Office of the Historian

30. Letter From the Acting Secretary of State to the Chairman of the Council on Foreign Economic Policy (Randall)1

Washington, March 9, 1957.

Dear Mr. Randall: The Department of State has carefully reviewed the report of the President’s Citizens Advisers on the [Page 140] Mutual Security Program. We believe that it makes a positive contribution to public discussion and to policy formulation. We are in agreement with its three basic conclusions:

1.
The Committee takes a positive stand in favor of United States foreign assistance: it believes that such assistance has contributed to collective security and should be continued on a substantial scale. It warns specifically that “the United States must abandon the false hope that collective security costs are temporary”.
2.
The report stresses that foreign aid contributes to collective security in two equally important ways: by creating military strength and by promoting economic development. It speaks in the same sense as Section 14 of the Mutual Security Act2 when it says: “Economic development is, in the long run, as important to the security of the free world as the military measures we have taken”.
3.
The report recommends that economic development assistance receive heavy emphasis and continue for an extended period. It speaks of the need “to concentrate economic assistance more upon long-range economic development”, and says that “assurances should be given of our intention to continue it over a period of years.” It stresses the necessity for the granting of greater discretionary power to the executive branch.

In all these major respects the Department agrees with the report. More detailed comments are to be found in the enclosed document,3 which responds to the twenty-three specific points listed in the letter from Colonel Cullen of March 5.4 As you will see, there are certain matters of implementation on which our views differ from those of the Committee, but on a great many we are in agreement.

With respect to the further request of your letter of March 4,5 I am asking Mr. Dillon to represent the Department of State at the meeting which you have called for 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, March 13, in Room 213 of the Executive Office Building.

Sincerely yours,

Christian A. Herter
  1. Source: Eisenhower Library, Harlow Records.↩
  2. Reference is to Section 14 of the Mutual Security Act of 1956 (Public Law 726), enacted July 18, 1956. For text, see 70 Stat. 566.↩
  3. Not printed, but see the enclosure to Randall’s memorandum, Document 33.↩
  4. Not printed. (Washington National Records Center, ICA Director’s Files: FRC 61 A 32, Box 314, Committees—Fairless)↩
  5. See footnote 2, Document 32.↩