Eisenhower Library, Eisenhower papers, Whitman file
Memorandum of Discussion at the 167th Meeting of the National Security Council on Thursday, October 22, 19531
eyes only
Present at the 167th meeting of the Council were the President of the United States, presiding; the Secretary of State; the Secretary of Defense; the Director, Foreign Operations Administration; the Director, Office of Defense Mobilization. The Vice President did not attend because of his absence from the country. Also present were the Acting Secretary of the Treasury; Judge Barnes for the Attorney General (Item 4); the Acting Secretary of Commerce (Item 4); the Acting Director, Bureau of the Budget; the Chairman, Federal Communications Commission (Item 1); the Director, U.S. Information Agency (Items 1, 2 and 3); William A. Porter, Office of Defense Mobilization (Item 1); Ralph L. Clark, Central Intelligence Agency (Items 1 and 6); Gen. Porter, Foreign Operations Administration (Items 6, 7, 8 and 9); the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; the Director of Central Intelligence; The Assistant to the President; Robert Cutler, Special Assistant to the President; C. D. Jackson, Special Assistant to the President; the Acting White House Staff Secretary; the Executive Secretary, NSC; and the Deputy Executive Secretary, NSC.
There follows a summary of the discussion at the meeting and the main points taken.
[Here follows discussion of electromagnetic communications, the implementation of the recommendations of the Jackson Committee, and the mission of the United States Information Agency.]
4. Source of U. S. Aluminum Supply in Time of War (Memo for NSC from Executive Secretary, same subject, dated October 16, 19532)
Mr. Cutler explained the reasons why ODM had felt obliged to seek the guidance of the Council with respect to planning on the use of aluminum capacity in Canada, but expressed doubt as to the propriety of the Council’s becoming involved in problems of this kind. After pointing out that Judge Barnes of the Department of Justice, and Mr. Robert Murray, Assistant Secretary of Commerce, had been specifically invited to participate in Council consideration of this item, Mr. Cutler asked Mr. Flemming to comment on the report.
[Page 1033]Mr. Flemming sketched the genesis of the problem in some detail, indicating that it involved domestic political and economic issues and was also complicated by the fact that the contract between the aluminum companies of America and of Canada was allegedly in violation of the anti-trust laws of the United States. All this, however, was not within the competence of the National Security Council to decide. What he hoped the Council would do would be to answer the question whether ODM was justified, from the security point of view, in relying not only on the Canadian aluminum capacity at Kitimat, but on other Canadian sources of aluminum in time of war.
Early in the discussion the President made clear his own view that if there was as much potential aluminum capacity in Canada as this report indicated, we would be “idiots” not to plan to use it and thus avoid the expenditure of money to create additional capacity in the United States.
Secretary Dulles warned that if we took a position vis-à-vis Canada that its security standards should be viewed differently from our own, we were bound to run into very embarrassing difficulties, and it was essential that the United States should cooperate with the Dominion and view its security jointly with our own.
After considerable discussion, by Mr. Flemming and Judge Barnes, of the non-security aspects of this problem, Mr. Cutler pointed out that while the Planning Board had recommended favorably on the Kitimat facilities from the point of view of security, Mr. Flemming had now suggested that the Council agree that all Canadian sources of aluminum be considered as secure. Mr. Cutler pointed out that the Planning Board had expressed no judgment and had no knowledge of the security risks of aluminum plants in Canada other than Kitimat.
The President stated with great emphasis that as far as he was concerned Canada was our partner in any war, and that, therefore, in these matters Canada could not be treated differently from the United States. Accordingly, he found no difficulty in accepting Mr. Flemming’s addition.
The National Security Council:
Adopted the recommendation of the NSC Planning Board contained in paragraph 3 of the reference memorandum, subject to the revision of the last sentence to read as follows: “In fact, reliance on Kitimat, as well as reliance on other Canadian sources of aluminum, is in consonance with the long-standing plan of the United States and Canada to share their resources in time of war on a continental rather than on a national basis.”
Note: The recommendation referred to above subsequently approved by the President and transmitted to the Defense Mobilization [Page 1034] Board through the Director of the Office of Defense Mobilization.
[Here follow a report by Secretary of State Dulles on his recent meetings in London with British Foreign Secretary Eden and French Foreign Minister Bidault, and a briefing by Director of Central Intelligence Dulles on significant world developments affecting United States security.]
7. Security of Strategically Important Industrial Operations in Foreign Countries (NSC 163; Progress Report, dated June 8, 1953, by the Under Secretary of State on NSC 293)
The National Security Council:
- a.
- Noted the reference Progress Report on the subject by the Under Secretary of State.
- b.
- Adopted the statement of policy in NSC 163 subject to the following revisions:
- (1)
- Paragraph 3–a–(2): Substitute “arrange for the conduct of” for “conduct”.
- (2)
- Paragraph 3–c: Revise to read as
follows:
“c. The Central Intelligence Agency will provide, from time to time at the request of ODM, intelligence appraisals of the nature and extent of the threat of sabotage to the security of each of the listed facilities; and, in exceptional circumstances with the concurrence of the Department of State, will conduct covert surveillance of such facilities.”
Note:NSC 163, as amended, subsequently approved by the President and circulated as NSC 163/1.
[Here follow a brief report by Cutler on the government employee security program and a discussion of the implications of Soviet nuclear weapons tests during 1953.]