An anti-boycott bill supported by the House International Relations Committee appeared assured of passage by the full House today. Ranking Republican members of the committee joined their Democratic colleagues in pressing for the measure and rejected recent warnings from certain business groups that its adoption could lead to increased unemployment in America.
Debate on the bill began late this afternoon. Committee chairman Clement Zablocki (D.Wisc.) described as “scare tactics” an industry-sponsored advertisement in the Wall Street Journal last week claiming that 500,000 jobs would be jeopardized if the anti-boycott bill is passed without amendment. Rep. William Broomfield (R. Mich.), the ranking minority member of the Committee, spoke in support of the bill and Rep. Charles W. Whalen of Ohio, spokesman for the Republican members of the Committee on the issue declared, “I certainly urge adoption of this bill.”
Whalen minimized the jobs issue. He, in fact, suggested that Americans might gain jobs as a result of tough anti-boycott provisions because companies that now deal with Israel will no longer be afraid of getting on the boycott list. Whalen added, “We are dealing with a principle.” He noted that many Arab states Ignored their own boycott provisions. (By Joseph Polakoff)
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