A study of the voting record of Sen. Edmund S. Muskie, of Maine, Vice-Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, shows he has voted on a number of occasions for legislation favored by supporters of Israel and has from time to time identified himself with Israel’s cause.
The Senator adopted a non-committal stance, however, when the Senate Sub-committee on International Finance, of which he is chairman, held hearings on May 24 and 25, 1965, on an amendment aimed at the Arab boycott. The Johnson Administration opposed the anti-boycott measure. Sen. Muskie was believed to have personally favored the amendment but he did not publicly differ with the State Department. The amendment was approved by the Subcommittee and the full Banking and Currency Committee despite the pressures of the Executive Department.
Last August, Sen. Muskie took the Senate floor to commend Rumania for her independent stand toward Israel during the Six-Day War, when it refused to sever diplomatic relations with Israel, unlike the other Eastern bloc states.
He joined with Sen. Howard Baker, Tennessee Republican, in co-sponsoring in 1967 a resolution favoring the Eisenhower-Strauss nuclear desalination plan for the Middle East. An advocate of foreign aid, Sen. Muskie nevertheless opposed aid to nations, like Egypt, which divert their resources for aggressive military expenditures. Sen. Muskie voted in 1959 for an amendment to the Mutual Security Act, sponsored by Sen. Wayne Morse, Oregon Democrat, designed to stop economic aid to countries which discriminate against American citizens abroad on the basis of race and religion. The bill was aimed at the Saudi Arabia Government because of its refusal to allow American Jewish servicemen on an American base in Arabia.
In 1960 he supported the Douglas-Keating amendment providing for denial of aid to countries restricting commerce by illegal blockades. It was aimed at the Egyptian blockade of the Suez Canal against Israel and was called the “freedom of the seas” amendment. The Senator in 1963 voted for the Gruening-Javits amendment designed to bar aid to nations like Egypt that prepare aggression against neighboring states also receiving U.S. aid.
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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.
