Memorandum of Conversation with Secretary of State Dean Acheson, Ambassador of Norway Wilhelm Munthe de Morgenstierne, Foreign Minister of Norway Halvard Lange, and Benjamin Hulley

004442 DECLASSIFIED E. O. 11652, Sec. 3(E) and S(D) or (E 7-23-15 DEPARTMENT OF STATE Dept. of State letter, Aug. 9, 1973 657 s/s By NLT- HC NARS Date 4-27-76 Memorandum of Conversation 261 DATE: September 16, 1949 SUBJECT: Visit of Norwegian Foreign Minister PARTICIPANTS: Mr. Halvard M. Lange, Norwegian Foreign Minister Mr. Wilhelm Munthe de Morgenstierne, Norwegian Ambassador Secretary of State COPIES TO: Mr. Benjamin M. Hulley, Chief, NOE - JUNE AND RECORDS s/s BERVICE EUR WE NOE American Embassy, Oslo 1-1493_ After an exchange of courtesies Mr. hange expressed interest in the progress of legislation connected with the North Atlantic Pact. I said that the vote on the Pact had shown a gratifying majority though it was delayed longer than we had anticipated; however, the debate had been very satisfactory and we were pleased with the outcome. with regard to MAP legislation, I said we had run into difficulties some of which may have been due to the protracted session in hot weather, but that the present prospect is that the Senate may reach its decision about the end of next week. This will be followed by a joint conference to iron out differences of the two houses after which we expect the bill to become law. Appropriation legislation will have to follow, which should not be more than routine in nature. I mentioned that in the Senate the bill was cut 160 million and Mr. Lange said jokingly that he hoped that was not precisely the amount of arms aid which had been intended for Norway. I said that as he was aware any cut would not work that way or be applied to a particular country. We had explained to Congress that the effect of a cut would be to lengthen the time during which the program would be carried out so that instead of taking say 18 months, it might take 24. I assured Mr. Lange there was no reason to expect a out applicable to Norway apart from the other countries involved. He thanked me for this explanation, saying that his concern was with the effect on public opinion in Norway as well as in Russia in the event that the North Atlantic Pact were not implemented substantially. The Minister TOENTIAL