The final version of the foreign aid bill, approved today by a Senate-House conference, contained amendments prohibiting assistance to Arab “Liberation Organization” members, and otherwise responding to the Near Eastern situation. The conferees accepted three basic amendments proposed by Rep. Leonard Farbstein, New York Democrat, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
One amendment prohibited any assistance to Arab refugees receiving military training in the so-called “Palestine Liberation Organization.” This provision was designed to “dampen down the aggressive design of the refugees and encourage them in the direction of peaceful aspirations,” said Rep. Farbstein.
Another clause reduced by $700,000 funds authorized for Arab refugee relief. This was in keeping with the Farbstein plan to reduce American support of the refugees by 5 percent annually, in hope of encouraging Arab states to resolve the festering and neglected refugee problem.
A third amendment authorized $1,000,000 in Israeli currency, generated by sale of U.S. surplus commodities, to be used for construction of a new wing to the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem.
Rep. Farbstein stated that he was “highly gratified that these three amendments will become part of this year’s foreign aid law.” “I think,” he added, “Congress leaves no doubt in accepting these amendments that its mandate to the Administration is to seek by every possible means the peaceful resolution of discord in the Near East.
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