Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-02-12
Doctrine Passes
Senate Hurdle
By Big Margin
Committees Decide
Not to Water Down
Mideust Resolution
BY J. A. O'LEARY

NlIOCOSt NG9VIutlOII
BY J. A. OLEARY
The Eisenhower Middle East
resolution survived its first
attack today when Senators re-
fused to change it from a law
to a nonbinding expression of
congressional sentiment.
The members of the Senate
Foreign Relations and Armed
Services Committees met jointly
in closed session.
AS passed by the House two
weeks ago. the resolution has the
same legal force Of bill.
Vote Is 17-9
The Fulbright motion to
change the resolution from a law
to a mere expression of con-
gressional opinion was defeated.
II to 8.
Making unexpected progress,
the committee also voted;
/. To simplify the title to read:
"A joint resolution to promote
peace and stability in the Middle
East"
2. Struck out three where
asses" by vote Of IS to IL.
Senators on both sides of the
issue agreed that taking out the
"whereases" does not detract
from the legal effect of the reso-
luton. They explained that
whereas" clauses are intended
only to indicate the reasons for
passage of the resolution and
are not a part Of the resolution.
Senator Case. Republican of
South Dakota. joined Senator
Erwin, Democrat of North Caro-
lima. in urging that all where
ases' be eliminated after several
Senators tried to add additional
clauses.
The committee hopes to face
q major showdown on the mo-
ton to knock out all economic
aid and confine the resolution to
military support. The admin
istration is believed to have a
margin Of several votes to de-
feat this move.
Measure Attacked
Observers predicted it may
be Wednesday or Thursday be-
fore a revised draft of the House
measure is finally approved.
Without waiting for commit
tee action. the Senate debated
the proposal for several hours
yesterday. after opponents had
attacked it as an unconstitution-
al delegation Of Congressional
powers to the President.
The resolution would authorize
the President to use the armed
forced TO help defend nations in
the Middle East from Communist
aggression. if they request such
help.
Gives President Leeway
1t also would give the Presi-
dent more leeway in spending
5000 million of existing foreign
aid funds to help support gov
ernments in the Middle East
that are trying to preserve their
independence.
The attack on the constitu-
tionality and scope of the resolu-
ton was led in the Senate debate
by Democratic Senators Full
bright, Morse OF Oregon and
O'Mahoney of Wyoming. SEN
ator Saltonstall of MaSsachu-
sets. Republican whip. defended
the Presidents request as an
effort TO preserve peace in that
part of the world.
The final witness before the
hearings closed Yesterday was
James Mcdonald, the first
American Ambassador to Israel.
who was questioned in closed
session.
Amendments Seen
1t is regarded as certain the
committee will vote for several
amendments, tying strings to the
use of the $500 million.
One such amendment by Sem
ate Democratic Leader johnson
of Texas would require the adj
ministration to file reports with
Congress. showing where and
how the money is to be spent. IS
days before an expenditure is
made.
Senator Bridges. Republican
of New Hampshire. also has an
amendment. to require these re-
ports to show whether any of
this money is being transferred
from other vital areas around
the world to the Middle East.
A third amendment likely to be
adopted is the proposal of Sem
ator Byrd, Democrat of Virginia,
to make it clear that the finan-
cial program for the Middle East
is being authorized for only one
year at a time.