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Show The Senator Reports To The People Senator Arthur V. Watkiru The absurdity of a Defense Department ruling that prohibits the inscription of "Korean War" on the gravestones of deceased American soldiers who served in Korea may soon be rectified if Congress will approve a bill I have introduced. My bill provides that veterans who served in Korea and who are buried in National Cemeteries may have inscribed on their graves a record that they served in the "Korean War." The Defense Department has not permitted such inscriptions on the headstones of Korean war veterans on the ground that the United States is not officially offici-ally at war. Whether or not the war is official as far as the Congress and the President are concerned, those killed are just as officially dead as if they had been killed in a legally recognized recog-nized war. My bill is before the Senate Armed Services Committee and action will await receipt of reports from the Defense Department. Muzzle Ihe Press President Truman's recent order tightening up on the issuance issu-ance of information to the press by the various executive departments depart-ments is viewed in many quarters quar-ters as a move to stifle the free flow of government information to the American people. After the President's announcement, an-nouncement, an incident occurred oc-curred that may indicate just how extreme the use of this order may become. The Office of Price Stabilization immediately immedi-ately promulgated an order which said that none of its employes em-ployes or divisions was to issue any information that might embarrass em-barrass the agency. This repugnant repug-nant OPS order was cancelled within two hours as a result of the uproar that occurred in Congress and amongst the press. This action on the part of the President, to me is somewhat reminiscent of Dictator Peron of Argentina who has successfully success-fully clamped the lid of censorship censor-ship upon' the press of his country. The one paper in Argentina Ar-gentina that had the courage to fight Peron's policy is now out of business. Complete control of the press is one of the essential objectives of any successful dictator. Obviously, Ob-viously, no one wants information informa-tion made public that would be detrimental to our national security. se-curity. But no one can be made to believe that the OPS, Bureau of Reclamation, Forest Service or other executive agencies that do not deal with military or diplomatic matters should be permitted to screen their activities activi-ties and programs. Such arbitrary arbi-trary power to control the flow of information to the people should be revolting to every American who believes in the freedom of the press. Italian Trealy I had a very interesting visit last week with the Prime Minister Min-ister of Italy, Alci.de de Gasperi. Our meeting occurred at the National Press Club where I was invited as an honored guest at a luncheon held to welcome and hear the Minister speak. Mr. de Gasperi is seeking to have the 1947 Italian Peace Treaty modified , so that Italy can contribute her share to the defense of Europe. I opposed this treaty in 1947 and have continued to fight for its revision. The Senate last April , finally agreed with my point of view and overwhelmingly over-whelmingly adopted my resolution resolu-tion urging the State Department Depart-ment to initiate efforts looking toward revision of the treaty Great Britain and France have officially denounced the treaty within the last few days. |