50 State Lobby for Negotiation
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Vol I — No. 1 184 A National Citizens' Campaign For New Initiatives To End The War in Vietnam June 21, 1967 KEEP PACE WITH THE ACTION Nationwide Campaign Underway; This is the first issue of NEGOTIATION NOW! BULLETIN, publication of the Negotiation Now! campaign. It will keep you informed on the progress of the campaign, and should provide 700,000 Petitions Circulated - a valuable tool for reaching tens of thousands of Americans with our message and program. The BULLETIN will also pre sent coverage and analysis of political events and trends having a direct bearing on the prospects for negotiations in Vietnam. Goal of Over Million Signatures At this moment the BULLETIN is scheduled to appear every two weeks, but it can come out more often. With your help, both The campaign for Negotiation Now! is mushrooming at a pace far beyond all expecta financial contributions and articles and reports of progress and tions. In less than a month since the effort got under way, requests have been filled for activities from your local area we can publish on a weekly basis. over 700,000 petitions urging new steps to end the Vietnam war. These have been mail We are working right now to insure sufficent staff and facili ties to do this. The rest is up to you. ed out to individuals and organizations in every state in the nation. The staff has been so busy just processing these * : • orders that they have fallen the United States to "take the with the U.S. in a standstill cease behind in tabulating the first step and end the bombing fire" to achieve peace, may well Urge New Peace Initiatives: of North Vietnam now," and asks turn out to be the most effective thousands of signed petitions the N.L.P. and North Vietnam popular effort towards a solution that keep pouring in. "to respond affirmatively to any to the war that has ever been The petition which calls upon new U.S. initiatives and to join made. New sponsors for the campaign 50 State Lobby — such as Norman Podhoretz, editor of Commentary, Monsig- nor Edward Murray, Boston, Massachusetts and Victor Reu- thers, Director of International For Negotiation Affairs, Industrial Union Dept., APL-CIO — are being recruited All state delegations of the Negotiation Now! campaign almost daily from among major will converge on the nation's capital on Wednesday, June figures in religious organizations, trade unions and the liberal com 28th to lobby with Senators, Congressmen, and administra munity. tion officials. John Kenneth Galbraith, former Ambassador BROAD SUPPORT to India and President of Americans for Democratic Action, The aim of Negotiation Now! will address a luncheon meet- "~" is to mobilize a groundswell of ing of the combined delega the stalemate in Vietnam, the support for new peace initiatives tions and plans will be map Administration is reported to be both on a grass-roots level and reviewing its strategy. As a re ped out to further national and among major socially concerned sult a new debate is being initiat organizations and institutions local aspects of the campaign. ed that will be reflected in pub Also there are prospects that that cannot be ignored by the lic concern throughout the nation. nation's political leaders. some of the Senators who have The hawks again are arguing been most outspoken in support that another round of military First efforts indicate that this of a negotiated settlement in escalation "will do the trick." PETITIONS POUR IN: Staff members in the Negotiation Now! head can be done. The full page Nego Vietnam will be on hand to con (Continued on Page 2) quarters sorting petitions in the day's mail. tiation Now! ad that went into sult with the delegations. the New York Times on May 7th The June 28th effort will re (reprinted on.page 4) received place all previously scheduled a response almost unprecedented delegation dates that were post in the history of peace activities, poned during the Middle East New Coalition of Conscience including contributions that more crisis. than doubled the cost of the ad It will constitute a major and won support from every area thrust of the Negotiation Now! of the country. Other successful lobbying efforts, but by no means Seeking Vietnam Settlement ads have been placed in news the only one. There has been lob One of the major aims of Negotiation Now! is to mobilize the support of a broad coalition papers around the country and bying begun already by some of more are planned. the state groups especially the of organizations and concerned citizens behind new initiatives for a political settlement in The campaign is filling a tre one in Maryland; follow-up work Vietnam. This commitment to building a maj ority movement is similar in conception to the mendous need for meaningful to the 28th activity will be car "Coalition of Conscience" that