Dwight D. Eisenhower photo

White House Statement Following Bipartisan Conference on Foreign Affairs and National Defense.

December 13, 1955

THE PRESIDENT met today with the leaders of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives for a bi-partisan conference on the problems of foreign affairs and national defense which will be submitted to the 1956 Congress.

Subjects under discussion included foreign affairs, the national defense budget, mutual security appropriations, the program of the United States Information Agency, policies on the question of disarmament and the Organization for Trade Cooperation.

At the start of the meeting the President thanked the leaders for accepting his invitation to discuss these subjects. He pointed out that he desired to discuss them on a bi-partisan basis with the leaders of the legislative branch of the government and to receive their observations and suggestions prior to the opening of the Congress.

The Secretary of State presented a review of world conditions since the Foreign Ministers' Meeting at Geneva. He said that his department placed special emphasis on the economic aspects of foreign policy particularly in view of the stepped-up Soviet campaign in this field in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. He also urged approval by the Congress of American participation in the Organization for Trade Cooperation.

The Secretary of Defense reviewed with the leaders the program of the Defense establishment of the United States and the forced levels which must be maintained to protect the nation against attack and to assure the maintenance of peace in this Atomic Age.

The Director of the International Cooperation Administration outlined the aspects of mutual security including mutual military support and economic and technical assistance for our allies and friends.

The President discussed the program of the United States Information Agency. The President and the Deputy Director of the Agency stressed the necessity for expanding the Agency's program to present America's proposals for peace to all the peoples of the world.

The Special Assistant to the President for Disarmament Planning discussed in detail proposals for disarmament particularly those phases dealing with the President's "Open Sky" recommendation. He pointed to the overwhelming vote taken yesterday at the United Nations as an indication of world-wide support and interest in our country's pursuit of world peace.

A general discussion was held after each subject was presented. The President asked me to add one further thing directly from him:

"I want to give my thanks and my very real gratitude to the leaders on both sides of the aisle in the Senate and the House of Representatives for the very great contribution they have made and are making to true bi-partisanship."

Dwight D. Eisenhower, White House Statement Following Bipartisan Conference on Foreign Affairs and National Defense. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/233815

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