investigating and evaluating the loyalty, stability, and integrity of applicants for Federal employment. He was rated excellent by those who judge the efficiency of Government employees. He received the Meritorious Service Award from Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.

Mr. Otepka was fired for telling the truth to the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee on sloppy and tricky practices in the enforcement of personnel security regulations in the State Department. He undercut his superiors, the unforgivable sin of Federal bureaucracy.

This he did under the protection of United States Code, title 5, paragraph 652 (DC), which states that the right of a civil service employee to give information to Congress shall not be denied or interfered with.

Without guile, Mr. Otepka, frankly and openly and in defiance of his superiors, cooperated with counsel for the Internal Security Subcommittee to furnish further support for the subcommittee's conclusion that the enforcement of personnel security in the State Department is lax and dangerous.

For this, Mr. Otepka was accused of giving the subcommittee secret or restricted information—information, by the way, which was so innocuous and trifling in its security content as to be laughable.

To pin the goods on Mr. Otepka, his associates in the State Department tapped his telephone. They locked him out of his office and denied him access to his files. They riffled through his wastebasket and explored his "burn bag," a container into which telltale scraps of paper must be dumped for burning. He was openly humiliated before other employees.

Mr. Otepka got worse than he ever gave to any applicant for Federal employment, for he was widely known as rational and careful in this highly sensitive business.

The conclusion cannot be escaped that the worst offense this rational and careful employee committed was to have been connected with the more strictly applied security regulations of the past. He was connected with former officials whose memory is hated in some State Department quarters. And when he saw laxity and trickiness developing in personnel security he would not be stilled by any fear of losing his job or the condemnation of his superiors.

Mr. Otepka denies the specific charges brought against him, mainly of clipping off the classification stamps on the documentary evidence he supplied the Senate subcommittee.

He did not do it, he says, and it will be very hard to prove that he did, for the evidence as presented is flimsily circumstantial. What Mr. Otepka does not deny is that he testified before the committee in response to its request and helped counsel for the committee frame questions that would show the lax practices of his associates and superiors.

In the process of getting rid of Mr. Otepka, one State Department employee is accused of higher venality than Mr. Otepka himself. This employee is charged with lying under oath in denying the tapping of Mr. Otepka's telephone.

The whole business is unsavory and shabby in some of its aspects, and no more so than in the basic doctrine behind Mr. Otepka's discharge. For this, and little else in the Otepka case, Secretary Rusk must bear responsibility. He placed the matter of employee loyalty, operating through channels and playing on the team ahead of the more important matter of the efficiency and effectiveness of Government policy.

Now there is to be a transparently meaningless process of appeal on Mr. Otepka's discharge in which Mr. Rusk and President Kennedy will pass on their own decisions.

The Otepka case probably never will become a flaming public issue, and this is too

bad because it so aptly illustrates the Kennedy administration technique of diversion and counteraction when it comes under supported criticism. This was the case in the Billie Sol Estes scandal, in the TFX investigation, in the resignation of Navy Secretary Korth, and now once again when a strong case has been made against the personnel security policies of the State Department.

WHEAT GRADING STANDARDS

Mr. DOMINICK. Mr. President, over a period of time, I and many other people have asked the Agriculture Department to do something about tightening up our standards for wheat. At present, it is perfectly apparent that because of the broad gradations between various standards of wheat, the quality of our wheat which is used for export does not match the quality of similar standards of wheat from Canada, or even from the Argentine.

I have asked the Agriculture Department to impose standards which would give us a competitive situation with other countries in the world.

A very good article was published in the Denver Post recently in respect to this problem. I ask unanimous consent that it may be printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:

WHEAT GRADING STANDARDS ATTACKED
(By Dick Prouty)

A Colorado farmer harvests top quality wheat and delivers 10 truckloads of it to a country elevator.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it contains less than a pound of undesirable material-dirt, broken kernels, pebbles-per 60-pound bushel.

Then the wheat is moved to a larger terminal elevator, where, according to USDA grading standards, it may contain more than 8 pounds of undesirable material and still qualify as top-grade wheat.

So the 10 truckloads are mixed with 1 truckload of corn, corncobs, milo, plastic pellets, or other handy refuse.

It still qualifies as top-grade wheat, but now instead of 10 truckloads of wheat, there are 11 eligible for Government subsidy at the rate of 14 cents a bushel.

PAY FOR RUBBISH?

If the ratio holds for the 1.2 million bushels of America's surplus wheat, then the taxpayers, including the farmer who grew the grain, are paying $16.8 million a year for storing 120 million bushels of rubbish.

