing
this I shall be most appreciative if you will
advise me what may be done to restore this
veteran to his original disability rating.
With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely,
WILLIAM LANCER.
VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION,
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS' BENEFITS,
Washington, D.C., June 25, 1959.
The Honorable WILLIAM LANCER,
U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.
DEAR SENATOR LANCER: This has further
reference to the case of Alexander Schafer,
C-9054640.
I have had the specialists on the dis-
ability rating schedule thoroughly canvass
the evidence and the resulting 40 percent
evaluation for this veteran's leg amputa-
tion.
These specialists are in agreement with
you that the previous provision in the rat-
ing schedule, wherein the degree of dis-
ability-50 percent?for below the knee
amputation based on the number of inches
of amputation of the leg, was unrealistic.
It was this 'unsatisfactory basis of measur-
ing the true residual disability which
brought about the schedular revision. The
present basis is more realistic in measuring
the actual residual condition, that is, the
determining factor in the degree of dis-
ability sustained is whether or not there
is natural knee action with prosthesis in
place. The revision has resulted in reducing
the 50 percent rating in some cases to 40
percent where there is, as in this case, a
satisfactory prosthesis permitting natural
knee action; other cases have been ele-
vated to 60 percent where natural knee ac-
tion is lost with prosthesis in place.
Very truly yours,
W. J. DRIVER,
Chief Benefits Director.
THE WHITE FLEET
Mr. HU'MPHREY. Mr. President, for
12 years now?despite occasional thaws
and occasional hopeful moments, and
despite the longing for peace on both
sides of the Iron Curtain, among the
peoples of both East and West?the task
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1959 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD ? SENATE
of securing any top-level political agree-
ments with the Soviet bloc has become
increasingly difficult. And, most un-
fortunately, after a string of diplomatic
rebuffs from the Soviet leaders, the
tendency among the leaders of the West
has been to fall back upon an essentially
negative and defensive attitude.
Our leadership has come to react al-
most in a conditioned response. En-
couraged to believe there may be a possi-
bility of an agreement, we come to the
conference table, only to have our hopes
dashed to the ground. Each time this
is repeated, our leadership becomes more
alergic to the possibility of a rebuff?
indeed, becomes obsessed with the prob-
ability of a rebuff. And finally, I am
afraid, our leadership has tended to be-
come so frustrated as to be unable to
venture anything at all.
The very words which our leaders use
are indicative of their frustration and
disorganization: "Stand fast." If ever
there was a negative, defensive, and de-
feat-ridden phrase, it is that famous
pair of words that seems embedded in
every official American pronouncement
in recent months on the subject of for-
eign policy.
Mr. President, standing fast can be a
virtue. But I submit that in a world of
dynamic change, of ebbing and flowing
forces, of seas of power and conflict,
standing fast is not necessarily the thing
to do under all circumstances.
It was not particularly helpful for the
French to stand fast in the Maginot Line
in 1940 nor did it do General Custer or
the 4th Cavalry a great deal of good
on the Little Big Horn.
Somehow, the West must abandon this
passive, if obstinate, defensive thinking.
Somehow we must recapture the initia-
tive which has been lost so clearly in the
past several years.
While continuing to press every op-
portunity for political agreements with
the Soviet leadership, we should press
forward in other areas of foreign policy,
whether or not such agreements are
achieved.
For one thing, we must base American
foreign policy far more firmly on the
natural advantages of the United States,
upon our very considerable physical,
economic and cultural resources. While
maintaining a shield of military
strength, we must seriously embark upon
more creative, imaginative and sustained
policies based on what I term "the works
of peace."
With our abundant food and fiber
production in a hungry world, with our
leadership in medicine in a world filled
with disease and suffering, with our tre-
mendous experience in universal educa-
tion, we are in a position to spearhead
an international drive to feed the hun-
gry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, and
teach the illiterate.
Food, shelter, health, knowledge, self-
respect and freedom?these are after all
the real objective of the downtrodden
peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin
America. Men seeking these objectives
for their people are carrying forward the
nationalist uprisings and revolutions
which have shattered the old order
No.122 ----15
throughout Asia, Africa, and South
America.
Now, Mr. President, the United States
has indeed demonstrated the generosity
and sympathy of the American people in
vast programs of relief and rehabilita-
tion after the war. Much has been done
by our Government, and through the
many voluntary organizations to which
Americans have contributed their time
and money, to relieve distress throughout
the world. This traditional concern
'with the sufferings of other less for-
tunate peoples has made itself felt espe-
cially since World War II, in the massive
rebuilding and rehabilitation of Europe,
and in the many programs which have
attempted to follow President Truman's
concept of point 4?the providing of
technical assistance, helping others to
help themselves.
Under the operation of Public Law
480, we have been gradually moving to-
ward the active use of our food and
fiber abundance, in programs of eco-
nomic and technical assistance, and in
the relief of suffering. There is far
more that we could do under this law,
as I have proposed in my food-for-peace
legislation now before the Committee on
Foreign Relations.
In all these programs, we Americans
have been acting partly through the tra-
ditional spirit of generosity, and partly
through enlightened self-interest. We
have done many good deeds simply be-
cause it was the compassionate, the hu-
manitarian, the right thing to do. In
other cases, we have also been motivated
by the knowledge that human suffering
and degradation are breeding grounds
for violence, despair, disorder, and the
growth of totalitarian government.
Communism does thrive on disorder and
unrest, and the Communist movement
throughout the world does ceaselessly at-
tempt to gain control of the revolutions
which have shattered the old orders.
Too, the Communists have managed
in many instances to"persuade the people
of developing nations that they, the
Communists, are for the people, while
United States aid has been used simply
to bulwark existing institutions. They
have used many dramatic devices, and
seized many inviting opportunities, to
bring Soviet "friendship" to the atten-
tion of the masses of people in these de-
veloping areas.
Our own programs of technical assist-
ance have, indeed, often been undra-
matic, with a disproportionate share of
funds being devoted to military assist-
ance, military preparations and arms
buildup rather than to economic and
technical assistance at the grassroOts
level. A man without a job, a family
without adequate food, shelter, health,
and opportunity, is not apt to be much
encouraged and heartened by the sight of
tanks and artillery rolling by.
Our economic development and tech-
nical assistance programs, too, have been
far below the level that we can afford,
and equally far below the needs of the
developing nations. Yet point 4 pro-
grams are among the most helpful types
of international effort, measured in any
terms?economic, social, or political.
