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    "title": "Memorandum from Secretary of State Dean Acheson to James Webb",
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    "ocrText": "275\nDECLASSIFIED\nE. O. 11652, Sec. 3(E) and S(D) or (E)\nDept. of State letter, Aug.,5,1973\n2-23-75\nBg NLT- He NARS Date 4.29.76\n. ARCHIVES 'NATIONAL SERVICE\" RECORDS AND\nCork\nis CONTINUED\n327\nSECRET\nDecember 16, 1949\nMEMORANDUM FOR MR. WEBB:\nWith reference to my memorandum of conversation of today with\nMr. Hoffman, I called him back and said that if he would like me to do\nso I would go over to the Bureau of the Budget and see Mr. Pace with\nhim. I said that I would be somewhat embarrassed to argue for the\nfigure of $3,175,000,000 which Mr. Hoffman, I understood, wanted to\nstand out for. This was because in the NSC we had all agreed that\nthe figure for foreign aid should be $3 billion. There was to be a\ncontingency item of $200,000,000 included in the $3 billion. As I\nunderstood the present idea of the Bureau of the Budget, what they now\nare doing in cutting to $2,900,000,000 is taking out half of the\ncontingency fund. Therefore we would be arguing over a figure of\n$100 million. I said I would be willing to argue on this $100 million\nif Mr. Hoffman thought that it was important.\nMr. Hoffman said that it was his understanding that the $3 billion\nwhich was agreed in the NSC did not include ECA administrative\nexpenses and military end use items; whereas now the $2,900,000,000\nto which the Budget planned to cut ECA would include those items.\nI said I knew nothing whatever about that and this was the first\ntime I had had that idea presented to me. Mr. Hoffman said he would\nnot worry so much about the $200 million cut but reiterated his fear that\nthe Congress would cut them still further; that, while they might be able\nto operate with the $200 million cut, a $500 million cut would be\nfatal, and he knew there was no way by which a guarantee could be\ngiven him that this would not occur. He said that he did not feel his\nfigures were in any way padded and that he could justify his original\nfigure of $3, 175 million.\nI said again that, while I was not qualified to argue as to whether\nthe $3 billion figure agreed on at NSC included or did not include ECA\nadministrative expenses and military end use items, I would be very glad\nto go over to the Bureau of the Budget and state in strongest terms\npossible my conviction that the foreign aid program was absolutely\nvital and that nothing must be done to endanger it.\nSECHI\nDA\nS."
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