But the story doesn't stop there, says Herbert Hughes, Imperial, Nebr., wheat farmer, elevator operator, foreign trade expert, member of the Nebraska Wheat Commission, and chairman of a committee on grain standards for a farmer's organization, the Great Plains Wheat, Inc., of Garden City, Kans.

The deliberate adulteration is costing the United States millions of dollars in wheat sales in Europe, South America, and Asia, Hughes believes. Those sales would help offset the U.S. foreign trade deficit, and help the farmer, he said.

It has also let some grain elevator operators reap tremendous profits-$142,793,700 will be paid for wheat storage this year, according to the USDA. The C-G-F Grain Co., Salina, Kans., alone received $24.6 million in 1962, Government reports show, Hughes said. FARMS STORE LITTLE

On-farm grain storage by the farmers themselves accounts for only a small percentage of the $142.7 million total, he said, noting $120.4 million of 1962 payments

amounted to $500,000 or more, "hardly an on-farm type operation."

"The present grain grading standards are so broad as to be virtually meaningless," Hughes said. "No one questions we ship the dirtiest wheat in the world-we can prove that we do, and who wants to pay $1.79 a bushel for dirt, plus the freight charge?"

To help correct these situations several wheat farmer organizations have petitioned the marketing service of the USDA to revise the grain grading standards-specifically limit undesirable materials to 3 percent-less than a pound a bushel.

Naturally, the elevator operators, especially the ones who store great quantities of grain, are against the proposed changes because their profits would be reduced.

Jimmy H. Dean, general manager of the

Farmers Cooperative received $3.6 million in storage payments last year.

Hughes, who has traveled abroad to find out firsthand about grain marketing, listed these advantages of the tightened standards, if they are approved and put into effect next May:

Foreign buyers would order increased amounts of wheat for cash with the immediate twofold result of decreasing the amount of grain in storage and reducing the Nation's foreign trade deficit.

"Of course, as we are able to increase exports, the co-ops which are big storage centers would lose storage fees from the Commodity Credit Corporation, which has title to all the surplus grain," Hughes said.

"It helps to realize that a profit on a sale to a foreign buyer is less than a cent a bushel," he said.

EXPORTERS MUM

Hughes said the exporters have pretty well stayed "on the sidelines" of the grading controversy.

"The effect of revised standards," he said, "would not be only to decrease Government payments for handling (5 cents a bushel) and storage of surplus wheat, at a savings to the taxpayers, but also to increase cash income to the country."

"Most of all, if foreign demands for wheat can be met competitively, the farmer can begin to look for increased acreage—he can grow more and thus gain in the long run," Hughes said.

A farmer now receives about $1.80 a bushel for top grade wheat, depending upon

local conditions.

Currently only a third of the 650 million bushels of wheat exported annually is paid for in cash, Hughes said. The remainder is paid for with foreign currencies, which the United States must spend within the purchasing nation.

ONE BILLION INCREASE

The gross export figure could be raised to 900 million or a billion bushels, the difference being new dollars, Hughes believes.

On October 14, 1960, after a 30-day inspection tour of European grain centers Dean reported:

"We must exert every effort to keep cleanout (undesirable materials) at a minimum if we are to effectively compete [for foreign wheat markets]," Dean said, in a published account of his trip.

The fate of the proposed grade standard changes is uncertain, but after a series of State wheatgrowers association conventions in November and December in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Texas,

A formal stand on the proposal is expected at the convention of the National Association of Wheat Growers in Amarillo, Tex., January 7-10.

Other conventions will be November 23, Akron, Colo.; November 6-7, Dodge City, Kans.; November 14-16, Alliance, Nebr. (includes Wyoming association); December 5, Wichita Falls, Tex.

THE BIRCH SOCIETY

Mr. FULBRIGHT. Mr. President, there has come to my attention an interesting and penetrating analysis of certain aspects of the opinions and principles of Robert Welch and his disciples in the Birch Society. This is in the form of the letter to the editor of the Santa Barbara News-Press, written by a friend of mine and former editor of the Arkansas Gazette, Mr. Harry Ashmore.

I ask unanimous consent that the letter be printed in the body of the RECORD as a part of my remarks.

There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF.,
November 1, 1963.

To the EDITOR,
Santa Barbara News-Press,
Santa Barbara, Calif.

DEAR SIR: The issues raised by the John Birch Society have been brought into clearer focus by the coincidence of:

1. Robert Welch's public reiteration of his previous semiprivate charges that President Eisenhower is a traitor, and that the late John Foster Dulles was an active Communist Party member from 1919 forward.

2. Senator BARRY GOLDWATER'S belated public letter to T. M. Storke, of the Santa

Nor do I believe that Mr. Welch's charges can be called illogical (balderdash was Mr. Ryskind's word) by anyone who accepts the premise upon which he has founded the John Birch Society. Indeed, it seems to me that Mr. Welch's conclusion is the only possible one for any loyal Bircher, and that it is not only proper to associate the leader's views with that of the membership, but that it is logically impossible to disassociate them.

