Postwar Catalyst

Resolved by the House of Representatives [the Senate concurring'] that the Congress hereby expresses itself as favoring the creation of appropriate international machinery with power adequate to establish and maintain a just and lasting peace among the nations of the world, and as favoring participation by the United States therein.

This simple, concise, 50-word resolution made Congressional history last week. Introduced by a freshman Congressman, Arkansas's James William Fulbright, it proved exactly the catalytic agent that Capitol Hill has awaited. For the first time, global-minded Congressmen of varying political and economic chemistry were drawn together--and the world could see how fast has been the growth of sentiment in the U.S. for postwar world cooperation.

In the House Foreign Affairs Committee (14 Democrats, eleven Republicans), the resolution won unanimous approval. The House will vote on it in September, doubtless on the same nonpartisan basis.

The Fulbright resolution makes no hasty commitments which the nation might later regret. Yet it is a crystal-clear statement of American intentions to help make a good peace. As a foreign policy credo, it is probably as specific as could be made when the structure of the postwar world is so uncertain.

Its quick Congressional acceptance showed that there is substantial bipartisan agreement in Congress on the basic elements of postwar U.S. foreign policy. As a step toward formulating this policy, in terms to which a great majority of U.S. citizens can subscribe, it represents a long stride down the road opened by such earlier attempts as the Senate's Ball-Burton-Hatch-Hill resolution (TIME, March 22).

After the committee vote last week, House Freshman Fulbright, unknown even to many of his colleagues, became momentarily the nation's most publicized lawmaker. A deluge of fan mail (10-to-1 in favor) descended on his desk. Interviewers discovered that the first-termer from Fayetteville was young (38), smart (Rhodes scholar), studious (onetime president of the University of Arkansas), aggressive (lacrosse ),"hardheaded (businessman, farmer). Asked how long it took him to write his one-sentence resolution, he replied philosophically: "Fifteen years."

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