Evening star., 1947-11-30
Congress Due 10 Get
Marshall Plan After
Presidents Vacation
By Chalmers M. Roberts

Three weeks of Congressional
consideration of the Stop-gap
foreign aid bill have raised
storm signals indicating long
and bitter days of debate ahead
for the long-range Marshall
plan for European recovery.
President Truman is expected to
send the Marshall plan to Capitol
Hill shortly after his return from
a Florida vacation a week from
tomorrow, although there is slight
chance 1t may be sent up before
he leaves Wednesday, the White
House has said
In the two weeks since Congress
returned to Washington, preceded
By a week of work by the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, and
the House Foreign Affairs Com
mittee, it has become as reasonably
certain as any prediction of Con-
greSsional action can be that some
sort of long term plan will be voted
by the 80th Congress between next
January and the opening of the
Republican national convention in
June.
Many Points Undecided.
But the amount of money to be
invested by this Nation in the effort
to put 16 European countries on
their feet, the way the funds will
be administered and how they will
be spent, the strings" to be at
tached to the proposed multi-billion
dollar appropriation--all these are
wrapped in a legislative haze
Here is some of the evidence
which has come to light these past
three weeks on various aspects of
long-range European recovery
program:
l. Length of the debate: Chair
man Vandenberg of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee called
the Marshall plan "a complicated
formula of tremendous magnitude
which will require exhaustive con-
gressional exploration" Senator
Ball, Republican, Of Minnesota has
indicated that he expects to see how
the stopgap aid program works"
before making up his mind on the
long-range bill and others in both
Houses have taken the same posi-
tion. Stopgap aid is designed to
end March 81, 1948 That date is
the deadline for action on the
Marshall plan, but it is doubtful
that debate will be completed then.
2. Extent Of the program. The
European nations set up four-year
program for the calendar years 1948
through 1851. American considera-
ton of Europe's requests for help
has followed this idea. But Secre-
tary of State Marshall told Congress
he would not recommend to Presi-
dent Truman that Congress appro-
pirate for the full four year period"
Instead, he suggested that Congress
vote aid for the 15-month period
from April l, ls4S, through June 80,
l949.
Yearly Basis Urged.
The Hartman committee recon-
mended that any aid extended to
Europe must be on a year. -to-year
basis" subject to constant. vigilant
review of the Congress" Over
whelming sentiment on the Hill
favors the year to year approach
Senator Taft, the Ohio Republican
who heads the Senate Republican
Policy Committee and also is an
announced presidential candidate,
has objected to the amount of money
suggested for the 15-month period
in such a way as to indicate he
would prefer to put off beginning
the long range program until June.
He said Friday he doubled that the
s597, ,000, 900 stopgap fund would be
used up by April /.
The Hartman grouup, however,
suggested that Congress should give
Europe a pledge of our interest in
its well-being-presumably state
ment that we would continue aid
if all appears to be going well. But
no one Congress can tie the hands
of a succeeding Congress under the
Constitution and there has been
thus far no talk on the Hill of any
such pledge. Il.
g. Money to be voted: The Euro
pean nations asked for some $40 ,000,-
100000 Secretary Marshall told
Congress the total bill might be of