The basis of the John Birch action program-which includes impeachment of Chief Justice Warren, withdrawal from U.N., etc.is the JBS estimate of the extent of "Communist control" of the nations of the world.

This has been set forth in the Scoreboard of

American Opinion magazine, an official publication of the John Birch Society, with findings as of June 1, 1963.

American Opinion rates the various nations on a scale which estimates the Communist influence, as a percentage of "Total Control" (capitalization American Opinion's, as reprinted in Facts About UNICEF). In the case of avowedly Communist states, such as Russia, Poland, Byelourussia, etc., the rating is naturally 100 percent.

On this scale no place on earth is immune; the lowest rating is Ireland's at 0 to 20; Nationalist China is at 10 to 20; Spain rises to 20 to 30; and such a presumed anti-Communist bastion as Pakistan shows up with 30 to 50 percent.

On the Birch scale the United States is around the bend, with a rating of 50-70 percent Communist total control. American

Opinion compares this total control figure with an estimate of actual Communist Party membership in the United States, which it places at a mere 10,000.

The point of this is inescapable. No one could assume that 10,000 Communist Party members could exert 50 to 70 percent total control over a democratic republic the size of the United States. Such control could

disagreement with Mr. Welch but said he would not turn his back on the John Birch Society because this would brand honest conservatives with guilt by association.

3. The anguished open letter to Mr. Welch by Morrie Ryskind, the Los Angeles Times columnist and former JBS member, in which he characterized Mr. Welch's public statement as a "foul blow to conservatism" "wickedly unfair," not to Messrs. Eisenhower and Dulles, but to the Birchers because "like it or not, you speak as the head of JBS and thus brand your members with the same beliefs."

Mr. Ryskind defines Mr. Welch's most serious error as violation of a tenet of the Birch faith, which holds that "only a damned fool provides ammunition to the enemy."

It seems to me a grave injustice is being done Mr. Welch by his sometime followers and coideologists.

Consideration of Mr. Welch's charges against Messrs. Eisenhower and Dulles necessarily begins with the question of whether or not Mr. Welch believes them to be true. If he has knowingly made false charges for political effect he is, of course, a scoundrel beneath contempt.

But I do not think this is the case. I think Mr. Welch does believe that not only a distinguished career soldier who became a Republican President, and his Secretary of State, were conscious Communist conspirators, but that many if not most of the other key American leaders of this generation are equally guilty. This being the case, it is Mr. Ryskind who is guilty of a "foul blow." patriotic citizen who is convinced that his government is riddled with treason cannot be called a damned fool for saying so; on the contrary he would be a poltroon if he did not respond to the clear moral obligation to sound a warning from the housetops. The

of government, by conscious Communist conspirators who have duped virtually the whole of the American people in a series

of free elections. It must further be assumed that these conspirators have deluded or subverted the FBI and our other internal

security agencies, which have either rejected or are deliberately concealing the facts as revealed by American Opinion to the John Birch membership.

Since I assume Mr. Welch's integrity, I cannot doubt his patriotism, nor that of the members of his society. The fundamental question, then, is whether or not the John Birch estimate of the extent of Communist control of the United States is wholly, or even substantially, correct. This is the issue

Mr. GOLDWATER has not faced in his effort to disassociate himself from Mr. Welch, the society's leader, while retaining the support of the society's membership.

If Communist control has risen past 50 percent we are, as Mr. Ryskind says, at Armageddon, and self-preservation demands that we look upon our elected Government as a nest of vipers. In this light the Birch demand for mere impeachment of Chief Justice Warren is an act of moderation. But if we do not accept the Birch estimate, the society's concentrated propaganda campaign

against the leading figures of both our polit

ical parties, with treason as its recurring theme, can only be viewed as grossly irresponsible, dangerously divisive, and bound to incite the violence that is already marring a good many public gatherings.

This is the issue on which all of us, Mr. GOLDWATER included, have to decide whether

we are for or against the John Birch Society. A sincere patriot might wind up on either side, but, as I think the Birchers would agree, neutrality is unthinkable.

Sincerely,

HARRY S. ASHMORE.

ED AREAS LEGISLATION

Mr. PEARSON. Mr. President, I am pleased to join the distinguished Senator from Texas [Mr. TowER] in the sponsorship of a bill S. 2304, providing for a 3year extension of the impacted areas assistance program.

