Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, National Security Affairs; Foreign Economic Policy, Volume I

S/S—NSC Files, Lot 63 D 351, NSC 114 Series

Memorandum for the National Security Council by the Executive Secretary (Lay)

top secret

Washington, October 16, 1951.

Subject: United States Programs for National Security

Reference: NSC 114/2¹

After further consideration of the reference report on the subject in the light of the views of the participating departments and agencies, the Senior NSC Staff:

a. Requests that the attached revision of Part III be substituted for that contained in NSC 114/2 and the superseded pages be destroyed by burning;²

b. Recommends that the National Security Council take the following actions with respect to NSC 114/2:

(1) Recommend to the President that he authorize the responsible departments and agencies to proceed with the preliminary budget submissions for FY 1953 on the basis of the programs described in Part II of NSC 114/2,³ subject to:

(a) The understanding that the Department of Defense will prepare preliminary budget submissions for the Military Program within the estimate of 45 billion dollars set forth in paragraph 25 thereof, pending further consideration of the 50 billion dollar requirement for additional reserve stocks;

(b) Revision of the Program for Foreign Economic and Military Assistance in the light of the results of the current work of the Special Temporary Commission of the North Atlantic Council;⁴

(c) Revision of the Civil Defense Program in order to provide as a matter of urgency a more adequate degree of protection for the United States than is presently programmed in this field.

(d) Review of the Internal Security Program with particular reference to the sections thereof relating to the security of industrial plants;

(e) Further study of the economic, social and political implications of the programs as a whole;

(2) Direct the Senior NSC Staff to submit for Council consideration at the earliest practicable date a reappraisal of the policies and programs set forth in the NSC 68 and 114 series, including a revision of Part I of NSC 114/2 and in the light of:

(a) Further analysis of Soviet atomic capabilities as indicated by the recent explosion of another atomic bomb in the USSR;⁵

(b) The current evaluation of the net capability of the USSR to injure the Continental United States.

James S. Lay, Jr.

1. For partial text of NSC 114/2, October 12, see p. 182.
2. Neither the original nor the revised version of Part III, Summary Tabulation of Tentative Estimates of New Obligational Authority, 2 pages, is printed.
3. Part II, Summary Description of Programs, consisting of paragraphs 16–80, is not printed.
4. For documentation on the work of the Special Temporary Commission, see vol. iii, pp. 1 ff.
5. On October 3, the White House announced that a second atomic explosion had occurred in the Soviet Union. For documentation on this subject, see pp. 685 ff.