Memorandum from Secretary of State Dean Acheson to President Harry S. Truman, with Attachment

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State 16/2 the THE SECRETARY OF STATE WASHINGTON June 23, 1951 MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT Subject: Proposed statement to Congress during Foreign Aid Bill hearings on magnitude and duration of U.S. assistance to NATO countries. The attached draft of a statement, to be made next week to the Congress in the course of hearings which start on June 26 before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is designed to indicate to the Congress and the public that we have a plan, we have a reasonable idea of what it will cost and how long it will take, we have a program for meeting that cost, and that, as part of that program, appropriations in Fiscal Years 1953 and 1954 will be required as large as, and probably larger than, that requested for Fiscal Year 1952. It is considered essential to success with the 1952 program to make a statement of this kind to the Congress so that they can have a better knowledge of the contribu- tion the present proposal will make to the long-term goal and will enjoy some assurance that there will be an end to large-scale assistance. This proposal is based on discussions which I have had with Secretary Marshall, General Bradley, Mr. Lawton, and representatives of Secretary Snyder, Mr. Foster and Mr. Harriman. General Marshall, Secretary Snyder and Mr. Foster will join with me in discussing it with you. We would like to secure your agreement to make this further commitment of United States interest in, and willingness to support, the creation of an adequate de- fense force under the North Atlantic Treaty as essential to United States security and as support to General Eisenhower in the task which he has undertaken. Attachment.