SENATE VOTES A CURB
Document Type:
Collection:
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST):
CIA-RDP71B00364R000200030001-2
Release Decision:
RIFPUB
Original Classification:
K
Document Page Count:
11
Document Creation Date:
December 16, 2016
Document Release Date:
January 5, 2005
Sequence Number:
1
Case Number:
Publication Date:
September 18, 1969
Content Type:
NSPR
File:
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
CIA-RDP71B00364R000200030001-2.pdf | 1.39 MB |
Body:
NEW YOAipprpy r Release 2005/01/27D F LR E4R0002MQ@ft@01-2
Senate Votes a Curb
By JOHN W. FINNEY
Special to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Sept. 17
The Senate unanimously
adopted an amendment today
ostensibly designed to prevent
American troops from being
committed to combat in Thai-
land or Laos.
Whether the amendment
would have such effect was
'disputed by the Defense Depart-
ment and Senator John Stennis
of Mississippi, chairman of the
Senate Armed Services Commit-
tee.
The amendment was offered
by Senator John Sherman
iCooper, Republican of Ken-
Itucky, and approved by an 86-
1o-0 vote after a confused de-
bate that left the amendment
open to widely different inter-
pretations.
The amendment, to a $20-
billion military authorization
bill, specified that none of the
funds could be used for Amer-
ican combat support of "local
forces" in Thailand or Laos.
His purpose, Senator Cooper
declared, was to "prevent, if
from moving step by step into
war in Laos or Thailand, as it
did in Vietnam."
Senator Stennis argued that
the Cooper Amendment would
apply to only $2.5-billion in
military aid for Thailand and
Laos, as well as south Viet-
nam. Thus, he contended, the
amendment would impose no
restriction on the use of other
military funds to support
combat operations in Laos or
Thailand.
In this contention Mr. Sten-
nis was supported by a De-
fense Department memoran-
dum that he read to the Senate.
The memorandum said that
under the amendment the cur-
rent military aid to local
forces in Laos and Thailand
could be continued and the
amendment would "have no
impact on the use of funds
for support of U.S. forces in
Laos or Thailand."
Throughout the debate ran
an element of uncertainty over
Continued on Page 11, Colunm I
whether American forces might
already be committed in Thai-
land and Laos without any
official acknowledgment by the
Administration and without
any specific approval by Con-
gress.
At one point, Senator Cooper
questioned whether "the Presi-
dent and the Secretary of De-
fense don't want it [the
amendment] because we al-,
ready have forces fighting in
aos or Thailand."
The Senate action came as
iispatches from Laos reported
important military gains by
Laotian Government forces,
with United States air and
logistical support, against the
Pathet Lao, Communist-led
guerrillas.
Senator Cooper - without
any specific contradiction by
Senator Stennis - said "I
think we are fighting there."
But he noted that neither the
Pentagon nor the State Depart-
ment had ever told Congression-
al committees that American
troops were engaged in combat
in Laos or Thailand.
45,000 Troops in Thailand
The United tSates has 45,000
troops in Thailand, with Ameri-
can bases there used for
baplbing operations in South
Vietnam. Except for an inci-
dent a few years ago in which
American pilots were flying
helicopters carrying Thai
troops, there has been no pub-
lic indication that American
troops were assisting Thai
forces in operations against in-
surgents.
In Laos, the United States
nducts bombing operations
against enemy supply lines
leading into South Vietnam.'
The Central Intelligence Agen-
cy is known to provide logistic
support to the neutralist
Government, but again there
Tam- been no official confirma-
t that American troops are
viding combat support.
nder r a recently disclosed
c itingency plan signed in 1946,
t e United States agreed to
supply combat troops to help
Thafland resist attack through
Laos.
The Nixon Administration
'however, has made clear that
it is not necessarily bound by
the plan, and the effect of the
Senate adoption of the Cooper
Amendment could be to further
vitiate the effectiveness of the
controversial agreement by the
Johnson Administration.
For all the confusion ,today
it seemed apparent that Sena?
tor Cooper had taken the Sen?
ate one step toward using its
control over funds to prevent
the Administration from com-
mitting the nation to war in
Laos or Thailand without ap-
proval by Congress.
As the majority leader, Sena-
tor Mike Mansfield, summed
it up at the conclusion of the
debate:
"The purpose is well known
-to see that we do not back
into another Vietnam in Laos or Thailand."
Senator Stennis said he sup
ported the purpose of the Coop-
er amendment, although he be-
lieved it ineffective as phrased.;
Thus a more restrictive amend-1
ment may be offered to the ap-
propriations bill when it
reaches the Senate floor this
fall.
A national commitments res-
olution voted by the Senate in
June called on the Administra-
tion not to commit American
troops to foreign hostilities
without "affirmative action" by
Congress. The Cooper amend-
ment was seen as a further
manifestation of the rising de-
mand in the Senate for a check
on the foreign policy powers of
the executive branch, particu-
larly on the war-making
powers,
Approved For Release 2005/01/27 : CIA-RDP71B00364R000200030001-2
Approved For Release 2005/01/27: CIA-RD 0 4R0002(~OQ01-2
NEW YORK TIMES DATE
U. S.-Backed Laos Troops
Capture Two ReberAreas
Thai Force Also Used
By T. D. ALLMAN
Special to The New Yo~tlk T1mee
VIENTIANE, Laos, Sept. 171
-In a series of secret military
operations in the last three
weeks, American-backed troops
have seized two strategic areas
of Laos long held by pro-Com-
munist forces.
In northeast Laos, rightist;
forces, stiffened by Thai sol-
diers and officers, have seized
the Plaine des Jarres, a strategic
area 105 miles north of here.
The plain had been held by the
Communist since 1964. In cen-
tral Laos, similar forces have
pushed east along Route 9.
Integrated Planning Reported
Reliable sources confirmed
today that Laotian Government,
troops, with heavy United.
States air and logistic support,
had taken Khang Khai, until
recently the site of a Chinese
Communist diplomatic mission,
and Sepone.
In addition, Laotian troops
have seized the town of Muong
Phine, also in central Laos, and
the towns of Muong Phanh,
Xieng Khouangville, Ban Ban,
Ban Lat Sene and Phong Savan
-all in the Plaine des Jarres
area.
Well - informed sources today'
said that the successes were)
the result of fully integrated`
American-Laotian military
planning and the most intense;
American bombing ever seen
in Laos. So far, the advances
Continued on Page 10, Column 1
have met little resistance, lead-
Ing military observers to be.
lieve that the offensives caught
the Communist-led Pathet Lao
and their North Vietnamese al-
lies by surprise.
The sources said Laotian
Royal Thai soldiers, in Laotian scale troop withdrawals from
uniforms. had moved onto the South Vietnam.
plain and west along Route 9 United States B-52 strikes
rseveral towns and then trail have Laotian
had leveled increased gre t-
scattered small defending lY in the last two weeks, the
forces. sources said. They said as many
The offensives, planned late as 500 sorties a day were be-I
last month at conferences late ing flown over Laos, and that
Long Cheng in northeast Laos the increase in bombing in Laos
land' at Savannakhet in central was part of the reason for the
1_2.os. appear designed to deal lull in the air war in South
the Communists a serious blow Vietnam.
American participation in both
the Plaine des Jarres and Ho
as United States troops ar,
withdrawn from Vietnam.
The thrust into northeas
Laos - where during the las
years the Government positioi
had steadily deteriorated -
counteracts rebel military vie
tories that seemed to discredi
the neutralist Laotian Premier
Prince Souvanna Phouma.
In June, North Vietnamese
and Pathet Lao troops seized
Muong Soui, a neutralist base,
northwest of the plain.
Goal Is No Cid Mink Trail
The thrust across central
Laos, according to well-in-
formed sources, is an attempt
to use Laotian and Thai troops
to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail
and reduce North Vietnamese
infiltration into South Vietnam.
"In a very real sense, the
War in Vietnam is now being
fought in Laos," said one dip-
lomatic source today. He said
the American-Laotian thrust to-
ward the South Vietnamese
border might provide the Nixon
Administration with reduction
in infiltration to justify large-
Chi Minh Trail campaigns now
extends to the field level, the
sources said. They confirmed
that United States planes - of
Air America, Continental Air
Services and the United States
Air Force - were flying rein-
forcements, supplies and arths
to advanced areas, while Amer-
ican Army officers and agents
of the Central Intelligence Agen-
cy were advising local com-
manders. So far, there has
been at least one confirmed
American battle death in Laos.
It occurred last week when an
American C.LA, agent was
killed bq gunfire at an ad-
vanced post.
