The drive for a mandatory measure to sever aid from Egypt because of that country’s diversion of its own resources for the purchase of Soviet arms moved forward today with the introduction of a Senate amendment to the Foreign Aid Bill by Sen. Kenneth B. Keating, New York Republican.
The proposed amendment would make mandatory the “sense of Congress” measure adopted by Congress last year. Sen. Keating and Rep. Seymour Halpern, also a New York Republican, feel the former measure was inadequate because it was subject to the discretion of the State Department and consequently ignored. Sen. Keating today told the Senate his move was supported by Rep. Halpern and other members of Congress who are supporting either Halpern version in the House or the Keating measure in the Senate. Senator Paul Douglas, Illinois Democrat, announced his co-sponsorship of the Keating amendment.
Sen. Keating said his bill would “ensure that United States funds are not used to subsidise aggressive military ventures and purchases of Soviet military equipment” by recipients of American aid. “The American taxpayer should not be called upon to subsidize aggressive actions of certain nations against their neighbors,” he stated.
The Keating amendment would require that “the President shall suspend assistance” to any country that uses its domestic funds to purchase arms from nations in the Soviet bloc. Also mentioned as conditions for aid severance were subversion, propaganda, and military preparations against other nations receiving U.S. assistance. The President would be required by law to sever aid unless he determines it would be contrary to the national security and accordingly notifies the appropriate committees of Congress of such determination and the reason therefore.
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs today voted to incorporate into the Foreign Aid Bill a clause proposed by Rep. Leonard Farbstein, New York Democrat, to minimize assistance to countries like Egypt which divert their own assets for the purchase of Soviet arms. The amendment is similar to the so-called Keating-Halpern amendment in last year’s Act which was ignored by the State Department.
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