A projected United States-Egyptian surplus cotton agreement, which had run into a storm of Congressional protest, has been called off and is apparently dead for this session of Congress, well-informed sources said today. “The request for American surplus cotton by Egypt had definitely been denied by the Department of Agriculture,” the Jewish Telegraphic Agency was told.
A spokesman for Senator Philip Hart of Michigan, who had recently inquired of the State Department and the Department of Agriculture about the status of the negotiations, confirmed that he has also been advised that the Egyptian request has been turned down. The Michigan lawmaker had written to both executive departments to express his concern over such an agreement.
Congressman Emanuel Celler, one of the Congressional leaders in the fight against the cotton deal, expressed satisfaction over the report that Egypt will not get the requested U.S. aid. He said that in addition to Congressional opposition to the agreement–for fear that Egypt would barter the cotton for Russian arms–an important factor in the denial was opposition by domestic growers who had exerted great pressure against the deal because of Egypt’s competitive position as a cotton grower with markets in Europe.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
