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7342248
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Letter from the President to Congress
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7342248
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document
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Letter from the President to Congress
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White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)
Press Releases
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20
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1976-01-20
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1976
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Digitized from Box 20 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JANUARY 20, 1976
Office of the White House Press Secretary
THE WHITE HOUSE
TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:
The Foreign Assistance Act of 1974, enacted by the
93rd Congress on December 30, 1974, expresses the sense
of the Congress that the policies and purposes of the
military assistance program should be "reexamined in
light of changes in world conditions and the economic
position of the United States in relation to countries
receiving such assistance." Section 17 (a) of the act
expresses the view that the program, except for military
education and training activities, "should be reduced
and terminated as rapidly as feasible consistent with
the security and foreign policy requirements of the
United States."
To give effect to section 17 (a) of the act, the
Congress directed that I submit to the first session of
the 94th Congress a detailed plan for the "reduction and
eventual elimination of the present military assistance
program." In the intervening period, the two foreign
affairs committees are considering draft legislation that
would arbitrarily terminate grant military assistance
programs after September 30, 1977, unless authorized by
the Congress.
I have stressed repeatedly in my messages to the
Congress and in my reports to the American people, the
need for constancy and continuity in our foreign policy,
and, in particular, in our relationship with nations which
turn to us for necessary support in meeting their most
pressing security needs. Since World War II, the United
States has extended such assistance to friends and allies.
This policy has contributed immeasurably to the cause of
peace and stability in the world. Many countries which
once received grant military assistance have achieved
self-sufficiency in providing for their security interests,
and grant military assistance to a number of current
recipients is being reduced or eliminated.
I firmly believe that grant military assistance in
some form will remain a basic requirement for an effective
U.S. foreign policy for the foreseeable future. In the
Middle East and elsewhere, we must maintain our flexibility
to respond to future assistance requirements which cannot
now be reckoned with precision. It will continue to be in
our interest to be able to meet the legitimate security
requirements of countries who cannot shoulder the full
burden of their own defense and grant assistance will con-
tinue to be needed to assist countries that provide us
essential military bases and facilities. These requirements
will not disappear; they are the necessary result of the
unsettled state of the world and of our role as a world
power.
Nevertheless, in recognition of the expressed sense
of the Congress, I have, in preparing the 1977 budget and
legislative program, reexamined the policies, purposes,
and scope of the military assistance program with a view
more
2
to reducing or terminating any country programs no longer
essential to the security and foreign policy interests of
the United States. As a consequence of this review, the
1977 military assistance budget request will reflect a
28 percent reduction below the 1976 request, the termination
of grant materiel assistance to Korea, and elimination of
five small grant programs in Latin America. Furthermore,
our preliminary estimate of the 1978 requirements indicates
that additional reductions and some additional program
terminations should be feasible in the absence of unfavorable
security or economic development in the countries concerned.
I must emphasize, however, that offsetting increases
in foreign military sales credits will be required in most
instances to meet the legitimate military needs of our
friends and allies at a time when much of their military
equipment is reaching obsolescence and prices of new
equipment are increasing drastically. Moreover, the
capacities of many of these grant military aid recipients
to assume additional foreign exchange costs because of
reduced military aid are limited by the necessity to cope
with higher oil prices as well as the impact of the
recession in the developed countries on their exports.
In these circumstances, I believe the interests of the
United States in the continued security of these countries
are better served by a gradual reduction of grant military
assistance attuned to the particular circumstances of each
country than by an arbitrary termination of all such
assistance on a given date.
Finally, I must emphasize that in this uncertain and
unpredictable era we must maintain our national strength
and our national purposes and remain faithful to our friends
and allies. In these times, we must not deny ourselves the
capacity to meet international crises and problems with all
the instruments now at our disposal. I urge the Congress to
preserve the authorities in law to provide grant military
aid, an instrument of our national security and foreign
policy that has served the national interest well for more
than 30 years.
GERALD R. FORD
THE WHITE HOUSE,
JANUARY 20, 1976
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