Kennedy, Elder Outline Approaches To Remove NDEA Loyalty Affidavit

Chances for passage of the Kennedy-Clark bill to remove the loyalty provision from the National Defense Education Act "are by no means hopeless," Senator John F. Kennedy '40, predicted yesterday, "providing that there is a broad expresison of views not only from educational administrators, but also from students and student groups."

In a telegram to the CRIMSON, the Senator continued: "I do not think it is wise to assume Congressional inaction on this bill next year, nor is it wise to draw fixed conclusions now on the administration of Federal aid to education, on the basis of the Senate recommittal vote."

On July 23, 1959, after two days of confused debate, the Senate voted, 49-42, to recomit the Kennedy-Clark bill to the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, with, said Kennedy, "the understanding that we would reconsider the legislation." In the coming session of Congress, the two Senators plan a change in tactics as they again "press for the enactment" of their bill. "It may be necessary to separate consideration" of the loyalty affidavit and the disclaimer affidavit, Kennedy indicated, for "there is much wider support for the deletion" of the latter.

If he can arouse widespread student protest, Kennedy hopes to weaken a key argument of those who oppose his bill. As Senator Richard Russell said in debate last summer, "I have not received a single complaint from a young citizen of my state who feels he is insulted by being asked to say he believes in the Constitution of the United States...."

In his attempt to separate consideration of the two parts of the NDEA loyalty provision--the controversial affidavit, and the relatively innocuous affirmation--Kennedy hopes to avoid the confusion which aided his opponents in last summer's debate. "I just cannot understand," said Senator Styles Bridges, for example, "why these young people--yes, and their august teachers also--would not deem it a privilege to take this oath."

When their bill is reported back to the floor, Senators Kennedy and Clark plan to concentrate on removing only the affidavit requirement.