Laurie Battle; Congressman, Cold War Act Sponsor

Laurie C. Battle, 87, former Democratic congressman from Alabama who sponsored an important piece of Cold War legislation. Battle won a Bronze Star for his service in the Army Air Corps during World War II. In 1947 he won the first of four terms in Congress, a conservative Democrat who defeated a four-term incumbent with New Deal leanings. As a legislator he was best known for his sponsorship of the Mutual Defense Assistance Control Act of 1951. Also known as the Battle Act, it authorized suspension of U.S. economic aid to nations supplying strategic materials to Soviet bloc countries. His bill, unlike others, gave the president the option of waiving the ban. That provision was used for the Netherlands, which had sent oil drilling equipment to the Soviets because of standing contracts. After leaving Congress, Battle lost campaigns for the U.S. Senate in 1954 and Alabama governor in 1958. In later years he served as staff director and counsel for the House Committee on Rules and as special advisor to the United States League of Savings Assns. He also lost a 1968 campaign for representative from Virginia’s 8th Congressional District. On May 2 of cancer at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland.