Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
294550633
label
White House Press Release
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
294550633
contentType
document
title
White House Press Release
citationUrl
collections
President's Secretary's Files (Truman Administration)
Subject Files
thumbnailUrl
largeImageUrl
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
294550633
levelOfDescription
item
productionDates
day
7
logicalDate
1951-11-07
month
11
year
1951
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
a28444a09347c6a4
ocrText
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOVEMBER 7, 1951
The President has today sent identical letters to Honorable
Richard B. Russell, Chairman, Committee on Armed Services, United
States Senate; Honorable James P. Richards, Chairman, Committee on
Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives; Honorable Tom Connally,
Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate; and
Honorable Carl Vinson, Chairman, Committee on Armed Services, House
of Representatives. The text of the letter follows:
"NATIONAL
ARCHIVES AND
DEPARTMENT
RECORDS
My dear Mr. Chairman:
SERVICE"
OVERTURE
As you know, the United States has for some time been
supplying economic assistance to Yugoslavia in order to strengthen
the defense capabilities of that country. Part of this assistance
has come from funds appropriated for the Mutual Defense Assistance
Act of 1949, as amended, and on each occasion when such funds were
to be used, your Committee has been notified in accordance with
the requirements of that Act.
Yugoslavia is being subjected to continued and increas-
ing pressure by the Soviet Union and its satellites. Particularly
during the past year, steps have been taken by the Soviet Union to
augment the size and effectiveness of the armed forces of the
Soviet satellites bordering on Yugoslavia. To meet this situation,
there is an urgent need to strengthen the Yugoslav armed forces
which, as you know, both from the point of view of numbers and
training, constitute a significant obstacle to aggression in
Southeastern Europe. Yugoslavia has been unable to manufacture
locally, or to fill from outside sources, many of its require-
ments for military equipment. The situation has become SO acute
as to jeopardize the combat effectiveness of the Yugoslav armed
forces. As a result, the security interests of the United States
and also of the free world now require that we undertake to provide
military assistance to Yugoslavia.
Our security interests also require that we continue to
provide economic assistance to Yugoslavia in order to enable that
country to sustain and increase its defense capabilities. The
extent of the Yugoslav defense effort has made very heavy demands
upon the country's resources. In addition, the Cominform economic
blockade and last year's serious drought have added to the strain.
Without such economic assistance, essential production in Yugo-
slavia will be curtailed and the ability of Yugoslavia to defend
itself will be dangerously impaired.
In view of the foregoing and in accordance with Section
101 (a) (1) of the Mutual Security Act of 1951, I have determined
that Yugoslavia is a country which is of direct importance to the
defense of the North Atlantic area and that the increased ability
of Yugoslavia to defend itself is important to the preservation
of the peace and security of the North Atlantic area and to the
security of the United States. Military and economic assistance
will be furnished to Yugoslavia as a result of this determination
in accordance with concrete programs developed in terms of
materially increasing the ability of that country to defend
itself.
This letter constitutes the notification required by
Section 101 (a) of the Mutual Security Act of 1951.
Sincerely yours,
HARRY S. TRUMAN