Yesterday, when my distinguished colleague introduced this bill, he clearly and concisely set forth the problem wherein the impacted areas assistance program as a part of House bill 4955 continues to be considered in conference while more than 4,000 local school districts, involving approximately 2 million pupils throughout the Nation, find it impossible to complete their budgets and plan their educational program for the fiscal year.

Mr. President, the primary objective of the impacted areas assistance program is to provide financial assistance for the maintenance and operation of schools in local school districts upon which the Federal Government has placed added financial burdens by reason of the fact that federally acquired real property has been removed from the tax roles while, at the same time, Federal agencies or installations have provided a substantial increase in the number of pupils which a local district must accept and provide education. education. Onethird of all Kansas counties have estimated 1962-63 entitlements under Public Law 947 in the amount of $6,173,

421.43.

Mr. President, Kansas, at both the State and the local levels, has rightly gained a reputation for conducting its governmental affairs with great financial responsibility. The two pillars upon which this reputation for financial responsibiltiy is based are the State's statutes, popularly called the cash basis, and the budget laws.

Very briefly, these statutes provide that a local governing unit may not expend money for any purpose unless that purpose is provided in the budget and unless the local treasury has on hand unencumbered cash for immediate payment. Because the local school districts must adhere to these statutes and because of the delay of congressional action, it is critical for our school districts that Congress move ahead as quickly as possible.

The introduction of this separate bill should provide the means of solving a substantial and pressing problem now facing the local school districts in Kansas and throughout the Nation. Mr. CARLSON. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?

Mr. PEARSON. I yield to my colleague

Mr. CARLSON. I commend my colleague from Kansas for calling to the attention of the Senate his presentation of proposed legislation that would care for a problem that is resulting in a very difficult situation in the educational system not only in Kansas but throughout our Nation. The areas which are termed

the impacted school districts; that is, districts in which children are being educated in impacted areas of defense installations and others, have been in need for assistance. It needs that assistance

now. I sincerely hope that we can get early action on the proposed legislation. I commend the Senator.

As a result of our Government's inaction, U.S. passengers today, seated side by side with citizens of ratifying coun

TRAGIC FOR AMERICANS

Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, I wish to call the attention of the Senate and the country to a unique and baffling situation which I believe must be corrected without delay.

For the first time in our history, the U.S. Government through willful inaction is in the position of placing a lower value on the lives of its citizens than almost any other major nation. Whether it is from vacillating indecision or callous indifference on the part of the administration, the result is that, in the usual situation, the life of an American today is worth only half as much as the life of a Frenchman, an Italian, a German, a Russian, or a Mexican.

This situation arises because of our failure to take any action on the Hague protocol to the Warsaw Convention of 1929.

In 1934, the United States ratified the Warsaw Convention of 1929, a treaty relating to international transportation by air. The convention provides for a limitation of liability on the part of air carriers in respect to passengers, baggage, and cargo moving in international transportation. Its most important provision is a limitation of liability for personal injury and death to passengers of approximately $8,300. Without going into the finer legal points of the convention, its provisions generally mean that a person on an international flight who is killed in an airline accident cannot recover more than $8,300 in damages from the airline.

Because this amount is unreasonably and unjustifiably low by our standards, the U.S. Government and other nations met in The Hague in 1955 to seek an increase in the limitation amount. They agreed on what is called the Hague protocol which set a new limitation, double the amount of the old one. The Hague protocol was signed by the United States, and submitted to the Senate for its advice and consent in 1959 by the previous administration. The Democratic controlled 86th Congress failed to act.

The present administration has undertaken what might be called an agonizing reappraisal of the Hague protocol, but it has made no decision. No recommendation has been made to the Senate. No steps have been taken to withdraw the protocol. No move has been made to safeguard the interests of the thousands of Americans who travel on international airline flights. They have just allowed the situation to drift in a leaderless vacuum.

In the meantime, the required 30 nations have ratified the Hague protocol and its higher limits on liability have gone into effect. The 30th nation submitted its ratification on May 1, 1963, and the higher limits of the Hague protocol went into effect on August 1, 1963.

The confusion has been compounded as to the airlines of any country on flights to or from the United States. For example, passengers originating and terminating their flights in a ratifying country, with an intermediate stop in the United States, receive the benefits of the increased, $16,600, Hague limits. Even those passengers who originate and terminate in a single ratifying country a round trip to the United States, receive the benefits of the increased Hague limit. But their fellow passengers who originate or terminate a one-way trip to or from the United States, or who originate or terminate a round trip to anywhere else from the United States are limited to the $8,300 limit in the old Warsaw Convention. These inequitable and frustrating results are attributable to the U.S. failure to act.

This confusion, indeed discrimination, now plagues international commercial aviation. The bulk of international world travel involves transportation to or from the United States. But it is this very moment to and from the United States-which is largely excluded from the Hague benefits because of the U.S. failure to act.

