419. Memorandum From President Nixon to the Director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness (Lincoln)1
I accept your recommendation and the recommendations of the Secretaries of State, Commerce, and the Interior regarding the need for additional supplies of nickel to meet defense production requirements.2
In accordance with the provisions of Section 5 of the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act, as amended (50 U.S.C. 98(d)), I herewith determine that the release of up to 20 million pounds of nickel [Page 1036] from the National Stockpile is required for purposes of the common defense. The rate, method, and forms of the nickel release and its replacement shall be as you deem appropriate.
This use of the stockpile in a situation short of a national emergency should not be considered a precedent for the future, pending further review of stockpile policy.3
In carrying out this responsibility, arrangements should be made to assure that all replacement of nickel is in upgraded forms without the need to seek additional appropriations for this purpose.
- Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Agency Files, Box 267, Office of Emergency Preparedness, Volume II 11/69-12/71. Confidential.↩
- Lincoln’s recommendation was made in a December 5 memorandum to the President informing him that the Secretaries of State, Commerce, and the Interior concurred in the recommendation. Lincoln added that the Secretary of Defense, while not making a recommendation, agreed in the need for nickel to meet defense needs. (Ibid.)↩
- Kissinger had suggested the inclusion of this sentence in a December 13 memorandum to President Nixon. He noted that Lincoln’s proposal raised no national security implications provided the decision did not set a precedent for using stockpile materials to meet shortages in a situation short of a national emergency. (Ibid.)↩