successfully pressed for passage of the major civil rights bills. (Continued on Page 3) ried on through the summer, by all state organizations. An impressive start has been made in this direction. Rt. Rev. George W. Barrett, This concentrated effort is Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Ro particularly timely given the pre The initial list of sponsors of the campaign include the follow chester; Robert S. Bilheimer, Di sent climate in Washington in rector, International Affairs Pro Threats Ta Peace Carps Signers regard to Vietnam. In the Con ing major leaders of the Labor, grams, National Council of gress, as recent "polls show, the liberal, Negro, religious, academ Churches; Norman Cousins, Edi hawks are flying higher than ic and business communities: tor, Saturday Review, New York; Meet Pretest, Renewed Efforts the doves. The John Birch So Marriner Eccles, Utah Mining they refuse to withdraw their ciety is launching a massive cam and Construction, Salt Lake City; Ninety-two U. S. Peace paign against Senator Frank names from the petition. These John Kenneth Galbraith, Chair Corps volunteers serving in reports reveal that volunteers Church of Idaho iwho is up for re man, Americans for Democratic election in '68, and many other Chile have been warned by were read a memorandum sent Action, Cambridge; Harold K. by Vaughn, and approved by Am peace-concerned Senators and Hochschild, Industrialist, New Jack Vaughn, Peace Corps Congressmen will be facing up bassador Ralph Dungan in Chile, York; Dr. Martin Luther King, Director, to disassociate their asking for the withdrawal of sig hill battles to retain their seats. Southern Christian Leadership Eight wingers have had con Peace Corps affiliation from natures and advising volunteers Conference, Atlanta; Philip M. who refused to co-operate to re siderable success in their dema Klutznick, former Ambassador to a Negotiation Now! state gogic efforts to link, in the public sign if they disagreed with the United Nations, Chicago; Rein- ment urging the U.S. gov Peace Corps' view that govern mind, the doves with those who hold Niebuhr, Theologian, New have demanded immediate with ernment to cease the bomb ment employees should not sign York; Prof. Louis Pollak, Yale a petition of this nature. Most of drawal. To counter this, 16 of the Law School, New Haven. ing of North Vietnam artd dove Senators and a number of to begin initiatives to end the signers have refused to com Représentatives recently issued a And Victor Reuther, Labor ply- statement directed to Hanoi, leader, Washington, D.C.; Joseph the war. Negotiation Now! Negotiation Now! sent letters stating that they, as well as the L. Rauh, Jr., Attorney, Washing has issued a strong protest to Mr. Vaughn and President overwhelming majority of Amer ton, D.C.; Msgr. John Scanlon, against Vaughn's action. Johnson demanding that reo re icans that have been critical of Archdiocese of San Francisco; prisals be taken against Peace United States policy in Vietnam, Arthur Schlessinger, Jr., Author According to reports received Corps volunteers and issued a support a negotiated settlement and Historian, New York; Wil by the American Civil Liberties- public statement to that effect. and not unilateral withdrawal. John K. Galbraith Kill address liam L. Shirer, Author, Torring- Union, 57 of the signées have The letter to Mr. Vaughn went Because of the continuation of Washington delegations. (Continued on Page 3) been threatened with dismissal if (Continued on Page 2) Page 2 June 21, 1967 »:»:::::<» ii^ 9 :;!:;v;:. '•!'' '"'•••'•'y''" ' 'Idea Whose Time Has Come official publication of Negotiation Now! Ä e ^ MARY TEMPLE, National Director Vol. I — No. 1 June 21, 1967 • The first public and official response to the It is clear, from these and other observers, that Editorial and Business Offices: Room 81?, 381 Park Ave. So., New York, N. Y. 1001*. crisis in the Middle East tended to downplay con the climate has changed again in our favor. With Telephone: 212-889-4018 Free copies or bundles available. cern for the increasingly bloody and dangerous over 700,000 petitions, distributed across the situation in Vietnam. But the swiftly changing United States, with coordinators named in nearly events in that area appear to have opened new every state, and with 5 field staff members cov possibilities for bringing about consideration of ering .the country, we are in a good position now A Better Choice international issues on a wider scale, which could to move quickly into the Phase II of the Negotia Negotiation Now! is gathering together a wide spectrum of Amer include moves toward a settlement of the Viet tion Now! Campaign: icans in public, religious and political life who agree that the United nam war. 1. bringing the best possible delegations into States must take new initiatives to bring an end to the war in Viet C.