A proposal by Rep. Edward I. Koch (D.NY) to forbid the Export-Import Bank from granting the Soviet Union any loans or credit until the trade bill is adopted was approved by a 9-3 vote yesterday in the International Trade Subcommittee of the House Banking and Currency Committee. The full committee is expected to act on the amendment next week.
The trade bill has been blocked in the House and the Senate because of the Jackson/Mills-Vanik amendments linking most favored nation trade status to the USSR with the easing of restrictions on emigration by Soviet Jews and others. However, the Export-Import Bank has been making loans to the USSR. A proposal to grant a loan to build a gas pipeline in the USSR was recently blocked by Congress.
In the Senate, Henry M. Jackson (D.Wash.) and Adlai Stevenson III (D.Ill.) have also introduced an amendment seeking to prevent loans from the Export-Import Bank to the Soviet Union.
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.