Approved For Release 2005/01/27 : CIA-RDP71B00364R000200030001-2
NEW YC R oP 1 -Release 2005/01/27 : F ,{1P?7 R00020 M1-2 L,-p jib g4 4t..
A `Vietnam' in Laos?
When the United States is trying painfully to extri-
cate itself from one war in Vietnam, it is disturbing
to learn how heavily Americans troops are involved
in military operations in neighboring Laos.
A Times dispatch from Vientiane describes massive
American air support, along with advice on the ground,
for two thrusts by Laotian Government forces against
their Communist enemy. It quotes a diplomat as say-
ing, "In a very real sense, the war in Vietnam is now
being fought in Laos." Senator Stuart Symington adds
that the United States actually has been at war in Laos
"for years."
The only American operations in Laos of which most
of the Congress and the country have been aware are
the bombing attacks against supplies moving along the
Ho Chi Minh Trail into South Vietnam. Now come re-
ports of American planes flying reinforcements, arms
and supplies to front-line forces, and of American
Army officers and C.I.A. agents advising local com-
manders.
No wonder that Senators who were never informed
of such an involvement even in secret briefings are
reacting in anger by trying to bar the use of funds in
a $20-billion military authorization bill for American
combat support of local forces in Laos or Thailand. A
measure of the Senate concern that "we do not back
into another Vietnam," as Majority Leader Mansfield
puts it, is the 86-to-0 vote for this restrictive amend-
ment.
It is impossible to fathom Administration thinking
on this astonishing business-President Nixon and
his associates are well aware of the earlier concern on
Capitol Hill about the extent of the American commit-
ment to Thailand; they can hardly have forgotten the
overwhelming approval last June of a Senate resolu-
tion calling on the Executive not to commit troops or
financial resources to foreign countries without the
express approval of Congress.
This kind of clandestine involvement seems, as Sen-
ator Albert Gore says, to illustrate the extent to which
the military establishment makes United States foreign
policy. Or perhaps it simply indicates that no one in
the Administration is really in charge of that policy.
The evasiveness of State Department and Pentagon
comment on the nature of-Current operations in Laos
indicates the need for a spay inquiry.
Approved For Release 2005/01/27 : CIA-RDP71B00364R000200030001-2
WASHlR ft W lease 2005DATE: Cam- 71B00364R000200030001-2
~~.. 1 PAGE EP1'RaL4 kL
Waist Deep in Laos (II.)
"Pull your chair up close to the edge of the
precipice and let me tell you a story."
-F. Scott Fitzgerald.
The State Department's explanation of the
American position in Laos was entirely unsatisfac-
tory, since it elided the two major questions that
have raised public and congressional criticism. The
department declined to specify precisely what the
833-man American country team in Laos is doing,
its "roles and missions" in Pentagon argot; second,
it did not give any coherent explanation of Ameri-
can objectives. Worse, there is reason to doubt
that the 833-man figure is even accurate. So we
are on square one today-as yesterday.
Since the early 1960s, American policy in Laos
has been based on a single premise, fundamentally
negative, but in the early days probably wise. It
was the premise that it would be easier to stop
doing what we were doing if no one knew we were
doing it in the first place. Only in America in the
1960s can a sentence like that be written, but
eccentric as it sounds it appears to be the case.
Having put the chair at the precipice in the dark
of night, you could pull it back with no one being
the wiser. It is easier to liquidiate an unknown
position than a known one, and in a condition as
persistently confusing as Laos it was convenient
to suppress extraneous pressures; equally, if it all
turned out well and Laos metamorphosed Into an
East Asian Switzerland those who direct American
policy could take just and anonymous satisfaction
in a job well done. Translated, that means that the
war hawks can hardly set up a screeching for a
war not known to exist; similarly, the doves are
kept at bay. What has happened is that the war
in Laos has proceeded in a vacuum, uniquely iso-
Iated from the domestic pressures which have so
transformed the Vietnamese struggle. A case can
be made for this policy, though it is doubtful that
anyone who truly believed in a free society would
want to make it. In any case, what the critics are
asking for now is not a policy reversal but a de-
tailed explanation of what the policy is. What are
Americans doing in Laos and why?
The conventional response of American officials
to demands for more information on the American
involvement in Laos is an embarrassed smile and
a reference to the Geneva Accords, which forbid
American military intervention. In the nett breath,
anyone who asks is told that the North Vietnamese
have violated the accords to the extent of some
50,000 troops in eastern Laos. But one asks: For
whom is the fiction of the accords being preserved?
Everyone in Vientiane from the concierge of the
Constellation Hotel to the Chinese amabassador
knows what is happening, is aware of the American
advisers, the logistics support, the air strikes, Thai
troops and all the rest. It is common knowledge in
Bangkok and in Saigon, not to mention Hanoi and
Peking. Recently, _thanks to some aggressive ?e-
parting by American newspapermen, the public
apparen+Iy deep1i involve But, in practice, the
only people who are left in the dark about the
full extent of the American commitment are the
ones with the most at stake after the Laotians
themselves, the American people.
Without being absolutely certain, the suspicion
is that the situation in Laos is now at a critical
point. The administration will be forced to choose
how far and how fast to push its military plans,
or whether to scale them down to smaller pro-
portions. So it is time then to take the war out of
its vacuum and tell the American people the story,
explain precisely what is at stake there. Is Laos
vital to the American national interest? Is it vital
to the prosecution (or resolution) of the war in
Vietnam? Is it now part of the war in Vietnam?
How many American troops (or advisers, or what-
ever other euphemism the administration chooses
to use) are involved?
This administration might, as a collateral matter,
reveal any commitments, written or verbal, given to
the Laotians. Is there a secret agreement with Laos,
as there is with Thailand? And, if there is, the
administration ought to explain why we haven't
been told about it.
Approved For Release 2005/01/27 : CIA-RDP71B00364R000200030001-2
Approved For Release 2005/01/27 : CIA-RDP71B00364R000200030001-2
S 11558
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE September 30, 1969
throughout the country. The amendment
provides a logical and practical solution to
a major crisis in education, and undoubtedly
will have widespread support.
Unquestionably the disadvantaged young-
sters in the Chicago public schools need
much more help than they are presently re-
ceiving and S. 2625 would help to provide it.
We could really utilize more than the 30%
"add-on" for fiscal year 1970, but this is a
great step in the right direction.
You were wise to specify that the funds
were to be restricted to the elementary grades
since this is the level at which it will do
the most good. If the educational assistance
is not provided to the disadvantaged at an
early age, no later help can make up for the
lost years. Concentration of the additional
funds in the schools having the greatest
need is also a very sound policy which has
been proven over the past several years in
the regular ESEA Title I programs in our
city.
Your amendment appears to be extremely
well thought out and its passage should do
much for children in the urban and rural
disadvantaged areas. You may be certain that
it has the complete support of the Chicago
public schools, and that we will extend every
effort to assist in obtaining approval by Con-
gress.
With every best wish for the early passage
of S. 2625.
Sincerely,
JAMES F. REDMOND,
General Superintendent of Schools.
NOMINATION OF ROBERT E.
WIECZOROWSKI
Mr. PERCY. Mr. President, today Pres-
ident Nixon is announcing the nomina-
tion of Robert E. Wieczorowski, of Chi-
cago, to be Executive Director for the
United States at the International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development.
This is a fine choice. I have known Mr.
Wieczorowski for many years, and can
vouch for his business and civic leader-
ship in the Middle West where he has
been an outstanding investment banker
and a guiding force in the development
of the Chicago Council on Foreign Rela-
tions. During his 4 years as president
of the council he vastly expanded the
council's activities in public information
and education.
Mr. Wieezorowski's selection is the
latest in a series of appointments of
distinguished Illinoisans by the Presi-
dent. I am pleased to express the pride
of the people of Illinois in our State's
contribution o the service of the Nation.
CLOSED TREATY HEARINGS
mitments, and they have a right to know
the extent and details of our national
commitments.
DESIGN CONCEPT TEAMS
Mr. TYDINGS. Mr. President, I invite
attention to two articles in Innovation
magazine about the highway program
and the city of Baltimore. There has been
a good deal of controversy over the ad-
vance of the superhighways in Balti-
more, as in many other cities, and in one
of the articles that I shall place in the
RECORD today, this battle is described.
In Baltimore, we have been exceptional-
ly fortunate in having our urban high-
way planning done in a unique manner
with design concept teams. This new ap-
proach to planning is a very significant
breakthrough for our cities.
