The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1963-08-30


get!
II that mauling angered him
then Representative Otto Pass
man, Ola, chairman Of the
Appropriations subcommittee in
charge of the money bill for for.
eign aid, will really throw him
for loss.
PaSSman, long time militant
foe OF large-scale foreign aid
spending, intends to cut these
funds to a record low of $2.4
| billion.
That would be approximately
half of the $40 billion originally
proposed by the President; 81
billion less than the Si.5 billion
he subsequently, recommended
and more than ST billion under
the $3.502 billion authorized by
the House in its smashing rebuff
to the President last week.
Apparently Passman has the
votes to put over his record low
budget Of his 1l-member sub
committee, only four tall Demo
Gratis lined up against the $685.
million reduction approved by
the House.
For weeks, PaSsman has been
quietly setting the stage for his
contemplated record-setting bud
get axing.
In a series of closed-door hear
ingS Of his subcommittee, Demo-
cratic and Republican members,
vigorously spearheaded by Pass
man, have been battering for
eign aid officials on the hand
ling Of the billions of dollars
voted by Congress.
This bipartisan a tack has
charged waste, bungling, gross
extravaganza, corruption and
numerous other misdeeds and
shortcomings.
The attitude of the overwhelm-
ing majority Of this key group
is graphically summed up in the
cauStic jab Representative John
Flynt, Jr., D-Ga.. aimed at For
eign Aid Administrator David
Bell, 1.-The record Of the admin
istration OF this program is hor-
rendous. Instead of cementing
alliances, it is building a false
foundation for our relations with
nearly every country on earth.
WHY THEY'RE A GAIN
FOREIGN AID Throughout
Administrator Bells length Y
grilling. he was continually on
the defensive.
Also, the steady bombardment
OF complaints and denunciations
was strictly bipartisan. In fact,
some Of the harshest criticism
came from Democratic commit
teemen, Notably Chairman Pass
man ard Representative Tom
Steed, Okla.
These two significant factors
stand out in these highly impor-
tant backstage proceedings.
They flatly contradict the
Presidents irate charge that
the Houses deep axing of the
authorization bill was part
SAN Republican, attack. The
record Of the Passman subcom-
mittee doesn't support; it's ex-
actly the opposite.
Pointedly illustrative is Steed's
Interrogation Of Bell about At
ghanistan's refusal to permit the
transit through it's territory of
building material the U. S. was
giving P kis an. Both these
countries are big foreign aid
beneficiaries. Yet Afghanistan
closed its borders to such help
for Pakistan.
AS a consequence, much of
this equipment and supplies had
to be sent through Iran - a.
greatly increased cost to U. S.
taxpayers.
Steed wanted to know the rea-
son for this obstructionism Aft
er an involved explanation, Bell
said Afghanistan finally did per
init some Of the building ma
terlal to go through its territory.
did the people who got it
know how to use it?" asked
Steed.
You're a asking the wrong
question: remarked Passman
sardonically. I'VE have equip
ment and supplies all over the
world just sitting out in the
open. Millions and millions of
dollars worth Of construction
equipment, trucks, tractors and
other expensive machines. In
some instances. a wheel is taken
Oft OF a car and sold. Then an
other is taken off, and cventu-
ally nothing is left but the
body"
Bell protested this harsh crit
cism, contending his agency now
has a good system of following
up the equipment we furnish"
There were cases of that
kind in the past" he admitted,
and I'm not saying there are
none now. But we don't put in
equipment any more until We
know who will run it and that
it is going to be properly oper-
ated and maintained.
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