Chairman Victor L. Anfuso of a consumers study subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee recommended today that the United States undertake a stockpiling of food in Israel to serve American interests and to protect the Israeli population in the event of a sea blockade.
Rep. Anfuso, N. Y. Democrat, made this and other recommendations in a formal report to chairman Harold D. Cooley of the Agriculture Committee. He reported on his recent official trip to Europe and the Middle East. He went to study the use and application of Public Law 480 with reference to stockpiling of agricultural surpluses and the work of American voluntary agencies in food distribution under this law.
Rep. Anfuso recommended that Congress approve a $100,000,000 surplus food program for Israel during the coming two years “to help that country stabilize its economy.” He said a program in Israel would “serve our interests in the area, as well as our future security.” It was also advisable from a humanitarian standpoint to take care of the Israeli population in the event of a possible blockade situation, he stated. He discussed this problem with Premier David Ben Gurion and a number of Israeli Cabinet Ministers.
However, director John J. Haggerty of the U.S. International Cooperation Administration Mission to Israel informed Rep. Anfuso of doubts about the practicality of the stockpiling idea. Mr. Haggerty said in a letter to the Congressman that while stockpiling in Israel was a “superficially attractive” idea, it “would present practical obstacles which, in all probability, would defeat the idea. He pointed out that raw commodities such as wheat deteriorate if stored longer than two years.
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