12641
Only by raising the general level of
health and productivity, can new nations
hope to gain stability and strength.
Anything less than a rise in the living
standards of the mass of the people is
only a castle built on sand.
For almost 2 years, now, Mr. Presi-
dent, I have been making a special effort
to seek new ways and means of increas-
ing our total effort in the field of tech-
nical assistance. At the same time, I
have been studying the various means
by which the American effort can be
readily understood and recognized by the
peoples of the developing nations. Deeds
mean far more than words, and cut
straight across the barriers of language.
I have sought ways and means by
which the splendid relief effort's already
undertaken by the great voluntary or-
ganizations could be augmented and
strengthened through action and cooper-
ation of the Federal Government.
And in the three major fields of feed-
ing the hungry, healing the sick and
teaching the illiterate abroad, I have in-
troduced or will shortly introduce major
legislation which will authorize renewed
and strengthened programs on the part
of our Government.
During the past year, Mr. President, it
has been my privilege to conduct a con-
tinuing study of our Government's ac-
tivities in the field of medical research
and public health, both here at home and
abroad. And in the course of this study
of the Subcommittee on Government Re-
organization and International Organ-
izations, the importance of sharply ex-
panding our efforts in these fields has
become increasingly clear.
Mr. President, what I call for is first of
all a new spirit of venture on the part of
our leadership, a willingness to tske ini-
tiative, to experiment, and to invest in
promising proposals.
I call for a stepped-up pace of Ameri-
can foreign policy efforts based on the
relatively untapped strengths of our Na-
tion. I ask that we clearly understand
what it is that drives the revolutions now
sweeping the world, and that we tailor
our policies to reflect this understanding.
Finally, I ask that we consider the im-
portance of drama, of emphasis, and of
identification of the American effort
abroad. It is vitally important that
American efforts in behalf of other peo-
ples should be seen and understood, for
throughout the have-not areas' of the
world, the Communist propaganda ap-
paratus is saturating the airwaves, the
bookstalls, and the television channels
with lies and distortions of American
policy and American intentions. It is
important that our assistance be given
in ways that can be clearly, unequivocally
understood and identified, in ways that
cannot be distorted by propaganda or
misunderstood through lack of informa
tion. ?
For all these reasons, I was much im-
pressed last year by an idea from a young
-naval officer, Comdr. Frank Manson,
U.S. Navy, to make use of some of our
mothballed Navy hospital ships and
other vessels, in a fleet for a technical
assistance and disaster relief effort.
Discussing this with Repres:mtative
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12642 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD ? SENATE
ErasimasoN, of Oklahoma, we determined
to explore the legal problems that might
be involved in such an effort, the logis-
tics of the effort, and the costs.
I asked Commander Manson at that
time to draft the idea further, and I am
pleased to note that after many further
discussions, the original idea today finds
itself a finished proposal in one of the
leading journals of the Nation, Life
magazine.
During the months between last sum-
mer and this spring, I discussed the idea
of a white fleet, a mercy fleet, both
privately, as I have indicated, and on the
public platform. On radio and televi-
sion, on such programs as College News
Conference and Youth Wants to Know,
before college and civic organizations,
and in articles and statements, I sounded
out public opinion. The response was
uniformly enthusiastic and encouraging.
In my newsletter of March 6, 1959, for
example, I outlined the proposal, and I
ask unanimous consent that that news-
letter be printed at the conclusion of my
remarks.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
..objection, it is so ordered.
(See exhibit 1.)
Mr. HUMPHREY. I also, ask unani-
mous consent that a press release dated
March 11, 1959, and a news story of the
same date in the Washington Evening
Star, discussing my proposal, be printed
at the conclusion of my remarks.
? The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
(See exhibit 2.)
Mr. ,HUMPHREY. Mr. President,
early this spring we were much pleased
to see a separate effort undertaken by
the People to People Foundation, Inc.,
to demothball a former Navy hospital
ship, the U.S.S. Consolation, and to raise
private funds to refit her and equip her
as a people-to-people vehicle for medical
teaching and training in. southeast Asia,
at an estimated cost of $3,500,000 to take
her through the first year.
This splendid undertaking is well on
the way to financing, and I understand
has had an overwhelming number of of-
fers from physicians, nurses, and medical
technicians, to serve aboard the ship.
Dr. William B. Walsh, Director of Project
Hope, estimates the sailing date of the
vessel at January 22, 1960.
? Mr. President, I ask unanimous con-
sent to have printed at this point in my
remarks an article entitled "Medical
Project for Asia Gaining," from the July
12, 1959, New York Times. This article
describes this unusual and public
spirited project fully.
There being no objection, the article
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
MEDICAL PROJECT FOR ASIA GAINING?FORMER
NAVY HOSPITAL SHIP DUE TO SAIL ON JANIS-.
ARY 22?DOCTORS OPTIMISTIC
SAN FRANCISCO, July 11.?January 22 has
been tentatively chosen as the day when the
former Navy hospital ship Consolation will
head through the Golden Gate to carry med-
ical and nursing skills to underdeveloped
nations of Southeast Asia.
More than 1,000 doctors and nurses have
submitted applications to Project Hope,
which is headed by Dr. William B. Walsh, a
Washington internist. They are seeking
places in this "people to people" Medical
program.
Nearly $700,000 has been raised, chiefly
through corporate giving, toward costs of the
project, described as a floating hospital
center. The initial goal of $1,500,000 should
be reached by October, according to Dr.
Walsh. A public subscription campaign is
expected to get under way in November. It
is estimated that $3,500,000 will carry the
project through its first year. .
Dr. Walsh and his associates have become
so enthusiastic over the program that they
envision it as a permanent means for .this
country to improve health standards not
only in Southeast Asia, but also in Latin
America, Africa, and elsewhere.
PLANS ARE REVIEWED
Dr. Walsh reviewed the plans and accom-
plishments at a press conference here this
week. John I. Spreckelmyer, of Washington,
a Government worker who has served, among
other things, as a hospital administrator
with the Veterans' Administration, was pres-
ent as the new administrator of Project
Hope.
The 800-bed Consolation, which has been
a part of the Navy's mothball reserve fleet,
will be moved October 1 to a west-coast
shipyard for overhaul and outfitting as a
floating medical center, according to a re-
vised timetable.
Mutual security funds are to be allotted to
the Navy to cover the cost of the conversion.
