501.BB Palestine/11–648
Memorandum by the Acting Secretary of State to President Truman
Reference is made to the Department’s memorandum of October 26, 1948,1 concerning the draft resolution for aid to Palestinian refugees [Page 1555] which you approved for introduction by the United States Delegation to the General Assembly jointly with the United Kingdom Delegation. This resolution, slightly amended and sponsored also by Belgium and the Netherlands, is now under discussion in the General Assembly. While the resolution does not commit the United States Government at this stage, it is essential that our Delegation be in a position to announce the amount of the contribution which this Government intends to propose to Congress, in order to stimulate contributions from other governments and to obtain a $5,000,000 advance from the United Nations Working Capital Fund for immediate relief purposes. The total estimated relief requirements presented by the Acting Mediator to the General Assembly amount to $32,000,000. Because of the critical importance of the Near East to our national security, it is our belief that the United States should contribute fifty per cent of the requirements as determined by the General Assembly.
It is therefore recommended that the United States Delegation to the General Assembly be authorized to announce the intention of this Government to seek an appropriation from Congress of approximately $16,000,000, provided that the amount of the United States contribution is not more than fifty per cent of the estimated requirements as determined by the General Assembly.
If you approve this course of action, the Department will undertake informal consultation with Congressional leaders.2