Shultz Nettled by Charge of McCarthyism

Secretary of State George P. Shultz exchanged angry words with two congressmen over Nicaragua today after one called his statements reminiscent of McCarthyism and the other accused the Administration of “redbaiting.”

Shultz said the comparison to the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis.) was “the ultimate perversion,” then demanded an apology and refused to answer more questions from Rep. Ted Weiss (D-N.Y.).

Weiss was attacking Shultz’s statement, made during the hearing by a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the State Department budget, that the Nicaraguan and Cuban governments are “engaged in the narcotics trade as a way of generating funds.”

Weiss said Shultz “gratuitously dragged in by the heel” Cuba and Nicaragua “to a situation where you know that whatever role they are playing . . . is minuscule compared to the role that is being played in the field of narcotics importation to the United States from countries that are allies of the United States.

“It reminds me of the Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954 when Joe McCarthy decided to attack a young recent law graduate as one way of getting back at the Army and attorney (Joseph) Welch said to him, ‘At long last, Mr. McCarthy, have you no decency?’

“It seems to me the Administration’s policy toward Nicaragua has been an exercise in twisting facts, distorting facts and misstating facts,” Weiss said.

‘No Further Comment’

Replied Shultz: “I think it is the ultimate perversion to say that an attack on the tactics and strategy of Nicaragua is comparable to the tactics of Sen. Joe McCarthy. And when you compare me to Sen. Joe McCarthy, I resent it deeply and I have no further comment to make.”

When Weiss asked another question of the witness, Shultz replied, “I won’t comment to the congressman on his question until he apologizes to me for comparing me to Sen. Joseph McCarthy.”

Weiss retorted: “What I said was the statement that you made regarding narcotics traffic in Nicaragua and Cuba reminded me of the statement during the course of the Army-McCarthy hearings.

“Now that’s not attempting to compare you to Joe McCarthy. It is to point out when you have distortion of statements like that, it runs the risks of the kind of things you end up saying.”

‘Criticism ... Unwarranted’

Later, Rep. Peter H. Kostmayer (D-Pa.) told Shultz: “Your criticism of Mr. Weiss is unwarranted. It is really, after all, you and the President that began this escalation of rhetoric.” He told Shultz, “You have a lot of nerve to come before this committee and criticize the members of this committee for being demagogues.

“There has been a lot of red-baiting going on in the Administration. I think it began at the White House and I hope it will end very soon.”

Shultz replied, “I thought I was here at the invitation of the committee but if you care to withdraw the invitation, I’ve got a lot of other things. . . . “

“Well, you’re the secretary of state, and there is nothing we can do about it,” Kostmayer said sharply.

Later, Weiss sa