Once the ship is out of the yard it will be on
charter to Project Hope, presumably for $1 a
year.
Except for managerial phases, which the
American President Lines is handling with-
out cost, the project itself will pay all the
bills, including maintenance and operating
charges. These will cover wages of the crew,
salaries of the permanent staff of doctors and
nurses and expenses of rotating groups of
physicians who will be flown, 35 at a time,
from the United States to the ship every 4
months.
UNIT FOR INTERIOR
Dr. Walsh said that 422 of the hospital beds
would be used in the project. In addition, a
500-bed mobile hospital unit will be available
to be taken into the interior of countries
while the ship is berthed at a seaport city.
Project Hope has made a commitment to
spend time in Indonesia. Other countries,
including Vietnam, have sent emissaries to
discuss the matter but have not issued for-
mal invitations, a prerequisite for a visit by
the floating medical center.
Dr. Walsh estimated that the ship would
spend 8 months in the Indonesian archipel-
ago, servicing that country and perhaps
others. Teams of five to seven physicians
and a couple of nurses will use the ship as a
base but will fly to other areas to give treat-
ment and help train villagers in doctoring
and nursing. At least one local physician
is to be on hand with the teams.
TEN- OR FIFTEEN-MAN STAFF
"We ere- amazed at the quality of the
applicants we have had for places in the
program," Dr. Walsh related. "We have inter-
viewed about 200 by now and are impressed
by their dedication. Several doctors have
said, 'I can't take 4 months off from my prac-
tice but can you take me for a month and
I'll -pay my own expenses'? Many of these
are highly qualified in specialties who could
write their own ticket anywhere."
The ship's permanent staff of doctors will
be kept to 10 or 15 according to present
plans. The rotating system for the others
means, however, that close to 125 American
physicians a year will participate. Medical
schools, Dr. Walsh said, want to send out
additional small units of volunteers.
There is only 1 doctor for 80,000 patients
in some areas the ship will serve. This
means, Dr. Walsh noted, that when one doe-
July 21
tor leaves to come to this country or to go
elsewhere for advanced training, he will leave
80,000 persons without medical care.
It is this kind of situation that Project
Hope, which has the blessing of the White
House, expects to help alleviate.
The Navy has recommended that the name
Consolation be retained for the vessel. It is
understood, however, that backers would like
to rename it the Hope, giving it the same
name as the project itself.
Dr. Walsh said Project Hope might not
stop with one ship. Depending on funds,
consideration is being given to similar pro-
grams for Honduras, parts of Africa, and the
Aegean Islands off Greece.
"We see such a growing interest in the
program," he declared, "that some of us
hope to build this into a $20 million founda-
tion in 3 years."
Mr. HUMPHREY. Mr. President, the
experience of the People to People Foun-
dation and Project Hope is extremely sig-
nificant, for it bears out clearly what we
had felt would be true?that the gredt
medical profession of our Nation would
respond strongly and favorably to the
idea embodied in Project Hope.
I add, Mr. President, that the phar-
maceutical industry has likewise re-
sponded. I recall addressing the phar-
maceutical industry representatives in
New York City more than a year ago,
and on that occasion calling upon Amer-
ican pharmacists not only to help staff
phartnacy colleges abroad, but for the
pharmaceutical industry to join in this
great proposal, in this imaginative pro-
posal of the Mercy Fleet, or the White
Fleet, by supplying the necessary drugs.
There are in many of the laboratories
of American pharmaceutical establish-
ments and in their warehouses literally
untold quantities of modern drugs which
could be of tremendous help in any un-
dertaking such as a hospital ship or a
medical ship included in the White Fleet
concept.
Mr. President, it lies well within our
resources and our capabilities to pro-
vide a vast enlargement and extension
of this modest yet imaginative proposal
for a single hospital ship to carry the
American flag in the service of human-
ity.
Therefore, Mr. President, I submit, on
behalf of myself and the Senior Senator
from Vermont [Mr. AIKEN], a concur-
rent resolution calling upon the Presi-
dent to establish a fleet of ships and
aircraft put to the service of human-
ity?a great White Fleet embarked on
peaceful missions, equipped to render
prompt and vigorous assistance in nat-
ural disasters, and to serve as a perma-
nent vehicle for public health training
and other technical assistance programs
undertaken by the U.S. Government and
the voluntary agencies.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous con-
sent that the resolution remain at the
desk until noon, Monday, July 27, to
permit additional Senators to associate
themselves with the resolution.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
concurrent resolution will be received
and appropriately referred; and, with-
out objection, the concurrent resolution
will lie on the desk, as requested by the
Senator from Minnesota.
The concurrent resolution (S. Con.
Ret. 66), submitted by Mr. Humpxxxv
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V.
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1959 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD ? SENATE
(for himself, Mr. AIKEN, and Mr. CLARK)
was referred to the Committee on Armed
Services.
Mr. HUMPHREY. Similar resolutions
are being submitted in the House today
by Representative ED EDMONDSON, of Ok-
lahoma, and Representative WILLIAM
BATES, of Massachusetts.
Once before, a fleet of American ships
in peacetime dramatically signaled a
turning point in American history, when
President Theodore Roosevelt sent the
first White Fleet on a 3-year, round-the-
world voyage. As a demonstration of
the emergence of the United States as a
world power, Teddy Roosevelt's White
Fleet was a visible, tangible, and extraor-
dinarily effective device.
So, too, a new White Fleet, sent forth
from this maritime Nation over the seas
of the world to the coasts of Asia and
Africa and South America, could drama-
tize the America of mid-20th century
as it brings American help to the dis-
aster stricken, and American knowledge
and teaching to the emerging peoples of
these continents, a symbol not of Ameri-
can power, but a symbol of American
good will, friendship, and maturity, the
real power of a great nation.
Just as our warships in trouble spots
of the world are tangible forces-in-being
readily understood as representing
American capability, so too would the
mercy ships of the White Fleet represent
friendship-in-being to the peoples along
the coasts of Asia, Africa, and South
America,
The work of our great missionary doc-
tors carried on over the generations in
these areas and still an active force for
good, would be supplemented by such a
fleet. The existing programs of relief
carried on by the church groups and by
private voluntary organizations such as
CARE, could be strengthened by the pro-
vision of the facilities of this new White
Fleet.