Therefore, I shall place in the RECORD
an article describing the design concept
teams and their use in Baltimore. The
article was written by Archibald Rogers
the originator of this design concept
team and a partner in the outstanding
architectural firm of Rogers, Taliaferro,
Kostritsky, Lamb.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent
that these two articles be printed in the
RECORD. I also hope to address the Senate
in the near future about design concept
teams and our urban highway program.
There being no objection, the articles
were ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
How To COMBINE EXPERTS' IDEAS AND CrrI-
ZENS' IDEAS AND YOUR OWN PROFESSIONAL
TALENTS IN BUILDING AN ENVIRONMENT
THAT IS RIGHT FOR PEOPLE
Over the next thirty years, we of the United
States will spend several trillion dollars to
rebuild cur physical environment. Billions for
new homes. Billions for highways. Billions for
the renewal of our cities.
Come what may, those trillions will be
spent.
But how? What kind of environment are
we creating? And the big question, the ques-
tion that hangs heavy over us-threatening
a resounding no:
Can a democracy build a beautiful en-
vironment--beautiful in both a humane and
aesthetic sense?
The answer I keep hearing is not really an
answer at all. "Why certainly it can," goes
the ringing response, "provided we set aside
democratic processes."
Many important people hold to this belief.
And many who are concerned about aesthet-
ics, including a good number of my col-
leagues in architecture, will tell you that
"the people" are not to be trusted in this
area called urban design.
I cannot agree. I say not only must the
people be trusted, but that there is no alter-
native. We saw this in Baltimore-as re-
counted by David Allison in last month's
Innovation-where the community organized
itself against the expressways. The people
will fight you unless you involve them, un-
less they feel they are participants in the de-
sign process.
Baltimore encouraged a degree of com-
You also need the people, the community.
organized as a team themselves. And along
with the community team and the design
team, you must establish what I call a deci-
sion-making team.
These are the three essential components
in the urban design process. Within these
next pages, I will talk about their makeup,
their working relationships, and how this
triumvirate can achieve a new order of urban
design.
I will speak from the viewpoint of the
architect, since architecture is my profes-
sional base. But as I discuss the problem of
rebuilding our physical environment, I will
assume that you bring a different professional
perspective to it. Perhaps you are as systems
engineer, or a banker, or a politician, or a
scientist. I will assume further that you have
a professional skill to offer in solving this
problem of environmental renewal-as a po-
tential member of one of the three teams I
will be describing, whether as a member of
the design team, the decisionmaking team,
or as a representative of the community.
I have always said that great design is not
a produce of a great architect. Great design
is a product of a great architect with a great
client. To cite Baltimore again, I believe the
community of Baltimore is at least latently
a great client-and I know that its design
team is potentially a great architect. I believe
this architect working with this client can
indeed produce a great work of civic archi-
tecture.
But to achieve what it has thus far, Balti-
more had to go through some agonizing re-
appraisals. It had to learn that the true
client is not that mythical character called
the "highway uses"-the man who is pre-
sumed to spend his life in his automobile and
who cheers for new expressways wherever
they can be built. What Baltimore taught-
and what is being taught in a score of cities-
is that the true client is the community
itself.
As of today, the Baltimore project is still
no more than an experiment-an idea for
solving the design and political problems of
urban expressways. Many years will pass be-
fore we know whether the experiment was a
success. But meanwhile the idea itself is
catching on. A design team is at work in
Chicago and others are being formed in Cam-
bridge and Seattle.
What encourages me about these various
experiments is the fact that the experience
gained from them is bound to be valuable
in many other areas-beyond the immediate
problem of urban expressways.
The fact is, the design team idea is appli-
cable to nearly every scale of project from
that scale we normally classify as archi-
tecture to a much larger scale, a national
scale. Here I am referring to national plan-
ning-and this is the second subject I want
to discuss, for I believe that our nation is
now prepared-perhaps for the first time
since the days of Thomas Jefferson-to think
,about something as comprehensive as a
national plan.
But not by the old methods-the old
procedures of design. Indeed, I believe the
real significance of the design teams-in
Baltimore and the other cities-is that they
may herald the emergence of a new archi-
tecture that may prove as important for
Western culture as did the earlier experiment
of the twenties within the Bauhaus under
Walter Gropius.
To understand this new architecture, we
Mr. PERCY. Mr. President, the Sena-
tor from Arizona (Mr. GOLDWaTER) has
urged that the closed hearings before
the Subcommittee on Security Agree-
ments and Commitments Abroad of the
Committee on Foreign Relations be
opened to the press and the public. He
states that "there is no reason for secrecy
in questions involving treaties which were
openly ratified by the Senate," and he
contends that "there are no security mat-
ters that would be breached by cautious
questioning of witnesses in open ses-
sion."
I agree with Senator GOLDWATER and
I commend him for speaking out. The
American people pay the bills in blood
and treasure for our foreign treaty com-
munity participation, through the creation must appraise conventional architecture as
of its Design Concept Team. (It was my practiced today. To my profession, its clien-
proposal that such a team be set up in Balti- tele, and the general public, architecture is
more, but I did not serve as a member.) generally understood to consist of inde-
However, the creation of a design team pendent buildings-as individual elements
of professional specialists-architects, social against the backdrop of landscape or street-
scientists, engineers, and so on-is only one scape. From this conventional view has
step toward the kind of community involve- sprung an obsessive concern with external
ment I am talking about. appearance, and many gifted designers at-
The design team alone is not the answer. tempting what architect Ming Pei calls "head
Approved For Release 2005/01/27 : CIA-RDP71B00364R000200030001-2
Approved For Release 2005/01/27 : CIA-RDP71B00364R000200030001-2
September 30, 1969
eign depletion rates as applied to the pro-
duction of iron ore and urges that the rates
for both remain at 15 percent.
Foreign Tax Credit
Urges that the present rules for the com-
putation of the foreign tax credit be retained.
Believes that in attempting to eliminate a
possible "double benefit", the House bill does
violence to other sections of the Code and
should be rejected.
States that the House proposals adversely
affect their international competitive posi-
tion. Suggests that American capital must
develop foreign iron ore reserves, not only
to complement our domestic supplies but in
order that United States controlled opera-
tions can effectively compete in the foreign
markets for iron ore.
Charles E. Brady, on behalf of the National
Sand & Gravel Association
Sand and Gravel Industry
Notes that the sand and gravel industry
Is the largest nonfuel mineral industry in
the United States. Indicates that sand and
inexhaustible natural re-
gravel is not an
source, but that currently held reserves had
a life expectancy of 24 years as of 1963.
States that sand and gravel operations,
must be located close to metropolitan areas;
and that the land price for operations has, increased substantially. Argues that without
a depletion allowance of at least 5 percent,
the sand and gravel industry will not be able
to locate and acquire the necessary land close
to the market.
Earle T. Andrews, member, taxation com-
mittee, National Industrial Sand Association
Mineral Depletion Allowance
Opposes the proposed rate reduction in de-
pletion for industrial sand from 15 to 11
percent. Argues that the proposal is contrary
to national policy to encourage development
of mineral resources. States that this change
was not based upon any study of either the
industrial sand industry or the mining in-
dustries generally.
Contends that the proposed rate reduction
would be a serious dislocation to the econ-
omies of the industrial sand industry, yet
not greatly increase tax revenues.
S. James Campbell, National Crushed Stone
Association
Percentage Depletion for Crushed Stone
States that the reasons which caused the
Congress in 1951 to grant the crushed stone
industry a depletion allowance of 5 percent
on construction aggregates and 15 percent on
chemical and agricultural stone are even
more compelling today and require the con-
tinuance of this treatment. Expresses the
opinion that a change in a tax provision is
not a "reform," if the reasons which
prompted the provisions originally remain
valid.
States that the depletion allowance incen-
tive is needed if the production of stone is to
meet projected demand. Notes that market-
able stone is becoming more difficult to lo-
cate, and the capital investment required to
open and develop a stone quarry is becoming
greater.
Urges the retention of the present rates of
depletion for the crushed stone industry in
order that the needs of this Nation will be
properly supplied in 1985 and in the year
2000.
Philip L. Corson, chairman, tax committee,
National Lime Association
Percentage Depletion of Limestone
Points out that high-quality limestone is
indispensable in the manufacture of iron and
steel and in the bene`iciation of copper ore
and copper refining, and states that known
reserves of high-quality ("metallurgical
grade") limestone in this country are in rela-
tively short supply.
States that limestone companies are being
forced to invest heavily in elaborate dust con-
trol equipment and systems in order to com-
ply with recent stringent air pollution stand-
ards.
Requests the restoration to the House bill
of the current 15 percent depletion rate on
limestone as well as the 5 percent rate on
construction aggregates.
