Senator Wayne Morse, Oregon Democrat, today served notice that he would reintroduce an amendment condemning Saudi Arabian discrimination against Jewish Americans.
The Senator pointed out that his amendment was defeated by only a narrow margin when the Mutual Security authorization bill was before the Senate. Some senators misunderstood what the amendment involved but have since noted the New York Supreme Court decision involving Saudi Arabia in anti-Jewish discrimination against Americans.
Senator Morse will use the opportunity afforded when the Mutual Security Appropriation bill comes before the Senate. This bill is necessary to implement the previously passed authorization measure. When his amendment comes up again, Sen. Morse said, he will discuss it “at sufficient length, so that Senators will not again misunderstand what the amendment involves. “
Senator Morse’s view is that the United States should make known its views on granting Mutual Security funds to nations that discriminate against Americans on a basis of religion. Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey, Minnesota Democrat, immediately announced he would support the fight for the Morse amendment. He expressed the view that when the previous vote was taken, a number of senators had not been fully informed on the background of the Saudi Arabian issue involving Jewish Americans.
Saudi Arabia refuses entry to Jewish Americans and bars U.S. military personnel of Jewish faith from landing at the U. S. air base leased at Dhahran. Sen. Humphrey pointed out that President William Howard Taft once abrogated a treaty with Czarist Russia because that nation discriminated against Jewish Americans.
Condemning the Saudi Arabian Government and the Arabian Government and the Arabian-American Oil Company for anti-Jewish practices, Sen. Humphrey said: “I applaud the Supreme Court of the State of New York for its decision” in a case involving discrimination in hiring by ARAMCO in New York. The Senator also commended Justice Henry Epstein “for his brilliant opinion. “
The Senator termed the ARAMCO case “a situation in which the head of a foreign power is telling an American firm whom it can hire and whom it cannot. ” He said “such demands by a foreign power not only violate the law of the State of New York and the Constitution of the United States, but also violate the basic moral principle that men are created equal and are entitled to equal treatment under the laws of the land. “
In the Senator’s opinion, “human rights are of prime consideration, and nothing–not even Arabian oil–can take priority over them. It is about time that some companies which seem more interested in profits than in people begin to understand this simple truth. “
Senator Humphrey explained that for an American firm to agree to foreign demands for religious discrimination “goes beyond the bounds of legitimate compromise, and cannot be accepted if America is to remain true to its cherished belief in the dignity of man and his right to liberty. ” He called the court ruling against ARAMCO a strengthening of the moral fiber of America and a “victory on behalf of freedom. “
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
