Page 4 Portland Observer, July 28, 1982 EDITORIAL/OPINION South Africa and Reaganism y I O O n O PC ' ' A I O p lO I LI I C I Ö Dellums leads Congressional debate on military budget The C o n g re ssio n a l debate on the m ilita r y b u d ge, b rin g s m ixed new s— som e g o o d and some bad. We can be very proud o f Congress­ man Ron Dellum s who alm ost single-handedly attem pted to bring sanity back to the n a tio n a l b u d g e t. R e p e a te d ly c h a rg in g th a t an e v e r­ g ro w in g m ilita ry budget is madness th a t w ill lead the w o rld to a nuclear holocau st and an end to m a n kin d , he spent hours on the House flo o r d e b a tin g , c h a lle n g in g the a d m in is tra ­ t io n ’ s p h ilo s o p h y , re fu tin g the o p p o s itio n ’ s igures, and challenging them to dem onstrate a need to spend m ore m oney on weapons w h ile the A m erican people are unem ployed, hungry, in need o f housing and m edical care, and fu ll o f fru s tra tio n . N early alone— w ith his firm s u p p o rte rs in c lu d in g Rep. Jo h n C o n ye rs (D - M ic h .) a n d R ep. J im W e a ve r ( D - O r e .) — he kept his end o f the debate at a high level o f in ­ te lle c t a nd in te g r ity . S h a rp , a r tic u la te , in ­ form ed, he was clearly the leader on the flo o r, i f not the w inne r. •A Dellum s amendment to elim inate nu­ clear powered aircraft carriers from the budget was defeated. Dellums charged that building aircraft carriers is trying to fight a W orld War II operation in the ’ 80s. He alleged that these carriers are not planned to fight o ff a “ Soviet threat,” but to threaten Third W orld nations. He said the projected use o f these ships to “ keep the shipping la*— i— Ocean w ill lead to nuc • Dellums’ amendm« er, which he called obi also defeated. D ellui using manned bomb Preparing for convent is a deceit—an attem people believe a nucl said. The government tion policies and ope- with the Soviets. •R e p . John C onyers presented an am end­ ment to delay all nuclear wea ons to r one year — an a c tio n he called “ not a I ee/e, but a de­ la y.” This delay w ould provide an o p p o rtu n ity fo r the U.S. and the U.S S R. o engage in talks w ithout an accom panying U.S escalation. This amendment also was defeated. • The House voted to delete funds for produc­ tio n o f nerve gas fo r chem ica l w eapons. The House removed $54 m illio n fo r the pro d u ctio n o f nerve gas bombs and skills from the adm inis­ tration request. I f the appropriation is reins,ate- ed in the House-Senate Conference (the Senate had already approved the expenditure) it w ill be the first time the U.S. has openiv manufactured chem ical weapons since N ixon banned p rodu c­ tion 13 years ago. Reagan wants to spend $2 b il­ lio n over the next five years to replenish stock­ piles. The b ill also specifically bans using other funds on the production o f binary chemical m u­ nitions. • The House vote to fund the M X missile was close, in dica ting some atte ntion to the grow ing peace m ovem ent. The House approved the b ill to fund the missiles but put a hold on $260 m il­ lio n in basing and deploym ent funds. The M X missile was first requested by Jimmy Carter, who wanted them spread out th ro ugh the desert to avoid a Soviet attack. That idea has been reject­ ed and everyone admits to not knowing where to put them. While the attention o f the world has been on the Falkland/Malvinas Islands and the Mideast during the past four mounths, racial unrest has been escalating in apartheid South Africa. On July 6, two thousand black miners northwest o f Johannesburg went on strike in a platinum mine. I heir demand was quite simple: a decent wage. Blacks who work ex­ actly as white miners do, receive about o n e -fifth (20 per cent) o f whites’ wages. The racist regime's response was brutal. Fifty Africans were reported injured when police used tear gas. In nearby Venterspot gold mine, another 80 black miners were beaten and arrested fo r strikin g Almost 500 miles away, at the Indian Ocean port city o f Durban, black coal min­ ers drove a tra ctor through one building , and set scores o f other buildings on fire. Why is black labor, and especially