Statement by the Secretary of State Before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations1
The North Atlantic Treaty and the Role of the Military Assistance Program
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I believe it appropriate to outline briefly the role of the proposed military assistance program in our over-all foreign policy and its relationship to the Atlantic pact. As you know, the President will shortly recommend to the Congress the enactment of legislation authorizing [Page 297] the transfer of military equipment and assistance to other nations. As you also know, the proposed program will request authorization and appropriation of $1,130,000,000 for Atlantic pact countries and approximately $320,000,000 for other countries, including Greece and Turkey, making a total of $1,450,000,000 for the fiscal year 1950.
The furnishing of military assistance to the Atlantic pact countries is designed to assist us in attaining the fundamental goal of our foreign policy: the preservation of international peace and the preservation of the security of the United States. Our aid to Greece and Turkey, the European Recovery Program—the greatest of all measures to date in our foreign policy—Senate Resolution 239, the Atlantic pact, which we are now considering, and the proposed military assistance program, are all designed to this end.
You may ask why it is not enough to have the Atlantic pact alone since it accepts the principle that an attack on one is an attack on all. Why does the Executive believe that it will be necessary to have a military assistance program in addition to the commitments contained in the pact?
The answer is found in the insecurity and the fears of Western Europe and of many of the other freedom-loving nations of the world. Basic to the purposes of the military assistance program is the necessity of promoting economic recovery and political stability by providing a basis for confidence, a sense of security, and a reasonable assurance of peace among European peoples. The military assistance program will improve the defenses and military capabilities of these nations, and thus increase their will to resist aggression and their ability to maintain internal security.
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- For complete text, see Department of State Bulletin, May 8, 1949, pp. 594–599.↩