810.2612/11–553
The Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs ( Cabot ) to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget ( Dodge )1
My Dear Mr. Dodge : It has been my privilege today to appear before members of your Bureau to discuss the appropriation of funds [Page 202] for the Inter-American Highway and the Rama Road. I should like to call your attention to the great importance which the Department of State attaches to these projects.
As you know, Public Law 413–82nd Congress (the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1952),2 authorized the appropriation of $8,000,000 a year for each of two fiscal years for the Inter-American Highway, and $2,000,000 a year for each of two fiscal years for the Rama Road in Nicaragua. These funds would remain available until expended. In Public Law 195,3 83rd Congress, the Congress appropriated for the current fiscal year only $1,000,000 for the Inter-American Highway, and only $1,000,000 for the Rama Road. The funds are now being allocated, and only a minimum amount will remain at the end of this fiscal year.
The first authorization of funds for the actual construction of the highway was made by the Congress in 1941,4 and frequently since then the Congress has reaffirmed its intent to complete the highway. The United States has spent more than $42,000,000 on its share of the Inter-American Highway thus far, and in total, the other countries have spent almost as much. Thus, there is a long record of close cooperation on the road. The momentum of construction should not be allowed to falter.
This cooperation, moreover, is a very important factor in the political relations of the United States with its neighbors in Central America. Our financial aid is matched with contributions by the other governments (one-half of the United States share), and this mutual approach to a necessary and highly useful developmental activity has added to the reservoir of good will for the United States in the area. Guatemala, it should be noted, currently does not receive any financial aid for highway construction, and the Department is anxious to emphasize the close and effective cooperation it offers to Guatemala’s neighbors.
The highway will benefit the United States as well as the cooperating countries of Central America. It will promote economic progress and political stability in those relatively underdeveloped countries. It has in the past, and should increasingly in the future, add to the imports from the United States, especially automotive and highway equipment, as the economies of the nations prosper because of the increased transportation facilities within their borders. Also, with the bettered standard of living, political conditions in the countries are bound to improve, and the spread of Communist ideas can be deterred.
The Department of State considers that at least $4,000,000 should be requested for the Inter-American Highway because the funds are intended [Page 203] for use in three cooperating countries, namely, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. With only $1,000,000, such as was appropriated by the last Congress, the unit costs rise, and it is difficult to proceed with new projects in all of the countries. Moreover, the economic situations in those countries now are relatively good, and they are far better prepared now to provide their full share to match the United States contribution.
With respect to the Rama Road, the Department of State firmly supports the appropriation of $2,000,000 for the next fiscal year. The Rama Road in Nicaragua should have equal priority with the Inter-American Highway in the appropriation of funds so that this road building commitment of the Executive Branch of the United States, now recognized by the Congress, can be met in the shortest practicable time. There is only a brief period in which the construction work on the remaining section of the Rama Road can be carried out, and the appropriation of $2,000,000 would provide the funds necessary for an intensive construction period. Nicaragua is a country whose Government and people are particularly friendly to the United States, offering consistent and valuable support in all international matters.
I sincerely hope that it will be possible for the Bureau of the Budget to approve this request to the Congress for the additional appropriation of funds for the Inter-American Highway and the Rama Road in Nicaragua. Both of these projects are of substantial importance in the foreign relations of the United States with its neighbors in Central America.
Sincerely yours,
- Drafted by Mr. Ohmans.↩
- Approved June 25, 1952; for text, see 66 Stat. 158.↩
- Reference is to the Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce Appropriation Act of 1954, approved Aug. 5, 1953; for text, see 67 Stat. 367.↩
- Under the Provisions of the Inter-American Highway Act (Public Law 375), approved Dec. 26, 1941; for text, see 55 Stat. 860.↩