The Senate Foreign Relations Committee today voted to put Congress on record as demanding an immediate halt in aid shipments to any country, like Egypt, which allows United States property to be damaged by mob action. The committee acted on a proposal by Sen. Vance Hartke, Indiana Democrat, who felt that the recent burning of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library in Cairo should not be tolerated.
The measure voiced the sense of Congress but is not mandatory. It asked that aid be severed and restored only when the President determines that anti-American action has ceased and has received suitable assurances it will not be resumed.
The new provision, not requested by the Administration, was added to the $3,400,000,000 foreign aid bill now pending before the committee. It was added after senators voiced reservations about continued aid to such nations as Egypt, which have permitted desecration of American installations.
Meanwhile, in a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, Rep. Thomas C. McGrath, Jr., New Jersey Democrat, called on the Government today to enter a mutual security pact with Israel, to supply Israel with weapons, and to cease shipment of American arms to all Arab states. He cited Arab threats to divert Israel’s water sources and said: “I feel it is time that the United States enter into a mutual security pact with Israel, our only reliable ally in the Middle East.” In support of his demand, he quoted a statement made last month by President Nasser of Egypt that “we shall enter Palestine on a path of blood.” According to Rep. McGrath, “preparations are already under way to divert large quantities of water from the Jordan, and Israel can reasonably be expected to resist with force.”
He pointed out that “Soviet Russia is supplying Nasser with massive amounts of modern weapons.” Also, he said, German scientists are continuing work to create nuclear weapons for Egypt. Denouncing American aid to Nasser, Rep. McGrath said that “without American aid, he could not have afforded German technicians and the materials they use.”
He said the Congress was asked in February to continue aid to Nasser “in order that the last door to reasoning with President Nasser might not be closed.” But, he observed, “our reasoning has not resulted in abatement of his threats against Israel, and the time is fast approaching when Israel will begin irrigating the Negev with Jordan River waters.” While the State Department attempts to reason with Nasser, he said, “we must also follow a more practical course–providing Israel with weapons in order to maintain the military balance. That is the only way to forestall an outbreak of war in that volatile part of the world.”
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