Paul W. Seitz, first vice president, board of
directors, National Limestone Institute, Inc.
Percentage Depletion of Limestone
Opposes the proposed reduction under the
House bill in the existing percentage deple-
tion rates for limestone from 15 and 5 percent
to 11 and 4 percent. States that the proposed
reductions indicate a significant change from
the policy which recognized that mineral
resources are wasting assets.
gerally, and that it is unlikely the Ways
aaid Means Committee even considered them
;n terms of any mining industries other than
oil and gas.
Suggests that investors in the limestone
industry need the incentive of percentage
depletion to develop limestone deposits and
to efficiently produce marketable limestone
products.
Depletion of Real Estate
States that the House proposals respecting
depletion of real estate would result in, a seri-
ous impact on the cash flow of the iron ore
mining industry. States that the provisions
are brood enough in scope to include appre-
ciable industrial real estate constructed or
acquired for use as an integral part of a
mining operation.
Does not oppose the recapture provisions
of the House bill-states the provisions pro-
vide ample protection against so-called
abuses involving real estate depletion.
Rln/ize Si-npson, Jr., first vice president,
Gypsum Association
Percentage Depletion Rates
Opposes any reduction in percentage de-
pletion rates. Requests, in the alternative,
relief for gypsum from the gesi ral 30-per-
cent reduction in percentage depl4ion rates.
Points out that the principal markht for the
gypsum mining industry is products:used in
residential construction, which has b6en ar-
tificially depressed by high interest rate. In-
dicates that the need for residential con-
struction, particularly in urban centers, ,Sts a
pressing national problem. States that the
gypsum industry has in the past and hopes
in the future to aid in solving this problem
but that this will take funds which are re-
stricted because of depressed housing. Ur s
the retention of the percentage deplet~n
rate for gypsum under the precedent estdb-
Iished in the House bill continuing acoel-
crated depletion for residential construction.
John W. Roberts, president, Solite Corp.
Percentage Depletion I
Opposes the proposed reductiori,.if the ex-
isting percentage depletion- rste"f or sintered
or burned lightweight aggregate. Urges (1)
continuation of the 712-percent rate for
lightweight aggregate, or preferably, (2)
amendment of code section 613(c) (4) to
treat as a mining process the sintering or
burning of clay, shale and slate used or sold
for use as lightweight aggregate. Draws at-
tention to discrimination between clay, shale,
and slate used as lightweight aggregate and
other competitive concrete aggregates. Points
out that the rate for lightweight aggregates
is reduced by the House bill from 7?i2 to 5 per-
cent (a one-third cutback), while the rate for
gravel, sand and crushed stone used as con-
crete aggregate is reduced from 5 to 4 per-
cent (only a one-fifth cutback). Emphasizes
that clay, shale and slate used as lightweight
S 11557
aggregate be allowed a 6-percent rate, which
is a cutback of one-fifth from present rate.
Also points out that competitive products
compute percentage depletion on selling price
whereas clay, shale and slate aggregates must
compute percentage depletion on the value
before burning and sintering.
Urges that discovery and development of a
deposit of suitable raw material for light-
weight aggregate is a difficult and expensive
project consequently the lightweight ag-
gregate industry needs percentage depletion.
Emphasizes that the proposed cutback in the
depletion allowance cannot have a significant
impact on national revenues, however, the
effect on individual producers of lightweight
aggregate will be substantial.
Clark Sutherland, chairman, clay pipe indus-
try depletion committee, National Clay
Pipe Institute
Clay Pipe Depletion
Recommends no reduction of the current
'71/2 percent depletion allowance. States that
expansion and modernization are sorely
needed, but risk capital is hard to find and
would doubtless be less than adequate with
a further reduction in the percentage de-
pletion allowance.
Points out that limestone and shale (clay),
the principal ingredients used in the manu-
facture of cement, enjoy a 15-percent deple-
tion allowance rate while sewer pipe clay has
been reduced. States that refractory clay
purchased for manufacture of sewer pipe, al-
though 15 percent when mined, becomes 7.5
percent when used in clay pipe production.
Urges an equitable adjustment in clay pipe
depletion to eliminate arbitrary competitive
disadvantages between the cement pipe and
clay pipe industries.
States that clay used in the manufacture
of sewer pipe, supported by Internal Revenue
Service rulings, under earlier law was per-
mitted a 15-percent allowance until it was
summarily reduced in 1960 to 5 percent. In-
dicates that this amount was subsequently
increased to 7i/ percent in 1966 amounting
to only 50 percent of its original allowance.
Argues that it is unfair to reduce again an
already reduced percentage on an across-the-
board basis, compared to other minerals
which have not heretofore suffered any re-
ductions.
CHICAGO CALLS S. 2625 A PRACTI-
CAL SOLUTION TO THE EDUCA-
TION CRISIS
Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, from
the city of Chicago, I have received a
letter from Superintendent Redmond
endorsing the Urban and Rural Edu-
cation Act, which I introduced on July
15. The superintendent says that S. 2625
"provides a logical and practical solution
to a major crisis in education and un-
doubtedly will have widespread sup-
port."
I ask unanimous consent that the let-
ter be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the letter
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
BOARD OF EDUCATION,
CITY OF CHICAGO,
Chicago. Ill.. August 14, 1369.
Hon. GEORGE MURPHY,
Senate Office Building,
Washington, D.C.
DEAR SENATOR MURPHY: Thank you for
your letter of August 7, 1969 with the en-
closed reprint from the CONGRESSIONAL
RECORD.
Introduction of the Urban and Rural Edit-
cation Act of 1969 in the Senate was a master
stroke on your part which is worthy of the
highest commendation from educators
Approved For Release 2005/01/27 : CIA-RDP71B00364R000200030001-2
Approved For Release 2005/01/27 : CIA-RDP71B00364R000200030001-2 -
September 29, 1969 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE S 11497
traveling on study grants from the Alicia
Patterson fellowship fund, a Star-Bulletin
reporter in Eastern Europe and the editorial-
page editor of The Advertiser in the South
Pacific.
Reporters of both papers have won fellow-
ships to seminars and study programs at
such leading universities as Stanford and
Northwestern.
Each of the papers has won a national
Headliners' Club award. The Advertiser's
editor, who was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard,
is a winner of the Overseas Press Club award
for outstanding interpretation of foreign af-
fairs.
The papers have won local and national
honors for medical reporting, for science re-
porting, for traffic safety campaigns, for ex-
cellence in the coverage of city and regional
planning.
The editors of the Honolulu papers are
both extremely active in community affairs,
including directorships in the Friends of the
East-West Center, the institution of tech-
nical and cultural interchange which you
gentlemen of the Congress finance; in the
Pacific and Asian Affairs Council, which con-
ducts world affairs forums for thousands of
Hawaii high school students; in the Hono-
lulu Symphony Society and numerous other
community organizations.
The Advertiser sponsors a Contemporary
Arts Center in the News Building, primarily
designed to encourage and recognize the
paintings and sculpture of Island artists and
to widen public appreciation of the arts. This
arts center two years ago won a national
"Business in the Arts" award from Esquire
Magazine.
I have gone into some detail about the
editorial excellence and community service
of the Honolulu papers to demonstrate that
participation in a joint operating arrange-
ment need have no effect on the intense edi-
torial competition or on the high sense of
journalistic craftsmanship.
Hawaii is a young and vibrant State, the
nation's youngest, having observed its 10th
anniversary of Statehood only last month. It
places tremendous emphasis on education,
at all levels. It has a young population. It is
a society which needs and must have the
widest possible competition of news, ideas
and opinion. Television and radio, as all
know, are essentially media of entertain-
ment. Both provide news programs but these
represent but a fraction of the broadcast
clay. For a citizen to be truly informed he
must read-he must read not only "spot"
news but the kind of background and analyt-
ical articles which in Honolulu both papers
provide on a regular basis.
Even though my years in the newspaper
field have been devoted to the commercial
side, to the sale of advertising, I recognize
that newspapers fundamentally exist to pre-
sent news and commentary, for without com-
petition in ideas our free society cannot
survive.
The late Joe Liebling of the New Yorker
magazine, a very perceptive critic. once wrote
that "A city with one newspaper or with a
morning and evening paper under one owner-
ship, is like a man with one eye-and often
the eye is glass." In some cases that may be
harsh, but certainly no one can argue that
a community is better served by one voice
than by two independent voices.