In famines and floods, earthquakes,
hurricanes, during epidemic diseases and
other natural disasters, the ships and
planes of the White Fleet could move
swiftly to bring relief. With hospital
ships for emergency treatment, with
power ships to furnish power to knocked-
out port facilities, with food and cloth-
ing and other supplies available in trans-
ports, with vehicles for the projection of
the relief operations far inland from the
coast, task groups of such a White Fleet
of mercy could bring organized, effective
assistance much more swiftly than is
now possible with the hasty improvisa-
tions which similar efforts have been
heretofore.
The well-proved task concept of hav-
ing fleets broken down into task forces,
and then subdivided into task units,
could be applied to the White Fleet, to
provide a flexibility and mobility and a
seasoned organizational structure to the
entire operation. Task groups, each
consisting of a hospital ship as the nu-
cleus, with supporting vessels and air-
craft, could operate in various parts of
the world on separate missions, and yet
could be readily joined for projects of
broader scope and in emergency situ-
ations.
Mr. President, in my discussion last
March 11, I described in some detail,
what the proposed White Fleet would
do and how a task force could be organ-
ized and operated. I suggested, for ex-
ample, that?
Each of these White Fleet task groups?
composed of one 800-bed hospital ship, 2
cargo vessels for emergency supplies and
food, and a converted electrical power
ship?could throw into an emergency sit-
uation 800 to 1,000 hospital beds, operating
facilities and laboratories, power for a good-
sized city, and emergency rations for 300,000
people for a full week.
This gives some idea of what we have
in mind.
Each group could serve, between dis-
aster missions, as a floating center of
service, the natural focal point for the ?
exchange of information between our
own doctors and teachers and techni-
cians and their counterpartrs in other
countries, as well as of preventive med-
icine and public health programs.
I envision a sort of floating university
which technicians, professional persons,
social workers, agriculturalists, and oth-
ers could visit, not in the United States
as such, but in their own harbor, in their
own area, on ships provided by the
United States in cooperation with our
great voluntary agencies.
We are proposing a partnership oper-
ation, of two kinds; first, the Federal
Government would cooperate with pri-
vate voluntary organizations, providing
ships and planes and other vehicles from
the mothball fleet, providing surplus food
and supplies from Government-owned
stocks, and providing logistics support
through the many facilities of the Gov-
ernment scattered throughout the world.
Operation of the fleet could be un-
dertaken, as it is being undertaken
with the Project Hope idea, by voluntary
groups. I am confident that the oppor-
tunity to Serve would capture the imag-
ination of many thousands of Ameri-
cans, and that the existing programs of
the voluntary agencies could well absorb
and utilize the facilities of the White
Fleet.
A second partnership might develop
in bilateral agreements with nations re-
ceiving the aid, to permit joint govern-
mental efforts utilizing the facilities of
the fleet.
The costs of operating a typical four-
ship White Fleet task group?aside from
the cost of supplies and provisions and
nonseaman personnel?are estimated
at between $5 million and $7.5 million
annually, with a group made up of a
hospital ship, a DE power ship conver-
sion, and two supply ships.
Costs of demothballing a mothballed
hospital Ship are estimated at approxi-
mately $200,000. These costs might well
be assumed, at least in part, by the Fed-
eral Government.
With surplus food available from
American-owned stocks, with surplus
materials of every kind available from
the Federal Government, with the avail-
ability of American-owned soft curren-
cies in many instances to purchase local
supplies and services, if medical supplies
could be furnished at cost?or even as
12643
gifts from the great pharmaceutical in-
dustry of the United States?the overall
costs of the operation of such a White
Fleet task group would be very small
compared with the tremendous effect
it could have.
Consider a disaster situation to which
such a group. were dispatched. Planes,
on call from United States and allied air
stations, could fly in ahead with priority
technicians, blood plasma, and drugs.
A hospital ship could move into the
area at a speed of 300 miles per day,
bringing 200 doctors and 200 nurses, and
surgical facilities. A ship loaded with
food could bring in at the same time
enough packaged rations to feed 250,000
to 300,000 people for a week. In fact,
more could be provided by the use of
bulk food. And a power ship could move
in at the same speed to furnish the power
to restore community facilities for a
large city, thus speeding rescue work and
reestablishing normal life in a destroyed
area. Clothing, emergency shelter, and
other necessities of life could be immedi-
ately on hand for distribution.
Such disasters happen more frequent-
ly than we realize, taking a great toll of
suffering. By having an organization
designed from the keel up to deal with
disasters, unquestionably a great saving
in lives and property could be accom-
plished. In fact, this would become, in
a sense, an international civil defense
operation.
Mr. President, there are four hospital
ships now in mothballs. During the
Korean action, only one such ship was
put back in commission, indicating that
at least three might be continuously
available except in case of general war.
There are approximately 11 power ships
in mothballs, converted destroyer es-
corts. Of course there are very many
cargo vessels and aircraft carriers stored
in mothballs. It is my understanding
that there is adequate authority under
present law to make all or any of these
ships available to voluntary nonprofit
organizations.
In the event that additional legisla-
tion would be required, I feel sure that
Congress would act promptly to furnish
the required authority.
Here, Mr. President, is a dramatic way
of beating swords into plowshares?by
converting ships designed for war into
ships used for peaceful purposes?a
White Fleet of peace and friendship and
mercy.
Mr. President, as I indicated earlier
in my remarks, the issue of Life mag-
azine which appears today carries a lead
article devoted to the idea of such a
White Fleet, written by Comdr. Frank
Manson, U.S. Navy.
Because this article discusses in con-
siderable detail the way in which such
a fleet would operate, I ask unanimous
consent that the text of the article be
printed at this point in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the article
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
NEW WHITE FLEET
(By Frank Manson, Commander, U.S. Navy)
The idea of organizing a new White Fleet
grew out of things I witnessed at the close
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12644 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD ? SENATE
of World War II. Like thousands of U.S.
servicemen, I saw diseased, destitute, and
poverty-stricken peoples living on the Asiatic
rimland and in parts of Europe and Africa.
In some areas I saw people actually dying
on the streets of starvation and disease.
Such sights made deep and lasting impres-
sions on me. Even then it was apparent
that the urgent problems facing the impov-
erished and underdeveloped countries were
far from settled.
Something more was needed, something
to combat poverty's eroding influences,
something to make the benefits of civiliza-
tion available on a broad scale. The primi-
tive societies wanted something more than
a bare subsistence. We were moving swiftly
into an era of increased desire and rising
expectations. To paraphrase President Lin-
coln, the world simply could not peacefully
continue to exist half starved and half free.
