Evening star., 1941-01-28
lease-Lend Bill 10
Accomplish Peoples S
Will, Says George
Senator, in Forum Talk,
Points to Plan as Guard
Aquinst Involvement

Chairman George of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee dis
cussed the administrations British
aid bill in an address in the National
Radio Forum on WMAT, lPe- "i"''+.
The topic of the address was "An
Analysis of tie Lease e
and arranged by The Star, it was
of the National BroadcaSting Co.
The text of the Senator's address
follows:
For quite four centuries mankind
has struggled to build up what we
call international law, based upon
the recognition and respect of the
independent sovereignty of all ma
tions, great and small, in the family
of nations. The basic principle has
promised the best chance of nations
living at peace.
Here in our Western Hemisphere
that principle has found its strong
est support. To preserve our peace
and security the United States,
wisely or unwisely, went beyond the
restraints placed upon neutrals
under the international code.
At the present time three of the
most powerful nations in the world
have rejected this principle and
have based their foreign policy on
organized aggression. The foreign
policy, as we'll as the national de-
fense of all peace-mlnded nations.
Is Immediately concerned. With the
three powerful nations striking hard
at the foundations of peace in the
family of nations, we look to our
defenses.
Wishes Made Clear.
Sometimes it is not easy to Judge
what the majority of our people
want. There is every sign, how
ever. that the present policy of our
Government is supported with as
much unanimity and understanding
as any rational person could expect.
The American people have made
their wishes clear, overwhelming
clear. They have shown that they
want to rush all possible material
help to England, so that the oceans
can be held in friendly hands, so
that war can be held away from our
shores, and so that we may gain
time to build for ourselves an i'm
pregnable defense on every front
I mention those deeply felt pur-
poses of the American people be-
cause I think they have been OBJ
scured in the public debate over the
so-called lease-lend bill now before
Congress. Its clear intent and its
certain effect are to do what the
American people want done
need not tell you that the bill
has been subjected to criticism by
certain persons. and, in order that
you may be in a position to evaluate
that criticism better. I want to eX-
plain to you exactly what the bill
is designed to accomplish. l want
also to show you that the bill and
its purposes are in full accord with
our constitutional and international
practices since the foundation of
our Government.
The lend-lease bill seeks to insure
us against involvement in the wars
now being waged in Europe, Asia
and Africa by authorizing the Exec
utive to give material aid to those
friendly nations whose continued
independent existence is necessary
for our vital defense.
Thus, the bill authorizes the Pres
ident to manufacture in our Gov
eminent arsenals and navy yards,
as well as in privately owned facto-
ries, weapons and war materials for
those nations whose defense the
President deems vital to the defense
of the United States. It also au-
thorizes him to sell, lease, lend, or
otherwise dispose of weapons to
such countries We all recognize
that nation engaged in warfare of
the modern kind often requires
facilities for repairing and testing
and Quitting its own weapons of
defense, such as battleship. Thus.
1t may be that warship is injured
on the high seas. far from her home
port. Unless she can be repaired
and again placed in service, she NAV
be total loss so far as her useful
ness in the war is concerned. This
bill authorizes the President to assist
nations, in whose defense we our
selves have a defense interest. by
permitting the repair of such vessels
and other defense articles in the
United States.
Will Expedite Aid.
The bill will materially expedite
the flow of military assistance to
Great Britain. 1t is important at
this time to eliminate any friction
or confusion in the procurement and
production of weapons for ourselves
and for the democracies. This bill
AIDS In the accomplishment of that
purpose by giving to the President
power to funnel our own orders and
those OF Great Britain through one
agency. We want to place the
President in the position where
he has authority to run the aid to
Britain and the national defense
program on an efficient and busi-
nesslike basis.
l DO not mean to say the bill
contains no limitations on the broad
powers which it gives to our COM
mander in chief. There are limita-
tlons. Thus. for example, the lease
lend bill provides that when war
materials or defense information are
made available to foreign govern
ment, that foreign government must
undertake that it will not transfer
such articles or information to anv
other foreign power without the
consent of the President of the
United States.
furthermore, the Congress of the
United States has no intention of
aodlcating by passing this bill. Ours
Is historically Government of
checks and balances. While the
constitution makes provision for
the exercise of vast powers by the
executive, it also wisely provides
1or methods of checking those DOW
ers by the Congress if they should
oe the subject of abuse. The Con-
gress is desirous that information
regarding what defense articles and
defense information is exported
H.