842.20 Defense/14
Press Release Issued by the White House August 18, 1940
The following joint statement was issued by President Roosevelt and the Prime Minister of Canada, W. L. Mackenzie King:
“The Prime Minister and the President have discussed the mutual problems of defense in relation to the safety of Canada and the United States.
“It has been agreed that a Permanent Joint Board on Defense shall be set up at once by the two countries.
“This Permanent Joint Board on Defense shall commence immediate studies relating to sea, land, and air problems including personnel and matériel.
“It will consider in the broad sense the defense of the north half of the Western Hemisphere.
“The Permanent Joint Board on Defense will consist of four or five members from each country, most of them from the services. It will meet shortly.”4
- On August 22 the White House announced the membership of the Board and that its first meeting would be held at Ottawa on August 26. See Department of State Bulletin, August 24, 1940, p. 154.↩