December 5, 1972

Donald Rumsfeld apptd Amb to NATO

Nixon Adm moves on Dec 4 to tighten mgt of state welfare programs; under new proposals, states whose welfare mgt systems are judged to be inadequate will be penalized by more than $400-million a yr in Fed funds that are being distributed to 13-million needy Amers; aim of move, effective Jan 1, '73, is to force those states whose quality control systems for local welfare programs fail to meet new set of standards to institute reforms by devising new systems or improving those that already exist; theoretically, assistance to about 2-million people getting grants through Aid to Familes with Dependent Children program will be affected by proposal, 2/3 of them receiving overpayments and 1/3 of them ineligible for aid; in addition funds might be withheld from about 250,000 people who are not eligible but who are receiving assistance under other programs; NYC welfare officials are baffled over proposed regulations and say they have not been notified about them; HEW Dept sr officials say that penalty to states in fiscal yr '74 will be $456-million, representing 8.3% of Fed funding for programs; in last compilation, 20 states, with 2/3 of nation's population, did not have quality control programs that were judged by HEW as being adequate for aid to dependent children programs

Bklyn parents boycott PS 84 in Dist 14, keeping 1,100 children out of school, in dispute over naming of temporary principal

S Vietnamese source close to Pres Thieu says, Dec 4, he is convinced Thieu will sign truce accord that is expected to emerge from this wk's Kissinger-Le Duc Tho talks; Sen C H Percy says, int, Saigon, Dec 4, he told Min Tran Van Lam that Saigon cannot count on continued US support if his Govt rejects the current peace effort and that the Amer people are solidly behind the effort; Thieu's objections to accord terms, as currently understood, discussed; S Vietnamese source provides new details about evolution of proposed accord; Thieu meets with his Natl Security Council to hear rept from Nguyen Phu Duc, who met with Nixon and Kissinger last wk in US; Saigon newspaper Tin Song denounces articles that appeared in The NY Times and Le Monde quoting S Vietnamese sources on an agreement around Dec 15; Saigon Govt announces that a spontaneous anti-Communist demonstration will be held Dec 5 in the Mekong Delta; demonstration illus

Chilean Pres Allende addresses UN Assembly on Dec 4, charging Chile is victim of 'serious aggression' initiated by US corps, US banking interests and US govt agencies; Amb Bush, at later news conf, replies to attack; Allende and Bush illus