SEC. 413. If any provision of this Act or the application of any provision to any circumstances or persons shall be held invalid, the validity of the remainder of the Act and applicability of such provision to other circumstances or persons shall not be affected thereby. Approved October 6, 1949. 220. EMBARGO ON THE SHIPMENT OF ARMS, AMMUNITION, AND WAR MATERIALS TO COMMUNIST CHINA, MAY 15, 1951 1 Whereas the United States has initiated a proposal, under the terms of which the General Assembly of the United Nations would (1) call upon all member nations of the United Nations not to send to Communist China arms, ammunition, or any other material which might add to the war-making potential of Communist China; (2) urge that steps be taken to guard against circumvention or nullification of such embargo through loopholes which might enable the Chinese Communists to acquire the banned materials; and (3) establish a special committee to receive periodic reports from the complying member nations and to take other measures aimed at making the embargo as effective as possible; and Whereas Communist China has long since been branded an aggressor by an overwhelming majority of the member nations of the United Nations; and Whereas more than a dozen member nations are participating directly with the United States in the heroic military action against the common enemy in Korea, and the troops of such nations are being shot at, and killed, by the Chinese Communists; and Whereas no United Nations soldier should be the target of a bullet manufactured in the free world, or required to fight against troops supplied with materials coming from the free world: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That the Congress of the United States hereby requests and urges that the General Assembly of the United Nations take action leading to the placing of an embargo on the shipment to Communist China. of arms, ammunition, and other materials which might add to the war-making potential of Communist China. 221. REPORT OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS ON PROVIDING FOR THE CONTROL BY THE UNITED STATES AND COOPERATING FOREIGN NATIONS OF EXPORTS TO ANY NATION OR COMBINATION OF NATIONS THREATENING THE SECURITY OF THE UNITED STATES, INCLUDING THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS AND ALL COUNTRIES UNDER ITS DOMINATION, AUGUST 16, 19512 The Committee on Foreign Relations, having had referred to it H. R. 4550, to provide for the control by the United States and cooperating foreign nations of exports, and S. 1987, providing for the termination of assistance to foreign countries exporting war materials. 1 S. Con. Res. 31, 82d Cong., 1st sess. U. S. Congress. Senate. Report No. 698, 82d Congress, 1st session. to Russia and her satellites, and having considered the same, reports H. R. 4550, with amendments, and recommends that the bill do pass. MAIN PURPOSE OF H. R. 4550 The main purpose of this bill, as amended is to prohibit "all military, economic, or financial assistance to any nation" which permits the shipment of "arms, ammunition, and implements of war, atomic energy materials, petroleum, transportation materials of strategic value, and items of primary strategic significance used in the production of arms, ammunition, and implements of war" to "any nation or combination of nations threatening the security of the United States. Provision is made, however, for the President to continue aid to certain countries which permit "shipments of items other than arms, ammunition, implements of war, and atomic energy materials when unusual circumstances indicate that the cessation of aid would clearly be detrimental to the security of the United States." The bill also fixes responsibility in a single officer in the executive branch to see that the purposes of the bill are given effect. BACKGROUND Since 1948 Congress has incorporated in foreign aid bills, provisions designed to limit or prohibit the export of war materials to Iron Curtain countries from nations receiving United States assistance. (See Public Law 843, 81st Cong., ch. XIII, sec. 1304; and Public Law 45, 82d Cong., sec. 1302.) The last of these actions, the Kem amendment to the Third Supplemental Appropriation Act, became law on June 2, 1951. The Kem amendment was adopted because of the belief by some Members of Congress that the administration either had not been diligent in giving effect to earlier provisions of law or that the earlier provisions of law had not been specific enough to prevent in fact the shipment of substantial quantities of war materials to iron-curtain countries actively engaged in, or supporting, aggression in Korea. Prior to, and during the time when the Kem amendment was being considered, a subcommittee of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, under the chairmanship of Congressman Battle, of Alabama, held executive hearings on the subject of east-west trade, directing "its efforts toward determining the current status of controls of exports to the Soviet bloc by the United States and by other nations"; appraising "the effectiveness of these controls"; and seeking to determine "what legislative action should be taken in order to make the controls of such shipments more effective." On July 16, the full Foreign Affairs Committee approved H. R. 4550, which was passed by a voice vote in the House on August 2. Meanwhile, the executive branch of the Government operating under the Kem amendment, and relying on a provision that exceptions to the Kem amendment might "be made upon an official determination of the National Security Council that such exception is in the security interest of the United States," had reported a number of such determinations to the Congress. The executive branch took the position that these exceptions were in the security interest of the United States. Some Members of the Congress believed, however, that the administration was using the exception provision of the Kem amendment in such a way as, in effect, to nullify the intent of Congress expressed in the policy portions of the amendment. On August 9, 1951, Senator Kem introduced S. 1987, which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. COMMITTEE ACTION The Committee on Foreign Relations has during the past few years received a number of confidential reports from officers of the executive branch on steps that were being taken informally to encourage nations receiving American aid to limit and prohibit the shipment of war materials to the Soviet Union and its satellites. A subcommittee under the chairmanship of Senator Theodore Francis Green, of Rhode Island, which visited Western Europe during July 1951, took the opportunity to inquire closely into the extent of east-west trade. The report of the subcommittee noted: The subcommittee did learn of some situations in which limited amounts of exports from Western European countries to the east may be justified. For example, foreign officials referred to a number of specific instances in which the export of some materials to the east is in fact a quid pro quo for the acquisition by the west of much needed critical materials. The situation in Berlin is one which requires particular attention. Since the western sectors of Berlin must live by the export of many of their products to Soviet-controlled areas surrounding them and from which essential foodstuffs are imported, the embargo of exports from western Berlin becomes a matter of considerable political and economic consequence. It expressed the belief that it is *** most important that east-west trade shall not be permitted to increase the war potential of the Soviet Union at the expense of Western Europe. Language in legislation, the subcommittee observed— *** must be carefully fashioned so that it will not only make congressional intent clear beyond doubt but also so as to enable the Administrator to interdict such trade with tact but certainty. Based upon this background, the Committee on Foreign Relations considered the issues involved in executive session on August 17, and agreed to report H. R. 4550 to the Senate, with amendments, and recommend its approval. THE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS H. R. 4550, as passed by the House, authorized the appointment of a Mutual Defense Assistance Officer to be responsible for carrying out the purposes of the act and to be compensated at the rate of not to exceed $16,000 per year. His principal job was to determine initially, and on a continuing basis, the items which were for the purpose of this Act, arms, ammunition, and implements of war, atomic energy materials, petroleum, transportation materials of strategic value, and those items of primary strategic significance used in the production of arms, ammunition, and implements of war which should be embarged * * *. In making these determinations, this officer was to give "full and complete consideration" to the views of the interested departments. The Foreign Relations Committee agreed that responsibility for protecting the national interest in east-west trade matters should be fodged in one man. It felt, however, that this individual should not be in a position where he might become the head of a separate and new Government agency. The committee, therefore, amended section 102 of H. R. 4550 to make it clear that responsibility for giving effect to the purposes of the act should be lodged in the official to be principally responsible for the administration of the Mutual Defense Assistance Act of 1949, whoever he might be and wherever that function. might be carried on in the executive branch. The committee feels there is good justification for putting responsibility on this officer. He will be intimately concerned with economic problems of the countries receiving aid and will occupy a central position in the administration of foreign aid. He will also be familiar and directly concerned with the military situations of those countries and with the operations of American military representatives in countries receiving military aid. So far as the Congress is concerned, the fixing of this responsibility in the man who administers the foreignaid programs will enable Congress to look to one man for reports and for the effective carrying out of the provisions of this legislation. At the time of reporting this bill, the committee does not know precisely the nature of the administrative provisions that will be included in the Mutual Security Assistance Act now being considered. by the Congress. For that reason it has not in this amendment been able to designate with absolute certainty the title of the official who may, under that act, have primary responsibility for coordinating American foreign-aid programs. It is the intention of the committee, however, that the official who may be responsible for the administration of the aid programs under the pending legislation and, in particular, the man charged with giving effect to the main provisions of the Mutual Defense Assistance Act, as amended, shall be given responsibility under this act. Until such time as the proposed Mutual Assistance Program is approved, the present senior official responsible for administering the Mutual Defense Assistance Act of 1949 will be responsible for giving effect to this legislation. The committee does not want the administration of this act fixed in the President who is too heavily burdened to give the practically continuous attention that this problem requires. Neither does the committee want the Administrator to sit at such a low level in the governmental hierarchy that no effective authority can be exercised over other agencies operating in the field of export control. In addition to the amendment of section 102, the committee made. certain other amendments to bring the draft bill into line with the changed section 102 and to make minor drafting corrections. NATURE AND SCOPE OF EAST-WEST TRADE The report of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs contains interesting tables on the scope and nature of east-west trade. The tables from that report which are reproduced below show (1) United States trade with the Soviet bloc, (2) export from the United States and imports to the United States from Soviet bloc states, including those in Asia, and (3) trade between Western and Eastern Europe. 73652-56-53 |