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OCR Page 1 of 72nd
22 Jul 1952
x0285
Filer
DRAFT OF SUGGESTED STATEMENT BY SECRETARY LOVETT
stutu
I want to talk to you gentlemen today at some length about the steel
situation. This has become so serious in its impact on the defense program
that
the President has asked me to give you the facts. (on effect ofly)
On this 51st day of the steel strike, military production is grinding
to a halt. As I predicted to you gentlemen six weeks ago, the situation in
the rearmament program, already deadly serious, is rapidly growing worse,
and the program itself is in danger.
No enemy nation, even by using the atomic bomb, could have so
crippled our production as has this work stoppage. No form of bombing
could have taken out of production in one day 380 steel plants and kept them
out nearly two months. It is tragic that we have done this to ourselves.
Whether it is murder committed by someone else or suicide by ourselves, the
effect is the same.
An almost invisible paralysis has been creeping over us. It is now
becoming visible and will become far more visible later on. This is a
disaster which our people have been warned about but, by living in its
shadow, have become familiar with.
I do not wish to enter into the merits of the steel controversy.
This is not the concern of the Department of Defense. But I believe it
urgent that I make clear the mounting results of the strike.
Production of many important military items currently needed in
Korea, especially munitions, is suffering from lack of steel.
Cur normal military production requirements at present are between
850,000 and 1,000,000 tons of steel per month. From the non-struck plants
we received in June about 80,000 tons, or less than 10 percent of
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