Williams Claims Repeal 'Unlikely' For NDEA Oath

Chances for repeal of the loyalty provisions of the National Defense Education Act in the next Congressional session are slim, according to Senator Harrison A. Williams, Jr.

The Democratic junior Senator from New Jersey told the CRIMSON yesterday that in his opinion the Kennedy-Clark bill to remove the loyalty oath affidavit and oath from the NDEA faces an unpromising future. Williams is a member of the Labor and Public Welfare committee to which the bill was referred last July 23.

At that time, the vote for recommittal was 49-42, on a compromise amendment by Senator Jacob K. Javits (R., N.Y.) which would have eliminated only the disclaimer affidavit and not the loyalty affirmation. For this reason, Williams sees little promise in the new Kennedy-Clark strategy of separating the two provisions and concentrating their attack on the disclaimer affidavit.

Senate Not Changed

The composition of the Senate has not altered, Williams pointed out, and in order for the repeal bill to succeed, some of the forty-nine Senators who voted for recommittal would have to change their minds. Williams, who voted against recommittal and strongly supported the Kennedy-Clark measure, thinks that such change is very unlikely.

According to Williams, the key man in the NDEA loyalty issue is Senate majority leader Lyndon B. Johnson (D, Tex.), who voted for recommittal. If Johnson decides to back the repeal measure, perhaps in an attempt to gain Northern liberal support for a possible Presidential bid, the bill's prospects will improve considerably.