Office of the Historian

5. National Security Action Memorandum No. 3571

Washington, November 25, 1966.

TO

  • The Secretary of State
  • The Secretary of Defense
  • The Secretary of Commerce
  • The Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • The Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers
  • The Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission
  • The Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology

SUBJECT

  • The Technological Gap

I have been impressed with the increasing concern in Western Europe over possible disparities in advanced technology between the United States and Europe. While many Europeans are convinced that this “technological gap” exists, there is substantially less agreement on its nature and extent, its causes and possible remedies.

As I indicated in my October 7 speech,2 we must determine how best to develop science and technology as a common resource. I have, therefore, asked the Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology to chair an interdepartmental committee which will examine all aspects of this problem and explore possible courses of action. The committee should also examine ways in which the United States might engage interested West European governments in a joint study of what should be done. I would like to receive a preliminary report by January 30, 1967.

This is to request that each of you name a representative to serve on this committee.

Lyndon B. Johnson
  1. Source: Department of State, S/S Files: Lot 72 D 316, NSAM 357. Confidential.↩
  2. For text, see Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966, Book II, pp. 1125–1130.↩