Furthermore, it should be noted that even if the United States ratified the Hague protocol tomorrow, its higher values would not be effective, with respect to the United States, for 3 additional months under the terms of the convention.

Mr. President, one of the potentially tragic aspects of this whole situation involving the limitation of the air carriers' liability is the fact that a vast majority of passengers are totally unaware of the existence of such a limit, and certainly not aware of the fact that the limits are lower now for travel from the limits are lower now for travel from the United States than from most other countries.

Under these circumstances, the Government has an increased responsibility to make sure that the limit on the liability is not unreasonably and foolishly low.

In this connection, I was pleased to note the recent action of the Civil Aeronautics Board in approving new regulations which will require airlines to specifically and clearly inform passengers of the existence and the amount of the limit on their liability, thus putting passengers on notice, in appropriate cases, of their potential need for additional insurance. This is the only step the Board can take in the present situation, but their action may be helpful in throwing the whole situation into the light of public awareness.

Let me say, at this point, that it is not my intention to suggest that ratification of the Hague protocol is the only course of action open to us. Other only course of action open to us. Other steps might be taken to improve and increase the protection afforded Amer

icans who travel on international airline flights, and I think they should all be explored without delay.

Mr. President, the legal limits on liability now are fixed at $8,300 with respect to international flights which originate or terminate in the United States but are increased to $16,600 with respect to flights in most other areas of the world.

This is inexcusable. It is indefensible. The administration must bear the full and terrible weight of the consequences for its failure to act in this field.

Furthermore, the Senate itself has a responsibility. Even if the administration is unwilling or unable to recommend any action, the Senate can act. The Hague protocol is still before it, pending in the Foreign Relations Committee, and available for ratification.

We cannot delay any longer. Tragic consequences may be the only reward of further delays.

AMERICAN EDUCATION WEEK

Mr. FONG. This week we are observing American Education Week at a significant point in this Congress. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have before them a number of measures for the welfare of our schools and colleges.

Several major education bills-more, probably, than in the normal course of one session-have come to the floor for our consideration. As a strong supporter of our Nation's school system, I am pleased to note the progress that has so far been made in advancing the various school bills in this Congress.

The Health Professions Educational Assistance Act of 1961 was passed by this Congress and has now been signed into law.

The Senate has also approved proposals for: Strengthening and improving vocational education; extending and expanding the National Defense Education Act; and expanding the impacted areas laws.

These proposals have been consolidated into H.R. 4955, now in a SenateHouse conference committee.

The Senate has received for its action a conference report on H.R. 6143, to provide financing for higher education facilities, already approved by the House.

The Senate has on its agenda a bill to expand the Library Services Act; a similar bill is pending before the House Rules Committee.

While the response of this Congress to these education bills has been encouraging, it remains to be seen whether these bills will finally be enacted, and in what form.

With the progress made to date and with another session ahead, there is good reason to believe that this Congress can make a substantial record in education. That is certainly my hope.

The pending education bills are the means for helping to upgrade the quality and quantity of our Nation's schools and colleges. They fit into the general theme for American Education Week-"Education Strengthens the Nation.” For, in a very real sense, we strengthen our Nation when we fully support our schools.

Today it is apparent that, if America is to compete successfully with other lands who respect and encourage educational attainment, we must increase the opportunities for our young people to acquire knowledge and skills to the utmost of their ability.

In a world of 3 billion people, America numbers only 180 million, 6 percent of the world's population. What we lack in numbers we must make up in quality, and that quality can only come with the best educational facilities we can afford our people. This we must always do.

It has been said accurately that our Government cannot function unless education is widely and soundly based. How else except through general public education can an entire people become capable of shaping their own future through a representative government?

Speaking of my own State the newest in the Union-I can personally testify to the role of public education in the development of this mid-Pacific community. Here were brought together peoples of many races and cultures from the Orient and the Occident. Most of the original immigrants came from non-English-speaking backgrounds. Yet, over the years, through the marvelous workings of free public education, new generations of American-born youths have come forth. In speech, attitudes, and outlook, they are as modern Americans as youths in any mainland community. More than any single influence, public education in the American tradition made them what they are today. I am proud to count myself as a product of this public education system.

In observing American Education Week, we pay tribute also to the role of the private schools. They deserve our commendation for they have made outstanding contributions to the progress and advancement of our society.

In reviewing the history of public education in the United States, we are reminded that the development of our schools has come a long way. Over many years, this development has taken place step by step, State by State. Our schools have had to grow and change along with the Nation and the times. With new needs have come new ideas to meet them.

It is for us, in this national legislative body, to fit the solutions to the new challenges facing our schools. In one House or the other, there are a number of pending education bills to which I referred earlier.

American Education Week is a timely reminder that Congress should complete this unfinished business as soon as possible.

On this occasion I wish to commend the national sponsors of American Education Week: the National Education Association, the American Legion, the U.S. Office of Education, and the National Congress of Parents and Teachers.

In Hawaii, local groups of these national organizations have arranged special programs for Education Week observance, in conjunction with similar

events in other States.

Through their farsighted and vigorous efforts, these national and local organizations have called public attention

to the importance of education in our free society. They have also encouraged many other groups to participate in the observance of this annual event. All of them deserve the heartfelt thanks of Americans everywhere.

AMERICAN TRADE UNION COUNCIL

AND THE HISTADRUT

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. President, on yesterday evening it was my privilege to address a dinner meeting at the Hilton Hotel in Rockefeller Center in New York City honoring a distinguished American businessman, Mr. Jerome Brody, and a highly regarded U.S. labor leader, Mr. Julius Press.

tual life. The Histadrut began operating in four major fields: trade union activities; social and cultural activities, such as sports, newspapers, films, and women's organizations; economic enterprises, which included cooperatives, agricultural settlements, financial institutions, and industries; and semipublic activities, such as an educational system, savings funds, medical services, and labor exchanges.

As a trade union organization, the Histadrut has been able to provide for the Israeli worker a standard of living comparable to the industrial nations of Western Europe and the United States. As a union to which 75 percent of all Jewish workers belong, the Histadrut supplies the lobbying power to enable greater benefits and to protect the

worker from undue government restric

tions. To this central labor organization belong university professors and street cleaners, doctors and factory workers, farmers and white-collar workers, manual laborers and academicians, each participating and

Mr. Miller who served as honorary chairman of the dinner and for whom the youth center is named has had a long-time interest in the progress of the Histadrut.

In preparation of my remarks for the New York dinner, I asked the Library of Congress Legislative Reference Service to prepare a memorandum on the accomplishments of the Histadrut.

I ask unanimous consent that the memorandum be printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the memorandum was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:

THE HISTADRUT IN ACTION Histadrut is a name which is synonymous with the State of Israel. For today 70 percent of all Israel agricultural production is the work of Histadrut's collective or cooperative settlements; 90 percent of the bus transportation belongs to a Histadrut cooperative; the second largest bank and the biggest insurance company belong to the Histadrut. Furthermore, 30 percent of the retail and wholesale trade is controlled through its cooperatives while 30 percent of Israel industry is affiliated with the Histadrut. Figures such as these clearly show the importance of this largest labor organization in Israel.

Forty-three years ago, when it was first founded by representatives of three Jewish Workers' parties whose total membership was approximately 4,000, Histadrut's basic aim was to serve as a central organization in which all workers could participate and proZionist in mote their common interests. outlook, this organization was to assist in the building of the National Home, thereby insuring that the State would develop as a workers' commonwealth. As is shown in its first policy statement: "The Histadrut considers it its duty to create a new type of Jewish worker, and to see to it that while settlement is being fostered, the Jewish worker who comes into being as a result of

this process, shall be assured the place he deserves. It regulates all matters concerning the working class in the fields of trade union activities, settlement, and education, with the aim of building a Jewish community."

As the organization grew in number, its functions expanded to encompass all the activities of a Jewish worker and his family. The Israeli worker looked upon his union not only as a bargaining agent for improved wages and working conditions, but also as a part of his everyday social and intellec

Histadrut.

The social and cultural activities of the Histadrut cover practically every facet of the nonworking hours of the laborer and his family. Several labor magazines and newspapers are published to keep its members informed of the activities of the organization and the state. There exists in every cooperative and settlement, clubs, and cultural centers and libraries where the members may relax after work. Music, folk dance, drama, painting and sculpture groups have been organized to provide mutual enjoyment and entertainment. Women's clubs provide a worthwhile outlet for the energies of the wives of the Histadrut members. In these clubs arise topics and suggestions which have and will benefit the community and the state.

The economic enterprises of the Histadrut fall generally into four categories. There are the large industries owned and operated by the Histadrut; companies owned partly by the parent organization in partnership with others, notably the government; cooperatives whose capital is owned by their own members but whose control is exercised by the Histadrut which provides such aid as credit facilities, technical advice, and legal and political protection; and those undertakings which are owned wholly or in part by the member cooperatives and which enjoy the same control and assistance as their central enterprises. Today the total of Histadrut projects constitute an empire directly employing over 170,000 people and having an annual turnover of over $2 billion. It is difficult to realize that 43 years ago there were only 4,000 members, pooling their meager resources and talents to form a union which would become one of the great powers in the State of Israel.

