Dear Senator Hartke:
I write to acknowledge your letter of January 27, in which a group of Senators join you. I am glad to have this expression of opinion.
I continue to be guided in these matters by the resolution of the Congress approved on August 10, 1964--Public Law 88-408-by a vote of 504 to 2. My views of the present situation remain as stated in my recent reply to a group of Members of the House, of which I enclose a copy.
Sincerely,
LYNDON B. JOHNSON
[Honorable Vance Hartke, United States Senate]
Note: The text of the President's letter was read by Bill Moyers, Special Assistant to the President, at his news conference at 4:15 p.m. on Friday, January 28, 1966, in his office at the White House. It was not made public in the form of a White House press release.
The President referred to a joint resolution of the Congress "to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in Southeast Asia" (Public Law 88-408, 78 Stat. 384).
The letter to which the President replied was signed by 15 Members of the Senate. For the President's reply to a letter signed by 77 Members of the House of Representatives, see Item 23.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Reply to a Letter From a Group of Senators Relating to the Situation in Vietnam. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/239331