Two Congressmen–a Democrat and a Republican–joined yesterday to force a showdown on the Executive Department’s failure to implement anti-bias clauses in foreign aid acts over the last several years, involving Arab discrimination against Americans of Jewish faith.
Rep. James Roosevelt, California Democrat, and Rep, Seymour Halpern, New York Republican, co-sponsored a new amendment to make mandatory the severance of aid to offending nations. Previous measures merely expressed the “sense of Congress” and, it is charged, were ignored by the State Department. The amendment was referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs for study in connection with the pending foreign assistance bill.
The amendment would force the severance of aid to offending nations that discriminate against Americans on a basis of race, color or religion, “provided the President does not find such action contrary to the national security. ” This puts the White House “on the spot, ” according to the bill’s sponsors. Rep. Halpern stressed that the amendment was bi-partisan that both Republican and Democratic Administrations had failed to act effectively against Arab bias affecting Americans.
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