The Senate Appropriations Committee last night restored $20,000,000 in economic assistance to Israel, the Arab states and Iran, which was slashed by the House last week. This action brought the total economic aid for the Near East area to $140,000,000, as had been requested by the Administration.
At the same time, the Senate unit cut military aid for the Arab states and Israel from $50,000,000 to $30,000,000. Testimony in the Senate committee disclosed that some Senators had manifested a concern about arms going into the Middle East area in advance of peace.
Finally, the Senate body restored nearly $20,000,000 which had been taken from Point Four funds by the House. This will mean that Israel will receive the full $1,500,000 requested by the Administration for this purpose–if the committee action is finally upheld by the Senate and by the Conference committee of the House and the Senate.
A spokesman for the American Zionist Council here welcomed the action of the Senate Appropriations Committee and expressed the hope that it would be sustained on the Senate floor and later in the conference committee.
The Senate group also restored half of the $8,500,000 slashed from the U.S. contribution to the United Nations technical assistance program for 1954 and restored the full $4,500,000 pledged for 1953 which had not yet been paid out and which had been rescinded by the House. It also ordered restored $9,000,000 cut from the UN Children’s International Fund and the sum of $4,800,000 for 1953 which had been rescinded.
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.
