In the name of free speech. the Department of State has permitted leftist nationalist African leaders. in rebellion against our NATO allies. to enter the country and present their views to the American press and to the American TV and radio audiences. They have even granted admission to known proCommunists. and the Department has requested waivers on their behalf because their admission otherwise would have been in violation of the law. But the Department repeatedly denied a visa to President Moise Tshombe of Katanga. when he sought to come here to present his case. and even when he sought to come here in the fall of 1962 to meet with Prime Minister Adoula for the purpose of discussing a settlement. Tshombe was not considered a subversive. It was simply that the Department considered his views inimical to their own views on the Congo situation. and for this reason. apparently. decided that they should not be presented to the American public. And it was probably the same reasoning that motivated their decision to try to lift the visa of Tshombes representative in this country. Mr. Michel Struelens. Now. ironically enough. the man who was three times denied a visa by the Department of State. is certain to emerge as one of the top leaders of a government of national reconciliation in the Congo. and. according to the newspapers. there is a very good chance that he may emerge as Prime Minister. I hope the State Department will reconsider both its decision in this case and its general attitude. I would like to suggest to the Department. as I have in the past. that It does itself and our national reputation a disservice by arbitrarily denying visas to members of the free world coalition whose viewsrightly or wronglyit finds offensive. while it grants visas. apparently without restriction. to those who are committed to the subversion and destruction of the free world. Mr. President.
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