The Nome Nugget

President Tells Why He Opposed Alaska Statehood

WASHINGTON, (P) -- President Eisenhower nudged Congress today for quick passage of his tax and farm programs.

He said the tax program would help the economy expand and create more jobs and his farm proposals would benefit the entire country and thus prove to be the best kind of politics.

Eisenhower also told a news conference that the House members who killed his health reinsurance program simply don't understand the facts of life.

The American people lost, he said, when the House rejected the program 238-134.

And Eisenhower said he will carry on the fight for such a program as long as he is in office.

The President made a formal announcement that South Korean President Syngman Rhee's July 26 visit to the United States will be for the purpose of making further plans for "the attainment of a unified, free and independent Korea."

On other matters Eisenhower said:

1. He is not going to let his proposal for a limited share-the-atom program for peaceful purposes die if he can help it. It calls for participation by the Russians as well as this country's allies.

The President said he was sure British Prime Minister Churchill agreed with him the plan should not die even if some people meaning the Russians-will not go along with it. His meaning seemed to be that an atomic pool without the Soviet bloc is a possibility.

2. He is very deeply concerned about Alaska's place in the United States defense system. While he declined to give a specific opinion on statehood for Alaska, he said it is easier to use a territory than it is to use a state for defense purposes, for the reason that the central government has absolute control of a territory.

3. He can't predict when or whether the administration will call on Congress for a boost in the 275-billion-dollar ceiling on the national debt. The decision must be deferred, he told questioners, until more of the government's bills are in.

But regardless of the immediate problem, Eisenhower added, the administration is resolved to place the government on a basis of living within its income. The country can't live forever on deficit spending, he said.