XI
I 1
Cattlemen ask ban on meat imports
Texas congressmen urged to lead
THE BATTALION Page 13
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1974
CURE “TERM PAPER FRIGHT”
WASHINGTON AP—The Inde
pendent Cattlemen’s Association
urged the Texas congressional de
legation Tuesday to lead the rest of
the Congress in taking necessary
steps to assist livestock producers.
The group is seeking a ban on
imports of all red meats until the
operation of supply and demand can
i provide a reasonable return on meat
producers’ investments.
Representatives of the group met
Monday with officials of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture and at
tended a luncheon Tuesday with the
Texas congressional delegation.
Summarizing the group’s goals,
spokesman Tim Van Dohlen said
the cattlemen want the Commodity
Credit Corp. to purchase increased
amounts of cows, calves, hogs,
sheep and other red meat animals.
It also wants a revitalized
emergency loan program, adminis
tered by the Farmers’ Home Ad
ministration. The group said the
current program “is not working be
cause of qualification require
ments.”
Van Dohlen said the cattlemen
want the Congress to reassume au
thority for functions that have been
delegated to various government
agencies, whose rules, he said,
“have been contrary to the legisla
tive intent and best interests of the
American People.”
“The Independent Cattlemen’s
Association is asking the Texas con
gressional delegation to take the
lead in the Congress to take what
ever steps are necessary to save the
livestock producer and the agricul
tural industry while protecting the
consumer,” the cattlemen said in a
statement.
“Congress should look closely at
the purchasing policies for the
US DA school food program and the
Armed Forces to assure that domes
tic and not imported red meats are
used,” the statement said.
Reagan Brown, special assistant
to Texas Gov. Dolph Brisco, at
tended the Tuesday luncheon and
warned the delegation that “Texas
dairymen and cattlemen are going
broke in wholesale numbers due to
increased production costs.”
“Many farmers and ranchers are
disillusioned and feel that their best
interests are not being considered,”
he said. “Many are clamoring for
new organizations to represent
them.”
“State legislatures and Congress
are being called upon to do some
thing. The impatience becomes bel
ligerent as many cattle and dairy
farmers face total bankruptcy,” he
warned.
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Illness indicated
i Franco, Spain
MADRID AP—Gen. Francisco
I Franco turns 82 Wednesday, still in
control of Spain after a near-fatal ill
ness six months ago forced him to
surrender power temporarily for
! the first time in 35 years. But there
is growing uncertainty about the
| country’s future.
As usual, the general is expected
I to mark his birthday quietly with his
I family in Madrid.
The lack of fanfare as “El
Caudillo” starts his 83rd year has
done little, however, to stem the
uneasiness. His remarkable recov
ery appears to have brought a cor
responding decline in the nation’s
health. “The economic and social
crisis surrounding us could be the
worst in the last 30 years,” said a
Spanish news magazine a few days
ago.
The comment is considered out
spoken and remarkable in the face of
Franco’s contention that everything
is nailed down tight for a transition
of power.
But political sources both in and
out of the government say the fact
that Franco grabbed power back
from Prince Juan Carlos de Borbon
after giving it to him at the height of
the illness last summer causes con
cern over the future.
Coupled with economic prob
lems that experts say will take Spain
into recession with the rest of
Europe, political unrest could pres
ent the aging leader with the tough
est year since he came to power
after the 1936-39 civil war.
There is growing expectation that
there will be political liberalization
in Spain and the Basque guerrillas
have not given up their compaign
for an autonomous region in the
north.
, AHA.
/v xrWW
Top government officials say
Franco is recovered fully from the
thrombophlebitis, or blood clotting,
in his leg that nearly killed him. The
same illness hospitalized former
President Richard M. Nixon.
Primaries
for Bentsen
still debated
HOUSTON (AP) — Sen. Lloyd
Bentsen Jr., D-Tex., said Monday
he will decide early next year
whether to enter the Democratic
presidential primaries in 1976.
“It will be a tough decision but
there is no front-runner in the
race,” Bentsen said. “I think the
race is wide open and there will be
no shortage of candidates. ”
Bentsen discussed his presiden
tial ambitions during a news confer
ence following a speech at the Na
tional League of Cities convention.
“Surveys show I’m not well
known nationally but am well
known in the party structure be
cause I ’ve made a lot of speeches, ”
he said. “I’m getting so many invita
tions to speak, now that I can’t ac
cept them all, but I have not made a
decision on 1976. ”
Bentsen has served both in the
Senate and the House and was
asked which he preferred.
“There is a lot to say for a six-year
term,” he said.
“What about a four-year term,
such as the presidency?”
“Well, that is a thought,” Bentsen
said with a laugh.
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