Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1961-09-10
COUNTRY Boy ONLY AFTER FAT
Possnon Shows Skill
As Foreign Aid Brake

Inc IOuQ6SG WIlOOp VI JOy
came from a Louisiana Demo-
crat the day the House voted
197-185 to pin down foreign aid
bills to annual congressional
appropriations instead of long
range Treasury financing.
It was politically significant
and personally characteristic
that the shout came from Rep
resentative Otto E. Passman.
He was convinced that the
Kennedy administrations pro-
posal for five-year Treasury
borrowing authority to finance
international development loans
was a plot to get around him
as chairman of the House
Appropriations Subcommittee
handling foreign aid funds.
Long before that 197-185 vote
last month on a SAB billion
foreign aid authorization meas
ure and the House passage Of
$3.6 billion appropriation bill
last week, Mr.. Passman had
been charging that the Ken
nedy administration put terrific
pressure on him and flooded
the country and Congress with
propaganda for its foreign aid
program.
The 61-year-old Louisianan,
who calls himself "only a coun-
try boy" and has a financial
net worth conservatively esti-
mated at more than $750,000,
is widely described as the most
relentless and certainly one of
the most effective congressional
foes of foreign aid.
He says this is not quite &C
curate. He insists that his am
bition is to cut the fat rather
than the heart out of annual
foreign aid appropriation bills.
He maintains that huge reduc-
tons he often has been able
to achieve were for the good of
foreign aid program efficiency
and in the best interest of this
country.
He seeks neither credit nor
blame for the cuts in the adj
miniStration'S foreign aid budg-
ct recommendations. He notes
that he could not have done it
without the backing of most
colleagues on his subcommittee
and the full Appropriations
Committee and usually of the
House itself.
Power Proved Recently /
Mr.. Passman proved his pow
er more recently when his sub
committee and the full COM
mittee reported out a $3,357.-
100000 foreign aid money bill.
That was 1896 million below
the administrations budget re-
quest.
For the first time in several
years, however, Mr.. Passman
had to back down a bit when
the appropriation bill reached
the floor. Republicans as well
as Democrats indicated they
thought the cuts went too deep. I,
Mr.. Passman attempted to
amend the bill by putting back
SITS million. /,
1T was my own conclusion, |,
after praying over the matter
and thinking over the crisis
in the world" he told the
House. Il am in the position of
vacating my own thinking
The House restored $500 mil
lion. Mr.. PaSsman nevertheless
was far from vanquished be-
cause all OF the reservations was
for military aid items and none
for foreign economic develop
ment loans. He thus was able
to add substantially to the al
most SIS billion he claims to
have helped cut from presiden-
tial foreign aid budgets since
1855, when he became chair
man of the appropriations sub
committee.
Just how much pressure was
put on Mr.. PaSSman to mend
his annual way of whacking at
foreign aid bills is uncertain
and controversial. In recent
comments, including an inter-
view in the Congressional