But it was many years before a specific
plan occurred to me. At my Pentagon office
on a December afternoon in 1957 I happened
to thumb through a photographic World
War II file that included pictures of auxil-
iary and hospital ships. Later that same
afternoon I talked with an observant Navy
doctor who had just returned from a brief
journey through southeast Asia. The doctor
had seen medical conditions almost too sad
and painful to describe. He had adminis-
tered a few drugs, serums and vaccinations
and had performed one major surgical op-
eration in addition to his official duties, but
it was only a droplet in a desert of need.
The doctor suggested that disease and in-
adequate nutrition might be contributing
to the area's social and political problems.
It was not the first time I had heard this
theory, but it made plenty of sense. In ad-
dition to inefficient food production methods
one of the major problems of underdeveloped
nations is the vicious circle of deprivation.
Because of malnutrition the farmers grow
too weak to work with maximum efficiency
and are thereby unable to produce the full
potential of their land?and this in turn
keeps them undernourished. Something
from outside is needed to break the circle.
And so I asked the doctor, "Would hospital
ships help"? I think the doctor's enthusi-
astic response to my questions was the actual
trigger. In any case, as I drove home to
Falls Church that evening, I suddenly
thought: Why not have an entire fleet of
mercy ships?grain ships, hospital ships,
education ships, power ships?a fleet de-
signed to make the benefits of the free enter-
prise system available to the entire human
race?
The people of the United States are
builders by nature. They like positive and
creative programs. And their Organizational
brilliance is beyond dispute. At the same
time they have fallen grievously behind the
Soviet Union in the field of propaganda.
Why not take advantage of the American
ability to organize for material well-being so
as to make up the lost ground in world
propaganda?
Ordinarily as I drive home I fume about
the traffic situation. But that particular
afternoon I counted our national blessings.
The United States leads the world in the
field of medicine. Why not put this splen-
did advantage to full use in a White Fleet?
Ships painted white have long been an es-
tablished worldwide symbol. They are rec-
ognized by international convention as a
symbol of peace and helpfulness, even in the
midst of war. Doctors are still welcome
diplomats in all lands.
It seemed to me that the cost of such a
fleet would not be great. Certainly it would
not be great compared to the sums being
spent in preparation for war or even to the
BUMS spent on foreign-aid programs. Be-
sides, the ships could be drawn from the
mothball fleet that has been growing more
and more obsolescent.
One thought led to another. The new
White Fleet would be supported by a cam-
paign in which every American would have
a chance to participate and contribute. I
felt that Americans wanted to help wage
peace, and I knew they were willing to
sacrifice as long as their sacrifices were made
In behalf of sensible goals. The problems
facing the underdeveloped countries were
not beyond human comprehension. They
were not very different from those of the
American wilderness in the 17th century.
They were practical problems and lent them-
selves to practical solutions. By the time
I got home these and many other thoughts
were swirling through my mind.
My wife thought my idea had promise, but
she brought me to earth in a hurry. A thing
like this was beyond the scope of my job
as Special Research Assistant to Chief of
Naval Operations. In fact, we could not
even decide whom I should see to get the
White Fleet started. We finally agreed that
I should simply talk to anyone in an influen-
tial spot. Starting the next day, I told my
idea to everyone who would listen: business
and labor leaders, other naval officers and
people in many walks of life.
The new White Fleet gained acceptance
faster than I could have imagined. One
of my jobs in the Pentagon was congres-
sional liaison, and the first U.S. Senator to
hear of the idea asked me for a memorandum
on it. A short time later he asked for more
detailed data. Soon another Senator indi-
cated a personal interest in the proposal.
My own Congressman indicated his enthusi-
astic support as did other Congressmen from
both parties.
But I needed time to work out the details.
Fortunately in the spring of 1958 I was
sent to the U.S. Naval War College. There
as a student I had the opportunity to reflect
and to research the White Fleet concept.
After talking to literally dozens of highly
qualified people, both civilian and military,
I have yet to find one person who is against
the proposal. All have favored the fleet's
formation. Many have made specific recom-
mendations regarding its composition and its
mission. Some have underlined the impor-
tance of assigning personnel particularly
well qualified for this type of duty. They
point out, for example, that those responsi-
ble for the Navy's nuclear power program
have insisted on competent and highly
qualified personnel for many reasons, not the
least of which is the cost of one mistake.
The same would hold true with White Fleet
operations. Mistakes would prove incal-
culably expensive. The fleet should be
manned by qualified, imaginative and under-
standing personnel. One Congressman sug-
gested the White Fleet should start from the
heartland of America and sail out through
the St. Lawrence Seaway. One retired ad-
miral who is now busily engaged in civilian
pursuits volunteered to drop everything he
was doing to get the White Fleet organized.
The ships might be named for foreign
countries or cities, for rivers that flow
through several countries or for world-
famous events or mountains. They might
be named for eminent figures in the age-old
fight against disease and ignorance?Clara
Bartin, Louis Pasteur, Albert Schweitzer. Or
they might be named for the principles
which underlie the U.S. system of govern-
ment.
What kind of emergencies will rate a White
Fleet visit? One thing is certain: There will
never be a lack of such emergencies. Today,
for example, malaria is rampant in Indo-
nesia. Each year India suffers untold deaths
from dysentery.
I have no illusions that a new White Fleet
will bring peace to the world in one sweep-
ing movement. Progress toward peace will
come only a bit at a time. America may
never be able unilaterally to bring peace to
the world, but American leadership can pre-
July 21
vent the people of the world from losing
hope. That is why I propose the new White
Fleet. The main efforts for peace must of
course be made through regular government
channels and through institutions that gov-
ernments have established. But, as Presi-
dent Eisenhower has frequently said, much
can be done "people to people." This is my
hope; that the new White Fleet will bring
people closer to people.
Mr. HUMPHREY. Mr. President, I
ask unanimous consent that the text of
the concurrent resolution be printed at
this point in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the concur-
rent resolution was ordered to be printed
in the RECORD, as follows:
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Rep-
resentatives concurring), That it is the sense
of the Congress that?