In Honolulu, I have at times been asked
whether the arrangement between The Star-
Bulletin and The Advertiser could not func-
tion just as well if it were limited to the
mechanical operation, and possibly to a com-
mon business office, and did not include the
advertising and circulation departments. My
answer has been and is that it will not func-
tion as well; in fact, it won't function at all,
since I believe the economies from the me-
chanical side are insufficient.
It is my understanding that in its best year
since entering the joint arrangement, The
Advertiser has never made as much as
$300,000 net. If it had to establish a separate
advertising department and a separate cir-
culation department, it would very quickly
be in the red and once again in danger of
dying.
If it did vanish, I am enough of a realist
and well enough versed with the economic
situation in Honolulu to know that no new
independent newspaper would take its place.
The market would not sustain it. So the pros-
pect would be for the Star-Bulletin to ac-
quire The Advertiser and create a full
monopoly.
I am no expert on newspapers na.ti$nally,
but I can't recall a single city where one of
two newspapers has died and a fresh, inde-
pendent newspaper has moved in to take its
place. On the other hand, suburban papers
have flourished in Hawaii as elsewhere. I
think it is pertinent that a chain of suburban
papers in Honolulu and elsewhere in Hawaii
was bought several years ago by a division of
the Scripps League after the Honolulu papers
had enterc l into their joint arrangement. Ta
the b--st of my knowledge, these suburban
p,~ees e doing very well indeed. They. like
other s burban papers, serve a most useful
purpose in printing neighborhood news. But
for wid local news and for national and
international news, the reader is dependent
upon cit newspapers, especially at a time
when worl issues are more complex than
The choice hA_ Honolulu, and I say this
with the deepest eenviction, is between hav-
ing a commercial inee er with two separate,
independent and heafty voices or having
both a commercial and . itorial monopoly
with one viewpoint. The N paper Preser-
vation Act would assure a co'iStinuation of
the first, which operates to the benefit of the
general community. A breakup of the.present
arrangement would result in the latter,
bringing the tragic death of an important
editorial voice.
On behalf of the Hawaii Newspaper Guild,
I voice enthusiastic support of the Newspaper
Preservation Act and express the hope this
Subcommittee will act favorably on it. I
should also like to submit for inclusion in
the record the endorsements of the Guild, of
other unions and of various government
bodies in Hawaii. I am grateful to you for
giving me this opportunity to appear.
THE FUTURE OF MAN
Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, there is
great concern these days about national
and world priorities, and how they are
affecting the future of man. There is a
questioning of the relevancy of many of
our goals, and some of our values. There
is an insistence by our youth that we
take a new look at what "progress" really
means, and that we pursue the objective
of quality as well as quantity in our lives.
I believe it boils down to the fact that
we are going through a historic period
of reassessment, realizing that perhaps
the greatest challenge we face as we en-
ter the last third of the 20th century is
finding new standards by which we must
measure our achievements.
Will it be an achievement for Amer-
ica, for instance, to produce the super-
sonic transport plane, or will we simply
be springing loose a technological inno-
vation whose byproducts will be even
inure gigantic airport needs in already
crowded metropolitan areas and an in-
crease in the already noisy clamor of day-
to-day living.
Will it be an achievement for America
to produce an antiballistic missile and
other exotic new devices, such as MIRV,
the multiheaded nuclear missile, or will
we simply be assuring a tragic new spiral
in the world arms race?
Will it be an achievement to continue
to produce an endless stream of auto-
mobiles that, as they are now made, spew
masses of pollutants into our atmosphere
each day?
An editorial entitled "Nigerian Debate
on Man," written by Mr. Norman Cousins
and published in the September 20 issue
o2 SattXr,. Review puts the question
nicely. Mr. Cousins reports watching on
television an interesting debate in Lagos,
Nigeria, between a young man and a
young woman on the future of the hu-
man race. The young man was pessimis-
tic, the young woman was the optimist.
Mr. Cousins said:
What was especially striking was the ex-
tent to which the evidence offered by both
sides was drawn from life in the United
States.
The debate judges awarded a verdict
in favor of the young woman.
The real question, though, is which
view will win the verdict of history?
At this stage, man is showing a tragic
unwillingness to utilize his capability,
which sets him apart from the other
species, to manage his own destiny. To-
day, in fact, man can be said to be on
the endangered species list. Some ecol-
ogists and biologists have already con-
cluded that it will only be a matter of
time before mankind breeds and pollutes
itself to extinction.
The Nigerian debate on man raises
grave questions which must move im-
mediately to the top of our priority list.
I ask unanimous consent that the arti-
cle be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the article
wad ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
A NIGERIAN DEBATE ON MAN
By Norman Cousins)
Watching our hotel television set in Lagos,
Nigeria, eve were fascinated by an hour-long
program in which college students debated
the proposition that the human race is dec-
adent. The debate took the classical form,
with prepared opening statements followed
by rebuttals and counter-rebuttals, and with
supporting statements by members of each
team. What was especially striking to an
American ob eever was the extent to which
the evidence, offered by both sides was drawn
from life iV the United States.
The Nigian student who took the gloomy
view of.the human race was a tall, bespec-
tacle,a;"neatly dressed young man. He spoke
about the personal tragedy in store for any
leader who genuinely tried to upgrade the
conditions of life, then referred to the as-
sassinations of four men-John F. Kennedy,
Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and
Kenya's Tom Mboya. Any civilization that
is unable to tolerate men of stature, he said,
could only be considered decadent.
The young man proceded to develop the
theme that violence was the dominant char-
acteristic of our time. He cited the large
number of Nigerian television programs glor-
ifying brutality or cruelty. I couldn't help
noting that most of the programs were im-
ported from the United States. He then said
that most of the energies of mankind today
were turned to the manufacture of weapons
that could smash civilization beyond recog-
nition or repair. He found it difficult to ac-
cept the argument that these weapons would
never be used in actual warfare. He reminded
his viewers that the United States had not
Approved For Release 2005/01/27 : CIA-RDP71B00364R000200030001-2
Approved For Release 2005/01/27 : CIA-RDP71B00364R000200030001-2
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE September 29, 1969
hesitated to use atomic explosives even on watchers all the way back to Tocqueville and
a living target, not once but twice, when it Crevecoeur. What is new today is that we
was in its interest to do so. He also spoke have aroused fresh expectations and antici-
about the great disparity of wealth in the pations.
world, pointing to the fact that 80 per cent The message from the moon which we
at the world's goods was produced or owned have flashed to the far corners of this planet
t y only 6 per cent of the world's peoples- is that no problem need any longer be con-
;gain a reference to the United States, sidered insoluble. When we mobilize brains,
The young man referred to the increased energies, money, and resources on an unprec-
poisoning of the human environment. He edented scale in putting a man on the moon,
spoke of millions of dead fish in the Rhine we also proclaimed the doom of disease and
River and the Great Lakes to prove his point squalor in the human habitat. For no one is
that man was unable to use his scientific going to believe any longer that we can sus-
knowledge in his own interest. He quoted tain human life on the moon but are unable
from sociologists who warned it may be only to do it on earth.
a few years before all the oceans will be vast The young Nigerian lady, in her television
dead bodies of water unable to contribute any debate, spoke for millions of people every-
longer to the sustaining of life on land. He where when she declared she had new hopes
spoke of the mammoth automobile industries about the human future as the result of
and the networks of highways as creating a America's demonstration of man's infinite
perilous combination resulting in vast quan- capacities.
tities of poisons in the air. Now, when does our mobilization against
The television camera panned to the ap- famine, wretchedness, and unnecessary death
plauding studio audience as the young begin?
speaker observed that man reveals himself
in his entertainment. He declared that the ISOLATIONIST HYSTERIA
dominant entertainment tastes today were
depraved, judging by motion pictures, plays, Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, there are
books and magazines. In particular, he spoke some in America who have, apparently,
cd my total plays in nudity which and men and exploited each women succumbed to an isolationist hysteria,
cavorted in
other's bodies, not excluding sexual inter- the like of which we have not seen in
course on stage. He referred to the high di- this century, not even in the days before
vorce rates in many parts of the world, then World War I or World War II.
quoted from research studies showing the They would have us withdraw not only
prevalence of extramarital relations in the from Vietnam, but also from Laos and
United States and elsewhere. All in all, he Thailand. And if they succeed there,
said, the preponderance of evidence was Uaat
our age was not merely decadent but down- would they have us abandon our commit-
right degenerate. inents to the rest of Asia and eventu-
The young man acknowledged the further ally to Europe?
applause of the studio audience and stepped Finally, would they have us curl up
down. His opponent, a lovely and attractively in the fetal position and withdraw, liter-
dressed young lady, came forward. She be- ally and actually, from the world?
gan by saying that at any given time in his-
tory The demand from the Nation surely is
it would be possible to point to any
number of serious faults in the human rec- not that great; and surely is not a de-
ord. But the general movement of history mand that we abandon honor and prin-
was forward. Man was not perfect but he was ciple and responsibility.
at least perfectible. Whatever his propensity Some would have the Nation flee when
for error, she declared, he had an unerring no man follows. Others would destroy
instinct for justice that was at least equal to the right and duty of the President of
his instinct for survival. Man's ability to de- the United States to conduct the foreign
fine the right and his insistence on achieving
it, even at fearsome cost, were his main tools affairs of the Nation.
in fashioning an ever-better life. She spoke A sample is clearly evident in the effort
of the inexorable process by which peoples by some to turn the U.S. presence in Laos
liberated themselves from outside rule, be- into a cause celebre.
ginning with the American Revolution of Mr. President, the Washington Star
1776 and extending to the national freedom yesterday, in a lengthy editorial, put
movements in Africa today.
