Statement by the President on the Mutual Security Program.

I SHALL submit to the Congress next week my recommendations for our nations mutual security program, including economic aid to the free nations of South and East Asia.

By tradition and conviction, our nation is committed to the independence and self-determination of all peoples. This determination, rooted in our own revolt against colonial status, is exemplified by our encouragement of Cuba and the Philippines to assume full freedom and control of their own destiny as independent nations.

The United States, moreover, is dedicated to the furtherance of opportunity for free nations to improve their economic well-being. We consistently encourage their efforts to meet the needs and to satisfy the aspirations of their peoples.

Throughout our history, and especially in the post-war years, the American people have made substantial personal sacrifices so that other peoples may enjoy internal stability and hope for the future. Cooperation has been offered by our people not to preserve the status quo but to encourage progress.

In accord with our political and spiritual heritage, the United States is ready to intensify its cooperation with the free nations of South and East Asia in their efforts to achieve economic development and a rising standard of living. This is in harmony with our programs elsewhere.

The motivation behind this cooperation is twofold: Our fixed belief in the worth and dignity of the human individual whatever his race or flag may be; and our dedication to the principle that the fruits of national growth must be widely shared in every society.

As a people, we insist that the dignity of the individual and his manifold rights require for their preservation a constantly expanding economic base. We are convinced that our own continued economic, cultural and spiritual progress are furthered by similar progress everywhere. For this reason we stand ready to work in genuine cooperation and partnership with the free peoples of the world--in a cooperation and partnership which does not exact from them any sacrifice of their independence, in thought or in action, but rather contributes to their progress and freedom as well as our own.

I will submit shortly certain recommendations to the Congress as a basis for our part in this cooperation.

We seek to evolve a consistent and stable economic policy which will assist free nations in their efforts to achieve a sound growth for their economies.

The peoples of the world, dedicated to the preservation of peace, recognize that man must go forward and that the interests of all free people are indivisible. America's foreign economic policy expresses that attitude.