The fourth field of operation with which the Histadrut is concerned, that of semipublic activities, has enabled the state to grow to the heights by which it is recognized in the world. Levi Eshkol has stated that the Histadrut is the backbone of Israel. Golda Meir acclaimed that without the Histadrut, the State of Israel would not have come into existence, that it did the work of the state before the state existed. As a product of Zionism, it fostered the immigration of the Diaspora to the Jewish homeland. As each new settler arrived in the land of milk and honey, the Histadrut provided the necessary attention to enable the refugee, the settler, the persecuted one to begin a new life. The Kupat Cholim was organized to provide medical assistance to all its members. By means of a medical insurance system, the worker and his family may be treated in one of a thousand clinics set up throughout the country in which are employed 10,000 medical personnel.

The newcomer has been able to acquire learning by means of the various educational

facilities provided by the Histadrut. Hebrew, the official language of the state, is taught to those of the Diaspora who have been unable to attain a proficiency in the language of their ancestors. The Histadrut Workers College, a residential school in Tel Aviv, provides leadership training programs for the various labor organizations. From these students come the labor leaders of tomorrow.

The Histadrut has also a correspondence school for its members in which are taught secondary school subjects and agricultural, clerical, technical and labor studies. In conjunction with the correspondence school, the Histadrut has recently inaugurated a Radio University, whereby the student participated in classroom work via the radio. With the advent of television, it is envisioned that the executive council of the Histadrut will also inaugurate television classrooms.

Another educational school which the Histadrut affords for its laborers is the Absalom Institute for Israel Studies. In this school, the student learns of the geography and topography of Israel, its flora and fauna, and the historical association of each place of importance in the state by combining Biblical studies, archeology, and natural history together with a study of modern developments. The function of this institute is to help and direct the many amateur circles and to sponsor exploration and research in their respective interests. The tourist business also receives a boon from the Absalom Institute since courses for guides are offered.

Other semipublic functions include a network of banks, insurance funds, and credit institutions which furnish credit to the cooperatives and agricultural settlements and to industrial enterprises which wish to expand.

Because of its diverse and all-encompassing functions, the Histadrut, in its early years before the Jewish state was proclaimed, was a training school for parliamentary life. Within the organization there developed political parties, representing the various factions within the Jewish community. The Mapai and Mapam both had their beginning within the framework of the Histadrut. As the Central Government was formed in 1948, it is interesting to note that the various parties represented on the executive council of the Histadrut similarly were represented in the government and in a like ratio. Whereas the Mapai dominated the Histadrut, it now controls the leading bloc of votes in the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament. The Histadrut, therefore, functioned as a transitional organization and a stabilizing factor in the establishment of Israel, and, according to David Ben-Gurion, will continue to do so in the future. He said: "Histadrut has become a pillar on which the structure of Israel's democracy will rest for many years to come."

As an organization which gave unity and a common interest to its founders and which, during its short history, provided a refuge for Nazi escapees, provided active participation through the Jewish brigade in World War II, channeled the unions' human and economic resources into the war of liberation, provided active assistance in the absorption of new immigrants, and developed a strong national economic position for the State of Israel, the founders of the Histadrut are able to look with pride at their accomplishments. Throughout Israel, Histadrut subsidiary organizations enable the Israel population to enjoy facilities comparable to those of Western Europe. Solel Boneh, the largest construction contracting company in the Middle East, has built the settlements to which the immigrants came to begin life anew. El-Al Airlines and the Zim Navigation Co. are owned jointly by the Histadrut and the Government. Virtually all bus transportation and water distribution is controlled by Histadrut subsidiaries. The whole

sale purchasing and distribution industry of necessary supplies serves approximately onehalf the state and also assures the exportation of the major portion of agricultural produce to Europe. The mutual faith of the Histadrut and the Government has enabled this labor organization, during the first decade of Israel's statehood, to invest over $600 million in the nation's economy. This is indeed a proud record of achievement.

The development of Israel, though, is certainly not the result of one organization. Without assistance from abroad, particularly the United States, Israel's economy might have faltered along the way. Even the Histadrut has been given assistance by its fellow labor unions here in the United States. Throughout Israel, there are Histadrut projects and institutions which have been abetted by American labor organizations; foremost among these are the Beersheba Hospital, the Cultural Center in Haifa, rest homes, libraries, children's homes, cultural centers, and youth clubs. This international cooperation between labor groups has created a friendly feeling between the nationals of the two states, a mutual respect for each other's democratic institutions and a common front against world communism.

