Editorial Note
On May 9, James P. Kem, United States Senator from Missouri, introduced an amendment to the Third Supplemental Appropriation Act (H.R. 3587) which would deny further economic aid to any country which shipped materials of war to the Soviet Union, China, or any Soviet satellite. The following day the amendment, which Kem described as identical to the Wherry Resolution, was approved by the Senate without objection and sent to the House. On May 18 a Senate–House conference on the Third Supplemental Appropriation Bill resolved to favor denying economic aid to any country which sent arms or military matériels to the Soviet bloc subject to exceptions made by the President on the advice of the National Security Council. The Kem Amendment, as revised by the joint conference, was unanimously approved along with the Third Supplemental Appropriation Bill by both Houses of Congress on May 21. President Truman protested against the Kem Amendment but signed the appropriation bill on June 2. For the text of the Kem Amendment and the subsequent discussion of the amendment in Congress, see the Congressional Record, vol. 97, pt. 4, pages 5100–5102, 5195–5199, and 5507–5514. For the text of President Truman’s statement of June 2, see Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Harry S. Truman, 1951, pages 316–320.