The young lady did not despair of man's our presence in that little country in the
ability to use his science for his own good. proper perspective. I ask unanimous con-
She felt that human intelligence was on the sent that it be printed in the RECORD.
verge of its greatest victories; disease, ignor- There being no objection, the editorial
once, poverty, and venality would eventually was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
all fall before it. Meanwhile, all humanity as follows:
could exult over man's voyage to the moon, ANOTHER VIETNAM UNLIKELY IN "SECRET" WAR
representing as it did the combined triumph
art of Senators John Sher-
Efforts on the
i
it
p
r
.
of man's knowledge, technology, and sp
thought to be the most tractable of the three
She emphasized the expedition to the moon man Cooper, Mike Mansfield and Stuart
as offering proof of man's ability to meet any Symington to force a full-blown debate on pretenders. The gentle king died in 1959 and
problem worth meeting. the U.S. role in Laos-with the inference, in in his place reigns his crew-cut French-
The sense of affirmation was vibrant in Senator Mansfield's words, that we could get educated son, Savang Vatthana, 62.
everything she said and was reflected in the involved there "in the pattern of Vietnam"- The Lao, who are Buddhists of the Little
enthusiastic and frequent applause of the are ill-advised, badly timed and dangerous. Vehicle (they believe Buddha was a great
studio audience. It didn't take the judges They are ill-advised because the senators prophet, not God), loathe taking life and are
very long to reach a unanimous decision in concerned-and any members of the press or among the world's most reluctant warriors.
favor of the young lady. public interested in the question-would But the long-haired, tattooed hill-tribes, ad-
To repeat: What seemed most significant have to be remarkably obtuse not to know vised by American agents and supplied by
about the TV debate to an American viewer what the small number of U.S. troops and the CIA-chartered- aircraft of Air America
was the frequency with which the debaters intelligence agents are doing in Laos and why and Continental Air Services, are animists
the are doin it. and hence untroubled by this confessional
referred to life in the United States for their y g im ediment.
main arguments, and the ease with which They are badly timed because Senator p.
they could find evidence that was salutary or Symington's subcommitteee on foreign com- Although there have been exceptions, most
saddening. There is nothing new, of course, mitments will begin hearings on the subject encounters between opposing units-there
in the fact of the American mixture as a on October 14, which is the beginning in Laos are as many armies in Laos as there are po-
center of world attention. This side-by-side of the dry season which traditionally heralds litical persuasions-bear a marked similiar-
abundance of the good and the bad in the a major offiensive by the Communist Pathet ity to the campaigns of old-time Chinese
United States is a phenomenon that has Lao and their North Vietnamese allies. Con- war lords: Much marching and counter-
attracted the analytical eyes of America- sequently, Communist negotiators at the marching, mutual heroic posturing, a tre-
Paris peace talks once again will be in the
happy position of having at their disposal
quotations from high U.S. officials to justify
North Vietnam's far greater intervention in
the Southeast Asian jungle kingdom.
They are dangerous because, as anyone
capable of distinguishing between the Jersey
Turnpike and the Laos-straddling He Chi
Minh Trail should appreciate, American abil-
ity to inderdict the flow of North Vietnamese
men and supplies into South Vietnam and
to deny landlocked Laos to the Commu-
nists-has a direct bearing not only on the
conduct of the war in Vietnam but on the
future political shape of Southeast Asia
Laos, as visitors to that improbable land
know, is more a state of inertia than a na-
tion. Conditions there have been desperate
but not serious for years. A long, squiggly,
Idaho-sized blob of apple-green mountain
and jungle which touches upon Red China,
the two Vietnams, Burma, Thailand and
Cambodia, it lacks geographic, linguistic or
ethnic unity, produces little and exports
nothing but illegal opium and smuggled gold.
Political scientists who seek a rational
solution to the problem of Laos, which has
been catapulated abruptly into the Fifteenth
Century by recent events, are trying to build
on sand. Most Ho, Lu, Kha, Khalom, Black
Thai, Meo and Yao tribesmen-some of whom
have been advised by American intelligence
agents in the war against the Communists
since 1964-would not know King Savang
Vatthana from Frank Howard, Equally, 99
percent of the third of the country's three
million people nominally under Communist
control would find it difficult to distinguish
between Karl Marx and Groucho.
The rest of the population, Buddhist, val-
ley-dwelling Lao closely related to the Thais,
don't even call the kingdom Laos, To them
it is LanXan, which means "Land of One
Million Elephants and the White Parasol."
To Laotian hillbilly and flatlander alike,
American "kings" with implausible names
such as Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon-de-
spite the herculean efforts of USIS-remain
remote, almost mythical monarchs who, for
reasons best known to themselves, delight-
fully drench the country in economic and
military aid totaling nearly one billion dol-
lars since 1955.
Laos, as it always has been, remains run
in Byzantine fashion for the benefit of its
top 100 families, be they pro-Communist,
pro-Western or, more ingenuously, pro-
themselves. Even those who have lost out
have not done too badly: General Phoumi
Nosavan, former right-wing deputy premier
and sometime CIA protege, is alive, well and
rich in Bangkok; Captain Kong Le, the Ham-
let-like former neutralist not-so-strong man,
now savors the delights of Honk Kong.
The French, who had ruled it since 1893,
created the kingdom of Laos in 1946 by past-
ing together the principalities of Vientiane
("The Place of Sandalwood"), Luang Pra-
bang and Champassak. They gave the throne
to King Sisavang Vong of Luang Prabang,
Approved For Release 2005/01/27 : CIA-RDP71B00364R000200030001-2
Approved For Release 2005/01/27 : CIA-RDP71B00364R000200030001-2
September 29, 1969 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE
mendous expenditure of ammunition . . .
and few casualties.
Some 97 U.S. airmen have been lost over
Laos. Even allowing for a far deeper U.S.
involvement in Laos than seems probable-
President Nixon said Friday that our activi-
t:es there are confined to "logistical support
and some training" plus "some other activi-
ties"-it is doubtful if more than 200 Amer-
ican lives have been lost in Laos over the
past decade.
If the Lao do not enjoy fighting, they are
addicted to pagoda parties (a mixture of
state fair, fireworks display, revival meeting
and barbecue) , cremations (jolly affairs de-
signed to dispatch the departing spirit to its
reincarnation in a good mood), badminton,
charcoal-broiled toads, story-telling and, un-
accountably, parachuting.
It is the tyranny of geography which
has betroyed this fragrant land and its shy,
improvident people. Forming the Indochi-
nese peninsula's central corridor, the rice-
rich Mekong River valley flanks embattled
South Vietnam, forms a long border with
anti-Communist Thailand and touches upon
neutralist Cambodia. For this reason alone,
while absolute control of Laos is essential
to neither side in the Vietnam war, each
must seek to deny the other domination
there.
The fourteen-nation 1961-62 Geneva Con-
ference accords, signed by both Vietnams,
the U.S., Russia and Red China, guaranteed
the neutrality of Laos, called for the with-
drawal of all foreign troops, and created a
dangerous power-vacuum. According to
Averell Harriman, Hanoi violated that ac-
cord "before the ink of the treaty was dry":
The U.S. pulled out its 666 military ad-
visers; North Vietnam, which had an esti-
mated 7,000 troops there, withdrew only 40
through official control points.
Both China and North Vietnam now are
flagrantly violating the Geneva accord. Pek-
ing has two battalions of troops in northern
Laos guarding coolies building a road leading
from the Chinese border to a hamlet called
Dienbienphu near the North Vietnamese
frontier. The North Vietnamese, according to
Laotian Premier Prince Souvanna Phouma-
whose half-brother, the decidedly unproletar-
ian Prince Souphanouvong, is titular head of
the Pathet Lao-have 60,000 troops in Laos
(at his press conference on Friday, Presi-
dent Nixon set the number of Honoi's troops
in Laos at 50,000 with "more perhaps com-
ing").