From the position of a borrower, Israel has now become a lender of capital, ideas, and personnel. As the African and Asian states gained their independence, it was necessary for them to achieve economic development and stability as rapidly as possible. Although the United States, Russia, and the other industrial nations of the world were capable and, indeed ready, to help these newly emerging states, their names carried with them the stigmata of imperialist, colonial power, or subversive state. Israel, encircled by hostile states, looked further afield for markets and friends and offered its services, too. Because Israel is a small country and cannot be suspected of imperialism, because the new states hoped for sympathy and understanding from a country which had recently undergone similar experiences for independence, because the schemes offered were on a small scale, more adaptable to the smaller states than were the grandiose and huge development projects on display in Russia and France, for example, and because Israel possessed an abundance of what the African and Asian nations needed most, that of trained personnel, response was immediate and positive. To Israel came the various missions to study the ideas, experiments, and fulfillments which made Israel a viable state. From Israel went the technicians, instructors, and capital to establish shipping lines, build roads and factories, set up government training centers and labor movements. The Histadrut, through its sundry organizations and companies, has provided for a majority of the work and personnel in the countries requesting assistance. In Sierra Leone, the Parliament Building was constructed by Solel Boneh. Solel Boneh also helped to establish the National Construction Co. in Ghana, lending 40 percent of the needed capital. Furthermore, teams went to Ghana to train a construction staff, of whom 10 have been sent to Israel for additional and intensified instruction. In Nigeria Solel Boneh participated in the establishment of the Nigerian Construction Co. and the Nigerian Water Resource Development Co. In fact, Solel Boneh has built numerous military installations for the United States in the Middle East and operates in a dozen countries where it has executed approximately $100 million worth of construction undertakings in the last 6 years.

The Zim Navigation Co. has also expanded its operations in several Afro-Asian countries. It has been instrumental in establishing the Gold Star Co. in Hong Kong, the Five Star Line in Burma, and the famous Black Star Line in Ghana, a model for all future shipping projects.

Wherever their assistance is needed and requested, medical, engineering, and construction teams are sent by the Overseas Operations Development Office of the Histadrut. Such assistance has been gratefully received by Burma, Thailand, Ethiopia, Nepal, Mali, and numerous other countries.

Perhaps the foremost work of the Histadrut in the international field is the inauguration of the permanent Afro-Asian Institute of Labor Studies and Cooperation in Israel. Founded in 1960 this institute, within 2 years, had received representatives from 24 countries. These trainees at the school are taught to be labor leaders in their respective countries. Each year, two courses are held; the first from January through April is taught in English; the second, from September through December, in French. The course combines the theoretical studies in the economics of development with personal observations of cooperative enterprises and labor organizations at work. It shows how the development of a new state can profit from applied methods of agriculture and industrial cooperation, and how principles of trade unionism may be constructively applied in laying the foundations of statehood, as was done in Israel.

The Afro-Asian Institute teaches that the labor movement in the newly emerging states is the promoter and agent of industrialization, whose struggle is not only for a better share of the rewards, but also for building the tools, factories, and means of communications of the state; as opposed to the basic idea of the labor movement in the

United States and Western Europe whose labor movements developed only to curb industrialization's worst abuses and to secure for the laborer a greater share of its benefits. Ghana has adhered to the principles of the Histadrut and has declared that its labor movement will be based on its

principles. Labor leaders in Pakistan, India,

and Burma also adhere to these ideas and are striving to achieve this end.

The Histadrut today is undergoing a change in organization and outlook. David Ben-Gurion stated in March 1956: "Histadrut today must be guided by two aims: to shape the social character of the state so as to realize evermore fully its guiding vision and to sponsor and pioneer all those things which cannot be accomplished by the power of compulsion or of law. And these include some of the most important and difficult of our tasks: to disperse the population more uniformly through all parts of the country; to reclaim the desert and waste lands; to increase unity between all sections of the population." The growth of the state, however, has enabled the government to take over many of the functions once considered as the dominion of the Histadrut.

Emphasis is being placed on the cities in Israel rather than the agricultural settlements. Furthermore, the numerous enterprises within the parent organization have begun to fragment rather than to pull together, each one striving to gain more for its own members. Wage parity among all classes of laborers has also caused much dissension. Yet the leaders of the Histadrut believe that the future of their organization is secure, that their labor movement will weather these current storms and emerge as the continuing stabilizer of the state.

Through the efforts of the Histadrut, Israel rightly lays claim to the title of the most developed nation in the Middle East and, as such, the strongest defender of democracy in the area. Through the efforts of the Histadrut, cooperation and friendship has arisen between Israel and the Afro-Asian countries, a cooperation by which the tenets of democracy and freedom have been spread. Furthermore the close cooperation between our labor unions and the Histadrut has enabled a genuine respect to grow and bear fruit, as is shown in the several projects sponsored by American labor groups in Israel