Following is a letter I have sent to Secretary of State Rusk expressing my views on a proper leadership role for the United States in the near East: "DEAR MR. SECRETARY: Today Israel is threatened by vengeful neighbors who repeat daily the pledges of yesterday and yesteryear to devastate its land and destroy its people. "It is unconscionable that hundreds of thousands of European survivors of Nazism who have managed to escape one holocaust should live under the daily and hourly threat of another. "You and the President have tried to play a constructive role in helping to maintain stability in the Near East region by assuring the continued integrity and independence of Israel. "Now. however. the time has come for the United States to take further steps to achieve a more durable and permanent peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors. "I urge that the United States sponsor a resolution in the United Nations calling for an immediate peace conference under U.N. auspices at which all of the contending parties would be represented. Concurrent with making such permanent peace arrangements. the delegates would formulate a multibillion dollar regional development program encompassing the major health. nutrition. education. job training. employment. and agricultural needs of the peoples in the area. "I further urge that the United States assume leadership in resolving the Arab refugee problem by proposing that the Arab countries. and Israel. and all the U.N. member nations each accept a limited number of refugees for resettlement with U.N. financial support for needed interim health care. education. job training. employment and family subsistence allowances. "I would appreciate your comments on this proposal. "Sincerely.
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