4. Editorial Note
Congressman John McCormack of Massachusetts introduced H. Con. Res. 149 in the 1st Session of the 84th Congress on May 31. It was debated and passed by the House on June 23 by a vote of 367 to 0, with 67 members not voting. The Senate followed suit on July 14 with 88 in favor, 1 opposed (Fulbright), and 7 not voting. The House accepted the Senate amendments and the Resolution was passed on July 18. The operative paragraph reads as follows:
“Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), that it is the sense of the Congress that the United States should administer its foreign policies and programs and exercise its influence so as to support other peoples in their efforts to achieve self-determination [Page 8] or independence under circumstances which will enable them to assume and maintain an equal station among the free nations of the world.”
Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations Thruston B. Morton, in a letter to Congressman James P. Richards on June 20, described the resolution as basically in conformity with the views of the administration. There was some concern as to the matter of timing, however, for it was feared that premature independence might result in a weak government which the Communists could take advantage of. The issues raised by this resolution and the administration response, as indicated in part by the Morton letter, are discussed in an “Outline of U.S. Approach to Colonial Questions in the United Nations” which Gerig submitted to Francis O. Wilcox, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, on September 14. (Department of State, IO/ODA Files: Lot 62 D 225, Colonial Policy)