Fulbright Urges Ban on U.S.I.A. Film

WASHINGTON, March 29— Senator J. W. Fulbright, Chair man of the Senate Foreign Re lations Committee, asked the Justice Department today to re strain “forthwith” the use of a United States Information Agency film on Senator James L. Buckley's monthly television program to be shown starting this weekend on 12 stations in New York State.

Mr. Fulbright said in a letter to Acting Attorney General Richard G. Kleindienst that the proposed use of the U.S.I.A. documentary, “Czechoslovakia 1968,” “appears to involve an intent to violate the provisions” of the 1948 law that created the agency.

“The information agency was created for the purpose of the dissemination abroad of infor mation about the United States, its people, and policies,” Sena tor Fulbright said. “It was not created for dissemination of in formation in the United States.”

Response Promised

A Justice Department spokes man acknowledged receipt of the Senator's letter and added: “We will advise him promptly of any action we might take.”

A spokesman for Senator Buckley, Conservative‐Republi can of New York, said the Senator had not seen a copy of the Fulbright letter and there fore could not comment.

Mr. Buckley's tape‐recorded monthly program, which is scheduled to be shown in New York City at 10:30 P.M. Satur day by Channel 11, includes the U.S.I.A. documentary and an interview by Senator Buckley with Bruce Herschensohn, di rector of the agency's division of motion picture and television service. During the inter view Mr. Herschensohn accused Senator Fulbright of having “very simplistic, very naive and stupid” view on the effect of United States propaganda.

Senator Fulbright's letter made no mention of the remarks about him by the agency official.

According to Senate sources, Frank Shakespeare, director of the agency, sent a letter to Mr. Fulbright today apologizing for Mr. Herschensohn's remarks and saying that in retrospect he questioned the “propriety” of making the film available to “a political figure” for use on domestic television.

After the Buckley program, tape‐recorded here Monday, was shown to newsmen yester day, Senator Fulbright said he would propose a flat prohibi tion on the domestic use of the agency's material when the Foreign Relations Committee considers legislation next month authorizing the agency's $200‐ million budget for the coming fiscal year.

The 15‐minute film on Czechoslovakia, which won an Academy Award as the best documentary short of 1969, has been shown extensively over seas.

According to Buckley aides, the Senator originally tried to get a copy of the film from the agency but was told that in line with its policy and Con gressional intent it could not be provided.

However, the Senator was referred to the National Audio Visual ecnter in the National Archieves, which serves as repository for Government‐pro duced films, a Buckley spokes man said. Charles Ablard, gen eral counsel of the U.S.I.A., ex plained in a letter to the Sena tor that his agency recently had entered into an arrangement un der which the center could dis tribute the agency's films do mestically so long as they were used for educational purposes.

The center made available copy of the film to Senator Buckley, accompanied by a let iter from Mr. Ablard stating that permission to use the film was granted on the understand ling it “would be for educational use only.”