111. Telegram From the Embassy in Italy to the Department of State1
19788. USEEC. Department pass White House. Embassies/Mission for Ambassador only. Subject: Joint Cable to President on ICA Budget.
1. Request Department pass immediately to the White House text of following joint cable from undersigned Ambassadors.
2. Begin text
Dear Mr. President:
The undersigned, your Ambassadors to France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, NATO and the European Communities met recently to discuss the present state of United States–European relations. While we discussed a number of issues, the purpose of this joint cable is to present a recommendation which has special urgency.
It is our understanding that you will be meeting on December 6 with the Acting Director of OMB to consider the FY 1979 budget level for the new International Communication Agency.2 It is our unanimous view, for the reasons suggested below, that the proposed budget for the new agency is much too low to permit the kind of information and cultural programs which are needed to support the U.S. national interest in Europe.
If we are to be successful in gaining support for your policies in Europe and other parts of the world, it is not enough merely to persuade the governments to which we are accredited that the courses of action we propose are wise and just. We must also engage the sympathies of young Europeans, particularly younger politicians, officials, teachers, writers and journalists who are moving into positions of influence and leadership. They have no firsthand knowledge of WWII. Moreover, many of them came of age during the Vietnam and Watergate eras and are burdened by a view of our country which bears little resemblance to the real America, and certainly not to the kind of society your administration is striving to build. Our European Embassies are making every effort to provide these young men and women the information and the cultural experiences which will enable them to form a more [Page 317] accurate appreciation of our country, but the means at our disposal are inadequate.
It is ironic that for over two decades our European information and cultural efforts have been cut back while our political, military and economic interests should have dictated that they be strengthened. When one considers that during this same period the Soviet Union and the countries of Eastern Europe have greatly expanded their own Western European programs, the wisdom of these reductions becomes even more questionable, and the need to reverse the trend more urgent. An increase in the European programs would be consistent with the United States’ commitment to the defense of Western Europe and the administration’s view that that commitment is at the center of our foreign and security policies.
We thus conclude and strongly urge that our information and cultural programs, particularly those in Italy, France and the FRG, be sharply increased. While we cannot speak for your Ambassadors in other European countries, we believe they would also support this plea.
We believe that the creation of the International Communication Agency provides the administration an opportunity to appeal to the Congress for the increase in funding that is required to do the job as it should be done.
The Agency’s present budget in constant dollars is only slightly larger today than when USIA was founded in 1954, and substantially less than it was ten years ago. To do an effective, imaginative job of explaining American society and the administration’s policies will require considerably more. For Europe alone it would take something on the order of $20 million to bring the Agency up to the funding levels that are required to give us the programs we need today. The bulk of the additional money would be spent on programs, not on bureaucratic overhead. Some increase in the badly depleted USIA staffs would have to occur—hopefully through a shift of Washington-based officer personnel to the field. Most of the money, however, would go to fund greatly enhanced information efforts in the press and other media areas, as well as a more ambitious exchange of persons program and more intensive academic and student programs, including English teaching in areas where appropriate.
Kingman Brewster, who represents you in a country which shares our language and, to an appreciable degree, our culture as well, believes that his own present resources are more than adequate and could be reduced. He nevertheless shares our view that it is crucial that we improve our ability to communicate with the young men and women of continental Europe who are already moving into positions from [Page 318] which they are able to influence the attitudes of peoples and governments towards us and our goals.
Respectfully,
W. Tapley Bennett, Jr
Kingman Brewster
Richard N. Gardner
Arthur A. Hartman
Deane R. Hinton
Walter J. Stoessel, Jr.
End text.
- Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D770447–1046. Limited Official Use; Immediate. Sent for information Immediate to Bonn, Brussels, London, Paris, and USNATO.↩
- See footnote 8, Document 107.↩