A Bipartisan Position

How would the U.S. react if Communist China were admitted to the United Nations? For that question last week, there came a clear, bipartisan answer. Across the center aisle of the U.S. Senate, Republican Leader William Knowland and Democratic Leader Lyndon Johnson agreed that the people of the U.S. do not want Communist China in the U.N., and do not want a U.N. that includes Communist China.

The question arose on the Senate floor just after Sir Winston Churchill had sailed for home. Up Pennsylvania Avenue, from the White House, came word that Prime Minister Churchill had told President Eisenhower that there may be a British-supported drive to admit Red China to the U.N. this fall. Dwight Eisenhower snapped out a firm, quick reply: the U.S. is more opposed than ever to giving China's U.N. seat to the Reds.

On Capitol Hill, the President's statement got quick confirmation. The first to react was California's Senator William Knowland, who rose and asked a sharp question: "Are the hundreds of American prisoners killed in cold blood with their hands tied behind their backs to become the forgotten men, while the bloodstained hands of the Communist murderer are clasped in fraternal greeting by our allies in the United Nations Building in New York?" Then he took his position: "On the day that Communist China is voted into membership into the United Nations, I shall resign my majority leadership in the Senate so that ... I can devote my full efforts ... to terminate United States membership in that organization and our financial support to it."

Some Democratic Senators, e.g., Arkansas' William Fulbright and New York's Herbert Lehman, promptly rose to rebuke Knowland for his stand. But Minorety Leader Lyndon Johnson, a Democrat who seldom hesitates to support a Republican position if he believes it is best for the country, stood firmly beside the majority leader. Said he : "The American people want no appeasement of Communists. The American people will refuse to support the United Nations if Red China becomes a member."

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