Thursday, May 18, 1972
Senate Endorses Nixon War Policy
WASHINGTON (AP & UPI) --The Senate endorsed President Nixon's call for an Indochina cease-fire Tuesday, ending the chance of a congressional challenge to his war policies at least before he goes to Moscow.The vote was 47 to 43.In a victory for the White House, legislation calling for a cutoff of funds for the war four months after release of American POWs was amended to require North Vietnam also to accept an Indochina cease-fire as a condition for total U.S. withdrawal.Sens. Frank Church, D-Idaho, and Clifford P. Case, R-N.J., said the action virtually nullified their end-the-war measure.The cease-fire amendment was offered by Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., who frequently acts as a compromiser between the administration and its critics in the Senate.Byrd contended that inclusion of the cease-fire provision would enable the President to go to Moscow free of the threat of Congressional restraints on his policy while preserving the Senate's hope for a swift end to the war.President Nixon on May 15 offered total withdrawal following an internationally, supervised cease-fire and the release of all U.S. prisoners.Eight persons stood in the Senate galleries Tuesday and shouted "End the war-stop the killing" minutes after the Senate voted to dilute the end-the-war amendment.All were evicted by police and security guards and ushered from the Capitol. Police said none would be arrested.A spokesman for the group said they were members of an organization called Clergy and Laymen Concerned."We stood up because we need to make public how we feel about the war." A spokesman said.Many tourists were cleared from the galleries at the same time -but were later allowed to return."Senate Endorses Nixon War Policy", by (UPI & AP), published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes Thursday, May 18, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.