Not too much should be expected from the
recent recapture after five years of the Plain
of Jars by the American-backed Meo irregu-
lars of General Vang Pao. The government's
objective apparently is to clear the plain
of civilians anxious to escape conscription
into the Pathet Lao, to deny the rice crop to
the Communists, and to knock off balance
the expected Pathet Lao dry-weather offen-
sive.
That offensive will have two objectives: To
solidify Communist control of the Ho Chi
Minh Trail and to make the case that anti-
government "neutralists" allied with the
Communists are entitled to the eleven neu-
tralist cabinet seats agreed to by the Geneva
conferees, who gave four portfolios to the
Communists (they left the government in
1963) and an equal number to the rightists.
Both sides, in short, are fighting the Lao-
tian war for limited but important objec-
tives. Even the most strident of the Nixon
administration's critics has yet to claim
that more than a couple of thousand U.S.
government personnel-military, paramili-
tary or CIA-are involved in Laos. Small,
covert and relatively bloodless wars fought
by volunteers may not be desirable. But they
are preferable to large, overt and bloody con-
flicts fought by draftees. And after the Viet-
nam experience, no American president in
his right mind is going to allow a side show
such as Laos to expand into a full-scale war
involving commitment of large numbers of
U.S. ground troops.
The most frequently heard Lao phrase is
"'bo pen nyan," which can mean "never
mind," "too bad" or "it doesn't matter." In
that spirit, King Savang Vatthana has dealt
with the pocket-war which has sputtered in
his country since 1953 by ignoring it. Sena-
tors Cooper, Mansfield and Symington would
be well-advised to do the same.
COURT ADMINISTRATORS
Mr. TYDINGS. Mr. President, despite
hundreds of years of criticism, our courts
are administered today in essentially the
same way that they were two centuries
ago. Congestion, waste, and delay, unfor-
tunately, too often characterize many of
our Federal and State courts. And too
often in the past the only solution judges,
executives, and legislators have offered to
redress these evils are more judges or
more supporting personnel.
This manpower, though often neces-
sary, offers little hope for making our
courts truly modern instruments of our
justice. Courts will not have modern and
efficient administration until they begin
to tap the knowledge of management
consultants and systems analysts. To
date, such experts have largely been
ignored in the development of ideas for
improving the administration of our
courts. In order to make our courts func-
tion effectively and to avoid administra-
tive chaos, any court system of substan-
tial size needs, as an integral part of its
administrative machinery, a court ad-
ministrator or executive subject to the
general supervision of the judge respon-
sible for administration.
The court executive should be skilled
in modern management techniques and
the social sciences and capable of utiliz-
ing such knowledge and modern business
machines, including computers, to study
and improve the administration of the
court system. His job would be not only
to plan more effective use of court space
and supporting personnel, but also to
streamline management of the court's
calendars and dockets and supervise the
flow of cases through the system. He
would not make judicial decisions. He
would be responsible for seeing that cases
are moved to a point where the judges'
art can be employed to hear and decide
the matter.
A judge's time must be conserved for
the exercise of the judicial function. He
should not be, as too many judges are
now forced to be, a personnel manager
and a calendar controller. His expertise
lies in applying the rules of law to the
facts of a case and in preserving the in-
tegrity of our judicial process. His exper-
tise does not lie, nor can it be expected to
lie, in the more mundane but indispen-
sable management function of assuring
that cases are not lost or ignored on the
dockets or that competent and profes-
sional supporting personnel are hired
and employed effectively.
This year the Subcommittee on Im-
provements in Judicial Machinery, of
which I am chairman, was assigned the
task of reviewing S. 952, a bill to create
additional Federal district court judge-
ships. During the hearings on the bill,
the subcommittee heard persuasive tes-
S 1149
timony disclosing not only a need for
additional district judgeships, but also
documenting the need to improve the
administrative capacity of the Federal
judicial system. The subcommittee rec-
ommended, and the Judiciary Commit-
tee approved amendments to S. 952 de-
signed to improve the administrative ef-
ficiency of the Federal judicial system.
I am proud to say that the Senate rec-
ognized that need, and on June 23, 1969,
passed the amended version of S. 952,
thus signaling its approval of not only
additional judgeships for the Federal
courts, but also several provisions de-
signed to improve the administration of
the courts. Among these provisions were
amendments requiring the creation of a
position of court executive for each judi-
cial circuit and also permitting district
courts with six or more permanent
judges to appoint such an executive. The
bill is now pending before the House of
Representatives. Hopefully it will be en-
acted in the relatively near future.
As chairman of the Committee on the
District of Columbia, I introduced, in
April of this year, S. 1711, a bill to pro-
vide a court executive for the local trial
court in the District of Columbia. The
need for such an administrative officer
was well documented in the District
Committee's hearings on the operation of
the local courts. Indeed, the so-called El-
lison committee which has been studying
in depth the operation of the District of
Columbia courts for more than 2 years
cited the need for a local court executive
as the top priority in making the local
courts operate effectively. The Ellison
committee quite correctly declared in
May that no method of court reorgani-
zation or transfer of jurisdiction could
succeed without a professional court
executive to supervise the nonjudicial
functions of the local court.
When the administration put forth in
July its long-awaited proposal to im-
prove the courts of the District of Co-
lumbia, the proposal wisely included pro-
vision for a local court executive officer.
The Committee on the District of Colum-
bia endorsed this proposal in reporting
to the Senate S. 2601, as amended.
During this year, then, we have wit-
nessed two Senate committees report
legislation to improve court operations
and both committees have included court
administrators in their proposals for im-
provement. Both committees have
stressed that the court executive be a
professional management expert who
could bring his knowledge of systems
analysis and social sciences to bear on
court administrative problems. I gen-
uinely believe, therefore, that the effi-
cacy of better court operations through
the use of professional management ex-
perts has been recognized. It is an idea
that has come of age.
Support for the concept of court ad-
ministrators has also come from a most
important and influential source, the
Chief Justice of the United States, the
Honorable Warren E. Burger. Speaking
in Dallas during the American Bar As-
sociation Convention, the Chief Justice
gave clear indication of his intense in-
terest in more effective court adminis-
tration and clear support for court ad-
Approved For Release 2005/01/27 : CIA-RDP71B00364R000200030001-2
Approved For Release 2005/01/27 : CIA-RDP71B00364R000200030001-2
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENA T E September 29, 1969
minstrators. He argued eloquently and
persuasively for the utilization of the
services of skilled court administrators
and endorsed the legislation passed by
the Senate.
The Chief Justice's comments received
much discussion in the press, and I ask
that the several of these news reports
and the Chief Justice's comments be
printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the items
were ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
j Froni the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal,
Aug. 14, 1969
WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING ISN'T WORKING
There is nothing new in what Warren E.
Burger has been telling the American Bar
Association about our correctional system
and our courts. Others have made similar
criticisms and called for changes.
The difference is that Warren E. Burger is
the new Chief Justice of the United States,
and his words have the prestige of the office
behind them. We hope this is sufficient to stir
the Bar Association to bring its influence to
bear upon improving our penal system and
modernizing our courts, in both civil and
criminal procedures.
It is plain in his statements that the Chief
Justice wants to shift the emphasis from the
rights of criminal defendants to what hap-
pens to people after they are convicted. The
implication is that we have been overly con-
cerned with the rights of the accused. We do
not agree, but the two points are not mu-
tually exclusive. There is no doubt that we
have not been concerned enough about
whether our correctional system corrects. Our
court system, as the Chief Justice says, is in
many respects obsolete and inefficient. The
administration of justice proceeds at a snail's
pace. Except in details, Mr. Burger said, a
criminal trial today is essentially the same as
in Daniel Webster's day. "I do not know the
answer," he added, "but I do know that the
patience of the American people with the
processes of litigation is wearing thin."
CRIMES ARE TOO FREQUENT
As a possible solution he suggested the
training of skilled court administrators to
take over the administration of much of court
business, leaving the judges with more time
to judge. He endorsed legislation before Con-
gress to provide administrators for the fed-
eral court system. They are needed even more,
however, in state and local courts.
As for the correctional system, Chief Jus-
tice Burger urged the Bar Association to take
the leadership in a serious study of the way
we handle people convicted of crimes and to
underwrite the costs of a "comprehensive
and profound examination into our penal
system," including approaches to dealing
with the abnormal psychology of the habitual
offender.
