The American Jewish Committee urged Congress and the Ford Administration to consider an eight-point program to protect sensitive sectors of the U.S. economy from foreign control, to curb the effects in this country of the Arab boycott and blacklisting of firms doing business with Israel, and to counteract attempts at job discrimination accompanying business dealings with Arab interests.
At the same time, the AJ Committee declared that it supported America’s traditional openness to foreign investment, including Arab oil money, and its commitment to “the freest possible trade for all nations.”
The AJ Committee’s views were contained in a policy statement on Arab Economic Warfare, and were made public by Alfred H. Moses, chairman of its Domestic Affairs Commission. The AJ Committee, whose 69th annual meeting closed yesterday at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, asked that the following legislative and administrative steps be taken under advisement:
Full disclosure of foreign investments in the U.S., with close monitoring of the defense, communications and banking industries; legislation empowering the President to limit, delay, or in other ways restrict investments he deems contrary to the American interest; amendment of the Export Administration Act to forbid participation by Americans in foreign-inspired boycotts against countries friendly to the U.S., and to insure full reporting of boycott requests received by business companies; and strengthening and application of anti-trust laws to acts of cooperation with the Arab boycott.
Also, withholding of American aid, including sales of military supplies, from nations that practice blacklisting; an administrative ruling that laws against discrimination may not be violated because some foreign countries may refuse to grant visas to certain classes of personnel; broadening laws against job discrimination to include directorships and high-level management posts; and outlawing discrimination in lending, investment and other business dealings, including the choice of suppliers and subcontractors.
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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.
