Another strong measure has advanced in Congress to counter the Arab economic boycott against Israel and discrimination against American Jews and companies doing business with Israel.
The House, by a voice vote, and without dissent, adopted an amendment Thursday to the International Banking Act that requires foreign banks, in their operations in the United States, to adhere to national and state civil rights laws in the same manner as American banks. They will not be permitted to do business in the U.S. unless they agree to comply with these laws. The amendment has gone to the Senate for approval.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency was informed by the House Subcommittee on financial institutions led by Rep. Fern and St. German (D. R.I.) that about 50 foreign banks operate in more than one state, and approximately the same number within one state. Under the amendment, all would be covered by federal and state laws that bar discrimination on grounds of race, religion or sex.
The author of the amendment aimed at stopping Arab boycott-related discrimination it Rep. James J. Blanchard (D Mich), a first-term Congressman who declared, “The boycott has involved religious discrimination against persons of the Jewish faith.” That kind of discrimination “has no place in the United States,” he added.
INDUCEMENTS FOR DISCRIMINATION
Blanchard noted that James Smith, U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, last year notified all banks in the nation that some might have been offered loans by foreign investors on the condition that “no member of the Jewish faith sit on the bank’s board of directors or control any significant amount of stock.” Smith’s letter warned against cooperating with such offers.
Blanchard also cited the testimony of a Commerce Department lawyer that some American firms have reported receiving requests to engage in religious discrimination in connection with the boycott and, he mentioned the refusal of former Secretary of Commerce Rogers Morton to deliver to Congress information on compliance by U.S. firms with the Arab boycott.
The purpose of his amendment, Blanchard said, is “to clarify the views of Congress on discrimination, for all of those both in this country and abroad who are uncertain about our intentions.” Enforcement of his amendment would be put in the hands of bank regulatory agencies such as the Federal Reserve System.
Earlier last week the Senate adopted a provision in its Tax Reform Act that would bar a tax benefits to American concerns that boycott Israel and business executives would face up to a year in Jail if they failed to report any earnings in any country that requires participation in a boycott. These provisions were adopted 86-1 and is now in the House for its consideration.
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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.