miners, on the offensive? First, keep in mind that South A fric a ’ s econ­ omy, which depends p rim a rily on the w orld price o f gold, is at the brink ol disaster. Two years ago, gold prices exceeded $6 set aside this kind o f ich a questionable pro- I is asking senior c iti- »r and other vulnerable givc up programs they rvive. i xcusable use o f tax- ry—and one which I efforts to save himself ray a bright future for Julie Jessie ©ngratulate Al McGil- ry fine awards banquet here were many com- t the success o f that (34.2 per cent) followed by persons o f Spanish origin (26.5 per cent) and whites (1 1.1 per cent). •The real median income for fam­ ilies maintained by women ($10,960) declined by 4.6 per cent. •B lack women in the South, women under the age o f 25, and fe- wurvry rrxu'f* re rcy rri» come and exclude non cash benefits such as food stamps, medicaid, etc. It also cautions that the adjustment fo r in fla tio n may be overstated slightly for the average household because of the treatment o f housing costs in the calculation o f the Con­ sumer Price Index. declared that “ if the other govern­ ments o f the region do not behave according to Islam [meaning Kho­ m e in i’ s wish), they must keep in mind that they are not stronger than Saddam.” The P o rtla n d O bserver (U S d S 959 6801 is published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company, Inc , 2201 North Killings worth, Portland, Oregon 97217, Poat Office Box 3137, Portland, Oregon 97208 Second class postage paid at Portland, Oregon AI McGUberry, Editor/Publisher AI Williams, Advertising Manager National Advertising Representative A m a lg a m a t e d Publishers. Inc. N e w York Iraqis have expressed their willing ness to establish peace on the basis o f both countries* te rrito ria l inte­ grity. Khomeini cannot stay in power without creating crises. Yet, none of Subscribe todayl Receive your Observer by mail Only $10 per year Portland Observer Name _ Subscriptions: 110 00 par year in the Tri County area Post m a s te r. Send address changes to the Portland Observer, P O Box 3137. Portland, Oregon 97208 MEMBER sity. Nashville, TN. M short o f criminal for The twin effects o f infh depressed economy resuli cline in black family med in 1981, and an increase i ber o f blacks below th level, according to a repo C om m erce D ep artm en t Burearu. This m arks the seco cutive year in which coupled w ith a ret economy resulted in sign dines in real fam ily inco creases in the poverty pop Publishers Association E d ito r’s n o t«: Dr. M a n n in g M arabla is D irector of the Race Relations Institute, Fisk Unlver- 8 Washington Hot Line lack fa Oregon Newspaper ’ •Furthermore.” she states, “ the ad­ ministration seeks to reassure South Africa of its desire for a closer alii, ance by strengthening bilateral tic« in many areas.” The administration gave permis- sion fo r the opening o f honorary consulates in three U.S. cities: Seat- tie, Denver and Cleveland. Reagan has asked fo r $2.3 m illio n from Congress to train black South A fri. can inside South Africa, thereby re­ inforcing the segregated educational system. Export control regulations on such critical items as air ambu­ lances, computers and helicopters have been weakened to help apart* held. South Africa is the greatest moral question confronting black and pro­ gressive people o f our time. I f we stand silent as the Reagan South-Af­ rica axis builds, we must be con­ demned as involuntary partners in the destruction of black mine work­ ers in Durban and Johannesburg. We must demonstrate in front o f all apartheid consulates in the U.S., de­ manding an end to all official U .S .-I apartheid relations. No U.S. businesses in South A fric a , and freedom for our sisters and broth-jg ers. Address Hi I My Mom end Ded read the Portland Observer why not you? Subscribe todayl jm s was tru ly excep- pecch was informative frightening Certainly was heard and should *ch o f us to work even luclear freeze. , congratulations on a vent and thanks for ac­ knowledging some very talented, ef­ fective and committed persons. Kay Dean Toran Director, Affirmative Action Office, Governor’s Office Portland Observer Box 3137 Portland, OR 97208