(a) The President at the earliest practi-
cable time should take such action as may
be required to provide for the establishment
of a White Fleet designed and equipped to
render prompt emergency aid and assistance
to peoples of the coastal regions of other na-
tions upon the occurrence of famine, epi-
demic ? disease, earthquake, flood, hurricane,
or other disaster; and to further serve as a
vehicle for the carrying out of technical as-
sistance and training on a continuing basis
In the developing nations of the world;
(b) Such fleet should be established
through the restoration to active service and
the equipment of suitable vessels of the
United States Navy now mothballed in stor-
age but could be operated by appropriate
nonprofit private philanthropic organizations
of the United States devoted to the rendi-
tion of emergency aid and assistance to re-
lieve human suffering;
(c) The vessels of such fleet should be
suitably identified to proclaim to the world
their peaceful and beneflcient purpose, and
should be divided into task groups, each of
which should include a hospital ship for the
rendition of medical aid, a vessel suitably
equipped to generate electrical energy re-
quired to meet emergency needs, and one
or more cargo vessels suitable for use in the
transportation of clothing, medical supplies,
and other necessary supplies and equipment;
(d) Fuel and operational supplies, and
port, repair, and navigational facilities, of
the United States Navy throughout the world
should be made available to such fleet in sup-
port of its operational activities;
(e) Provision should be made for the uti-
lization of surplus food commodities of the
United States for the relief of hunger, and
for the furnishing by the United States of
medical and other supplies required for the
rendition of other necessary aid and assist-
ance, through the use of that fleet; and
(f) The cooperation of private charitable
organizations of the United States should be
utilized for the furnishing of clothing and
other relief supplies for donation to meet
the emergency needs of inhabitants of re-
gions to which task groups of the fleet would
be directed to provide assistance.
Mr. HUMPHREY. Mr. President, the
concurrent resolution which I submitted
earlier is also being submitted today in
the House of Representatives.
Exlmirr
NEsL1rrsn FROM THE DESK OF SENATOR
HUBERT H. HUMPHREY
RECAPTURING THE /NrrIATIVE
For 12 yeas now, despite occasional thaws,
the West has found it increasingly difficult
to obtain any top-level political agreements
with the Soviet bloc. And, unfortunately,
after a string of diplomatic rebuffs, the tend-
ency in the West has been to fall back on an
essentially negative and defensive attitude.
Now you just can't win by standing fast
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1959 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD ? SENATE
alone. We must somehow get off the defen-
sive, and recapture the initiative?particu-
larly in the underdeveloped areas of the
world, where the Soviet leaders have been
successfully pretending to represent a new
and more humane order of things as opposed
to the old regimes of colonialism.
WORKS OF ,PEACE
We must reorient our foreign policy to
make better use of our considerable natural
advantages?while at the same time main-
taining our shield of military defenses. We
are a generous and outgoing people?
equipped both by nature and by our tre-
mendous technical achievements to under-
take a new policy based on positive works
of peace. With our magnificent food and
fiber production in a hungry world, with our
leadership in medicine in a world filled with
disease and suffering, we are in a position to
spearhead an international drive to feed the
hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, and
teach the ignorant. Food, shelter, health,
and knowledge?these after all are the real
objectives of the downtrodden peoples of Asia
and Africa?and the way to political democ-
racy, in those areas, rather than commu-
nism, if we can beat the Soviet leaders to the
punch.
POSITIVE ACTION
We must make more aggressive use of our
food abundance, and we should lead an
International Health Year assault on the
great disease killers and cripplers of the
world. This would be positive action.
A WHITE FLEET
A dramatic symbol of American intentions
in this area would be to de-mothball a num-
ber of U.S. Navy ships and form them into a
vivid and effective task force for peace. We
could reoutfit two or three hospital ships and
renovate several other ships to carry supplies
and food and to furnish emergency power to
disaster-stricken areas in Asia and Africa.
Such a White Fleet could be sent to the
scenes of earthquake, flood, hurricane,
famine, or disease epidemics. For between
$10 million and $15 million, two groups of
White Fleet ships could be kept operating
each year?one in the Mediterranean and the
other in southeast Asia?each able to bring
help within 3 or 4 days to any disaster area
within 1,000 to 1,200 miles. They could be
given priority call on U.S. and allied ambu-
lance planes for first wave relief ahead of the
ships. Each group could throw into a port
800 to 1,000 hospital beds, operating facili-
ties and laboratories, power for a city, and
emergency rations for 300,000 people for a
full week.
TRAINING FOR HEALTH
When not on disaster assignment, the
White Fleet groups could undertake a year-
long training and technical assistance pro-
gram in health and medicine, in the ports of
scores of underdeveloped nations. In a fine
burst of initiative, a private group?the Peo-
ple to People Health Foundation?is already
planning to outfit one J.S. Navy hospital
ship for this purpose, and send it on a world
cruise. Our Government could well afford
to follow this lead in at least helping to
finance an even broader White Fleet effort.
EXHIBIT 2
SENATOR HUMPHREY CALLS FOR FOREIGN POL-
ICY OF BOTH "SUBSTANCE AND DRAMA"
Senator HUBERT H. HUMPHREY, Democrat
of Minnesota, said last night that "American
foreign policy must not only develop more
substance and vitality, but it must have
more dramatic impact," citing, as an example
of what can be done, a proposal for an
American White Fleet of mercy ships.
"Even as we demonstrate to the world
that we are utterly determined to resist
Communist agression, in this latest Soviet-
precipitated crisis, "Senator HUMPHREY de-
dared, "we oust be alert to the opportunities
to wage peace?consistently, vigorously and
dramatically."
"We must constantly seek to express the
American dedication to people, peace and
progress throughout the world?not only in
the words of peace, but in the very deeds and
works of peace," he told the Council of
Jewish Women in Washington.
"As an example of a way by which we could
forcefully underline a constructive American
foreign policy founded on health and educa-
tion and food for peace," he said, "we could
develop with a small expenditure of funds
a new American White Fleet of hospital ships
and disaster relief vessels?as a dramatic
symbol of American. intentions and Ameri-
can concern with the well-being of other
peoples."
Senator HUMPHREY announced that he will
Introduce legislation to provide two such
"White Fleet task groups" of presently moth-
balled U.S. Navy ships?designed to be op-
erated partially by Government and partially
by voluntary agencies?as disaster relief and
technical assistance units along the coast
of Africa and Asia.
"For a maximum cost of between $10 mil-
lion and $15 million per year," he estimated,
"the United States could provide effective?
and vivid, easily recognized?relief to coastal
areas which are the victims of earthquaqe,
flood, hurricane, famine or disease epidemics;
and in between -they could carry on a dra-
matic program of medical and public health
training and technical assistance."