God knows whatever we have been doing
isn't working, as the daily run of crime news
makes frighteningly clear. The recent out-
breaks of bizarre and seemingly motiveless
murders suggests that our society produces
psychopathic personalities we are not pre-
pared to cope with. We cannot spot them in
advance; we do not know what to do with
them when and if they are apprehended, ex-
cept incarcerate them for varying periods of
time.
Crimes of violence, whether motiveless or
otherwise, we are entirely too frequent in a
society which considers itself civilized. It.is
time for our best minds, in and out of the
legal profession, thoughtfully, but with a
sense of urgency, to grapple with the prob-
lem of crime in America.
little different from what it was 100 years
ago.
When there are demands for change, they
usually come in the form of adding more
courts and additional judges. The basic struc-
ture remains the same.
As a result court dockets are so crowded in
some areas that it is three or four years be-
fore a case is called up. The progress of jus-
tice is so slow that in many cases justice is
never served.
Lawyers and judges have recognized the
problem for years. Yet little has been done.
It is one basically of court administration.
Cases are handled on dockets and processed
as though it were the 19th Century.
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger feels there
are changes that must be made. In a speech
to the American Bar Association he said it
is not unusual for a criminal case to take
three to four years as it goes through appeals.
The Chief Justice pinned the blame on,
among other things, the "lack of up-to-date
effective procedures and standards for ad-
ministration or management and the lack of
trained managers."
The problem can not be solved by merely
asking Congress or the state legislatures for
more money, said Chief Burger. "We must
demonstrate the need and make a solid case
that court managers will be effective and
possibly even save the country money in the
long run," he said. There is a need for a re-
view and revision of standards of judicial
administration.
In short, the problem is one of bringing
the courts of this land into this modern era.
It is one of implementing sound practices of
business administration.
Until our courts are put on a business-like
basis, while retaining all safeguards de-
manded by our system of justice, they will
continue to plod on almost totally in the
dark with dockets stacked up and cases years
behind.
(From The Dallas Morning News, Aug. 13,
1969]
BURGER PROPOSES CORPS OF MANAGERS
(By John Geddie)
Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren
Burger revealed the third of three major
proposals-the creation of a corps of court
managers to expedite justice-during his
final appearances here Tuesday before the
American Bar Association.
Justice Burger said there is "urgent and
immediate" need for a lay-member planning
board and pilot programs to demonstrate
the feasibility of a system of court admin-
ista.tor s.
"The day is gone when a few judges resisted
because they felt that court managers or
administrators would in some way impinge
on judicial independence," he said.
"With few exceptions-and I think they
are very few-every large courthouse in this
country regulardly witnesses the spectacle
of frustrated and angry citizens called for
jury service and finding that perhaps 20 per
cent of thier time is spent in trials and
80 per cent just waiting.
"As I see it, the primary available option
is to secure skilled managers to run the liti-
gation machinery so that judges can get on
with what they are presumed to be qualified
to do-namely disposing of cases," he told
the Institute of JudlclatAdmintStration at
a Statler Hilton breakfast meeting.
He urged the ABA to contact the Federal
Bar Association and the Institute of Judicial
Administration in an effort to develop a plan
palatable to state and federal legislators.
In his final apeparance before the ABA
House of Delegates Tuesday afternoon, Jus-
tice Burger summarized his court adminis-
trator program and two other recommenda-
tions made in Dallas:
"I have urged and I now urge that the
American Bar Association followup the great
Oriminaal Law Project with a searching in-
quiry into the penal and correctional sys-
tems and the correctional problems at every
level of government.
"Without it was continue the revolving
door of crime-punishment-crime-punish-
ment," he added. "Every one of the many
organizations and institutions concerned
with this problem should be drawn into this
enterprise."
]From the Boston (Mass.) Christian Science
Monitor, Aug. 23, 19691
JUSTICE BURGER SPEAKS OUT
By Roscoe Drummond)
WASH INGroN.-Another voice of national
leadership is being heard in the land-and
to good effect.
It is the voice of the new Chief Justice of
the United States, Warren Earl Burger, who
is putting himself without delay or timidity
at the head of a campaign to bring off a set of
legal reforms touching nearly every aspect of
the administration of justice.
VOLUNTEERS
His goal: to bring the nation's creaking ju-
dicial system-from outdated legal education
to outmoded court procedures and prison
methods-into the second half of the 20th
century.
His strategy: to mobilize public-minded
lawyers, law deans, social scientists, busi-
ness administrators, and judges to volunteer
their services to propose how best to do it.
His target: the leaders of the prestigious
American Bar Association with whom Burg-
er's relations are more cordial and coopera-
tive than any recent chief justice, and public
opinion from which the hot breath of popular
pressure must come to help cut through the
traditional resistance to change among law-
yers and judges.
He is setting out to win support on both
fronts simultaneously, and his beginning is
impressive. He has just spent a week ming-
ling with the members of the ABA with out-
strecthed hand and a comfortable "Hello, I'm
Warren Burger." They know him all right;
they like him; they will be hearing from him
often in the coming months.
Justice Burger is seeking to carry forward
with something more than all deliberate
speed the kind of legal reform which Chief
Justice Earl Warren tried to get. He tried but
didn't make much headway. The difficulty
was that Warren's associations with both the
state chief justices and the ABA soon became
so controversial and strained-because of the
direction of the Warren court decisions-that
they were unable to work together effec-
tively. Warren never attended ABA meetings
after 1958.
SWEEPING CHANGES
Two things stand out from the public
speeches and private conversations on which
Justice burger is embarked.
He is ryuot talking about minor, peripheral
reforms 11o tidy up the administration of jus-
tice. He is talking about improving justice
not just improving its administrations. He is
talking; about radical, far-reaching, wide-
rangirig reforms modernizing legal education,
shakjfig prison methods and correctional in-
styttitions to their foundations, and taking
the management of the courts out of the
hands of the judges and putting them in the
hands of expert court administrators.
He is convinced that such sweeping
changes in the ways things are done by the
law and with the law must be forthcoming
soon-with evidence at once that they are
coming-if the edministration of justice is
to regain the confidence and respect of the
American people as a whole.
He points out that jurors and witnesses
"become frustrated and angry citizens when
they find that 20 percent of their time is
spent in trials and 80 percent just waiting
around." Court procedures have become so
slow that it takes years to bring cases to com-
pletion and the Chief Justice thinks it is not
From the Valdosta (Ga.) Times, Aug. 16,
1969]
TOWARD JUDICIAL REFORM
For years the courts of our land have oper-
ated without basic change. The system Is
Approved For Release 2005/01/27 : CIA-RDP71B00364R000200030001-2
~B00364R0002000300011--22
AeT r ve Fo elease 20DATE7 . C1A 7a PAGE
WASHI8N OSr i0 vc~~v`1
? .has all the o
Senate Umt it. like it re
os. PresywablY . rn
was summ ed
Seeks to Lift t
ftit- tle bewildered, some,
Lid on Laos what bemused, Waggoner
By Jack Foisie passed through here Friday en
route to Washington where
Los Angeles Times the Laos hearings are slated
BANGKOK, Oct. 5-A weekl to start Oct. 13.
ago the American embassy in He carried a draft of an
(Laos received cabled instruc- opening statement which he
had prepared, in concert with
tions to make Loring Wag- his superiors. "But I hope they
goner available to testify be- ask a lot of questions," he
fore the special Senate For- said.
eign Relations subcommittee Waggoner, who comes from
on national commitments. Santa Fe, N.M., and was a
That a 28-year-old rural de-I Peace Corps worker in South
America before coming to
velopment worker is being i Laos, belongs to a growing
summoned, rather than Laos number of veteran AID work-
Aid Director Charles Mann or ers who see a need for a fun-
one of his top assistants, damental chang n the di-1
caused a stir. minishment -
To members of the Ameri- aid program.
can mission, it indicated that They think that economic
the subcommittee under the aid, without concurrent politi-
chairmanship of Sen. Stuart cal and social improvement
Symington (D-Mo.) ,is going to for the people receiving such
try to lift the lid" on Ameri- 11 aid, discredits the American
can involvement in Laos, efforts.
much of which has been se-
cret.
Waggoner is highly re-
garded, both for his courage
and his loyalty to the basic
aims of the Ameican program
in Laos. His experience is im-
pressive. Fluent in the Lao
language, Waggoner and his
pretty wife, Ann, and their
two young sons have lived in
the rural area of Laos for al-
most four years.
Approved For Release 2005/01/27 : CIA-RDP71B00364R000200030001-2