Democrats and Republicans today indicated that they will oppose further American financial assistance to Egypt, in view of the fact that such assistance enables the Egyptian Government to secure armaments from the Soviet Union and other countries, thereby endangering the relative peace in the Middle East.
Chairman Emanuel Celler, of the House Judiciary Committee, announced that he would offer an amendment to the pending Foreign Aid bill, to prevent Egypt “from using American aid in any manner endangering the peace in the Middle East. ” He cited the Egyptian missile build-up. “We cannot afford to lose sight of the fact that Egypt refused to recognise the existence of the State of Israel, and has again threatened to push her into the sea,” he said.
Rep. William E. Miller, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said today that the Republican members of Congress will oppose further American financial assistance to Egypt. “Our economic aid to President Nasser, ” he said, “has enabled him to divert enough money to purchase massive armaments from Soviet Russia and other Communist bloc countries, to engage in a costly military adventure in Yemen, involving some 20, 000 Egyptian soldiers, and to pay for the development of offensive missiles. “
The Republican national chairman, who serves as a Congressman representing New York, pointed out that “American taxpayer dollars, therefore, make it possible for the UAR to threaten, not only Israel, but other sovereign Mid-East states where we have considerable strategic, political and economic interests, “
Rep, Miller charged that “pious statements and assertions of friendship to the threatened countries cannot obscure the fact that our money is used to weaken the stability of the Near East and world peace, and, in fact, contributes to the danger of war, ” He said that “aside from conservation of our resources and protection of our economic interests, it is high time to put a stop to such an immoral and blundering policy, “
According to Rep. Miller, “the impending union between Egypt, Syria and Iraq, under the leadership of President Nasser, should be the occasion for a critical new look at the U. S. foreign aid program in the Near East. ” Other Republican leaders likewise indicated in recent days, owing to the Egyptian missile build-up, that they will inject this is sue into the debate on the Foreign Aid bill now pending.
SIX SENATORS EXPRESS ANXIETY OVER GERMAN NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES IN EGYPT
Senator Hugh Scott, Pennsylvania Republican, issued a statement criticizing the State Department for “doing almost nothing” to alleviate “the potentially explosive situation” in the Middle East, Sen. Scott is one of six Senators who wrote to President Kennedy last week, urging his intervention with the West German Government against permitting German nuclear scientists to build missiles in Egypt.
Each of the six anxious Senators received a reply signed by Averell Harriman, Under Secretary of State, saying that Egypt is “seeking to create its own source of fighter air-craft, using Western resources, and is trying to reduce its current, almost total reliance on the Soviet for military equipment. ” He added that the German citizens working on the Egyptian rocket program “are few in number” and that “it is by no means certain they would all obey a summons from their government to return home. “
“You can rest assured, ” Mr. Harriman wrote, “that we have a deep and continuing interest in the security of Israel and other Middle Eastern states, I can say without any hesitation or qualification that a constant priority emphasis of the Department of State is on measures to reduce Middle East tensions. Many of our efforts are well known, but many more are necessarily shielded from public view. “
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.