"Each of these White Fleet task groups?
composed perhaps of one 800-bed hospital
ship, two cargo vessels for emergency sup-
plies and food, and a converted electrical
power ship, could throw into an emergency
situation 800 to 1000 hospital beds, operating
facilities and laboratories, power for a good-
sized city, and emergency rations for 300,000
people for a full week," Senator HUMPHREY
said.
Pointing out that an earlier American
White Fleet had been used by President
Theodore Roosevelt to dramatize to the
world the emergence Of the United States as
a world power, Senator HUMPHREY declared,
"A White Fleet of mercy, armed with food,
clothing, and medicine, literally stretching
out the hand of friendship and compassion
to other peoples, would do more to bring
home to the peoples of Asia and Africa? the
real spirit of the American people than 10
years of broadcasting of American good in-
tentions."
Senator HUMPHREY stressed that American
foreign policy must "recapture the initia-
tive," and it must be reoriented to make
better use of America's natural advantages.
"With our magnificent food and fiber pro-
duction in a hungry world," he said "with
our leadership in medicine in a world filled
with disease and suffering, we are in a mag-
nificent position to spearhead an interna-
tional drive to feed the hungry, clothe the
naked, heal the sick, and to teach the ig-
norant."
"The works of peace?food for peace,
health for peace, education for peace, science
for peace?ought to be as chnspicuous in
American foreign policy as the Washington
monument in our capital city," Senator
HUMPHREY declared. "We must hammer
away on this theme unrelentingly?and de-
velop a whole series of specific, concrete pro-
grams to implement?generalities are not
enough."
Senator HUMPHREY predicted that the Sen-
ate would shortly take favorable action in
one such concrete program?the proposal by
Senator LISTER HILL, Democrat of Alabama,
Senator HUMPHREY, and others, to establish
an International Medical Research Institute.
"Here again," he said, "is an example of
constructive programing, with dramatic im-
pact?the kind of action and program that
12645
cannot, be discounted or effectively disre-
garded by the most virulent Communist
propaganda attacks."
Senator HUMPHREY, whose subcommittee
Is conducting a searching study of interna-
tional medical research, told the Council of
Jewish Women that the "outstanding prog-
ress" of health and medicine in Israel was
one of the great achievements of the Jewish
culture?"a vivid example of what can be
done through the works of peace, a dramatic
beacon light to encourage similar achieve-
ment throughout Asia and Africa."
[From the Washington Evening Star, Mar.
11, 1959]
SENATOR PROPOSES FLEET
A proposal for a fleet of American white
mercy or hospital ships to lend impact to
this country's foreign policy was made last
night by Senator HUBERT HUMPHREY, Of
Minnesota.
"American foreign policy must not only
develop more substance and vitality, but it
must have more dramatic impact," he told
a meeting of the Washington section of the
National Council of Jewish Women in the
Ades Israel Temple.
"As an example of a way by which we
could forcefully underline a constructive
American foreign policy founded on health
and education and food for peace," the Sen-
ator said, "we could develop with a small
expenditure of funds a new American White
Fleet of hospital ships and disaster relief ves-
sels?as a dramatic symbol of American in-
tentions and American concern with the
well-being of other peoples."
TO LEGISLATE
Senator HUMPHREY announced that he will
shortly introduce legislation to provide two
such White Fleet task groups of presently
mothballed U.S. Navy ships?designed
to be operated partially by Govern-
ment and partially by voluntary agencies?
as disaster relief and technical assistance
units along the coasts of Africa and Asia.
Pointing out that an earlier American
White Fleet had been used by President
Theodore Roosevelt to dramatize to the
world the emergence of the United States as
a world power, Senator HUMPHREY explained
that such a fleet would do more to bring
home to the peoples of Asia and Africa the
real spirit of the American people than 10
years of broadcasting American good inten-
tions."
FOREIGN POLICY
Senator HUMPHREY stressed that American
foreign policy must "recapture the initia-
tive" and that it must be reoriented to make
better use of America's natural advantages.
"With our magnificent food and fiber pro-
duction in a hungry world," he said, "with
our leadership in medicine in a world filled
with disease and suffering, we are in a
magnificent position to spearhead an inter-
national drive to feed the hungry, clothe the
naked, heal the sick, and teach the ignorant."
The speaker predicted that the Senate may
soon take favorable action on a proposal to
establish an International Medical Research
Institute. "Here again," he said, "is an ex-
ample of constructive programing, with
dramatic impact?the kind of action and
program that cannot be discounted or effec-
tively disparaged by the most virulent Com-
munist propaganda attacks."
Mr. MORSE. Mr. President, I wish
to compliment the Senator from Minne-
sota for ,the speech he has made during
the last few minutes. I commend him
for its humanitarian motivation. I
wish to compliment him for its mani-
festation of the high moral principles
for which our Republic historically has
stood. I compliment him because I be-
lieve he has offered a program which
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD ? SENATE
presents us with a great opportunity to
demonstrate to the world that we are
not only a Nation which seeks peace,
but we are also a Nation which places
human values first and which recog-
nizes that human values are bottomed
on spiritual values.
Mr. President, I believe the speech we
have heard in the last few minutes does
honor to those who formed our Repub-
lic, because when we read the great con-
stitutional debates which gave birth to
our Republic, we find in ,them the kind
of spiritual value to which the Senator
from Minnesota has referred today. I
want him to know that as a member,
with him, of the Foreign Relations Com-
mittee, I shall do everything I can to
support the noble, humanitarian, and
moral cause for which he had pleaded
this afternoon.
Mr. HUMPHREY. Mr. President, I
express to the Senator from Oregon my
thanks and my appreciation for his
reference to me personally, and, above
all, for his support of the idea and the
concept embodied in the resolution. I
know he will be, as he always is, of
tremendous help in making it a reality,
because it fits into the moral and ethical
philosophy of the Senator from Oregon.
1,Mr. MORSE. I appreciate the re-
marks of he Senator from Minnesota.
ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION
ON A DEPARTMENT_ OF SCIENCE
AND TECHNOLOGY
- Mr. HUMPHREY. Mr. President, last
month the Committee on Government
Operations favorably reported Senate
bill 1851, which it was my privilege to in-
troduce, on behalf of myself and Sena-
tors CAPEHART, MUNDT, GRUENING, MUS-
;CIE, YARBOROUGH, and KEATING. This bill
would establish a Commission to be
known as the Commission on a Depart-
ment of Science and Technology. The
purpose of the Commission would be to
make a full and complete investigation
and study to determine the desirability
of establishing a Department of Science
and Technology, as well as to explore
what functions now exercised by other
departments should be transferred to
such a new Department, if it is recom-
mended that the establishment of such
a Department is desirable. I am hope-
ful that in the near future the bill will
be called up for Senate consideration.
The support for this measure to create
such a Commission has been most en-
couraging. I ask unanimous consent
that a copy of a letter which I recently
received from Joseph Kaplan, Chairman
of the U.S. National Committee for the
International Geophysical Year 1957-58,
of the National Academy of Science-
National Research Council, in support of
this proposal, be inserted at this point in
the RECORD.
There being no objection, the letter
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
NATIONAL ACADEMY OP SCIENCES,
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE `UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Washington D.C., July 8, 1959.
Hon. HUBERT H. HUMPHREY,
U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.
DEAR SENATOR HUMPHREY: Thank you very
much for sending me a copy of the recent
report on the. proposal for a commission to
study the problem of establishing a De-
partment of Scienee and Technology. My
reaction to the proposal for establishing a
commission is a very favorable one.
I was particularly struck by your emphasis
on the need for more direct relationships be-
tween scientists and Members of the Con-
grass. Those of us, who were privileged to
represent the National Academy of Sciences
in the hearings on the International Geo-
physical Year, enjoyed and valued these con-
tacts, and felt that they played a signifi-
cant part in the eventual success of the
IGY.
Thank you again.
Sincerely,
JOSEPH KAPLAN,
Chairman, U.S. National Committee,
International Geophysical Year,
1957-58.
SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES REPORT
OF AMERICAN LEGION COMMITTEE
Mr. HUMPHREY. Mr. President, the
Department of Minnesota of the Ameri-
can Legion, and particularly the anti-
subversive committee of the department,
has done an outstanding job in setting
forth in clear, unequivocal terms the role
of good government in dealing with sub-
versive activities.
The annual report of the committee,
whose chairman is Mr. Wilbur T. Lind-
holm, and whose other members are Mr.
Ed Ryan, sheriff of Hennepin County of
Minnesota; and Mr. William F. Proetz,
chief of police of St. Paul, Minn., is a
splendid document.
-Therefore,`Mr. President, I ask unani-
mous consent to have printed at this
point in the RECORD the report, entitled
"Subversive Activities," issued by the
antisubversive committee of the Ameri-
can Legion.
There being no objection, the report
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES
During the year, this committee continued
to function as it has in the recent past.
Our participation in antisubversive activities
concentrated on cooperating with the Fed-
eral Bureau of Investigation. We did not
attempt to compete with them in matters
Involving police work.
We have tried to encourage the practice
of real Americanism without resorting to
demagoguery or bigotry. It has been our
feeling that this country can most effectively
combat communism through demonstrating
by deeds, as well as words, the advantages
of freedom over totalitarianism. In taking
this stand, we reaffirm our unshaken confi-
dence in the superiority of our form of Gov-
ernment and its ability to triumph in this
fundamental struggle of liberty versus
slavery.
We have expressed concern and opposition
to loose, unsupported accusations of un-
American activity. We have promoted the
doctrine, of individual freedom and human
rights by advocating a strict adherence to
the basic principle of government by law
which presumes innocence until guilt has
been proved under due process.
We have not underestimated the cunning
evil of atheistic communism, nor have we
been unaware of the insidious methods em-
ployed by Communists to gain their fixed
goal of world conquest. We refuse, how-
ever, to become so overwhelmed with fear
that we .are willing to abdicate our demo-
cratic principles.
We have concluded that true American-
ism represents that which is best for Amer-
ica. This has led us to completely reject
July 21
the philosophy of isolationism in this mod-
ern era. We are convinced that our in-
volvement in world affairs makes our very
existence dependent on our ability to co-
operate with the remainder of the free
world.
As veterans of wars that were fought to
protect world freedom, we believe that our
efforts are now best directed when they pro-
mote positive, 100-percent Americanism that
is in keeping with 20th century facts.
We are willing, therefore, to leave sub-
versive police work in the very capable
hands of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
GOVERNMENT TIMBER CONTRACTS
Mr. MORSE. Mr. President, recently,
at the request of the Western Pine As-
sociation, of Portland, Oreg., I present-
ed to the Comptroller General of the
United States a problem relating to the
estimation of timber volumes upon
which sales of Government timber are
based.
The Comptroller General supplied a
very comprehensive reply; and I ask
unanimous consent that his letter be in-
cluded in the RECORD at the conclusion
of my remarks.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection it is so ordered.
(See exhibit 1.)
Mr. MORSE. Mr. President, because
this particular statement of the Comp-
troller General will be of interest to
many in the forest-products industry
who purchase Governmenetimber, I am
using this means of making the letter
available as a matter of general knowl-
edge.
In substance, the Comptroller General
makes it clear that when the Govern-
ment sells timber, it is quite likely that
more than the estimate, not less, will be
cut. The sale of timber by the Govern-
ment is on a caveat emptor basis. It
would be prejudicial to the Government's
interest to guarantee these estimates.
Dissatisfied contractors may take un-
satisfactory administrative decisions to
the Comptroller General, as provided in
title 31, United States Code, section 71,
and also to the courts, as provided by title
28, United States Code, sections 1346 and
1491. It is the opinion of the Comp-
troller General that adequate appeal
procedures exist in this field.
Exnrerr 1
COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE
UNITED STATES,
Washington, July 2, 1969.
HOD. WATER MORSE,
U.S. Senate.
DEAR SENATOR MORSE: Further reference
is made to your letter of April 10, 1959, for-
warding for our attention a letter dated
April 1, 1959, from the Western Pine Asso-
ciation concerning the estimation of timber
volumes by the Government upon which
the sales of timber are based. You spe-
cifically request that we advise you of the
relief that presently can be obtained by
purchasers where the amount of timber ac-
tually cut is less than the estimated vol-
ume, and whether any special steps are
needed to afford a more equitable treat-
ment of purchasers than is now provided
by law.
Our review of this matter undertaken at
the Forest Service, Department of Agricul-
ture, and the Bureaus of Indian Affairs and
Land Management, Department of the In-
terior, is set out below with particular ref-
erence to the contracting procedures and
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