Special Message to the Congress Transmitting Proposed Legislation for Funding of Foreign Assistance Programs in Fiscal Year 1973

To the Congress of the United States:

Today I am transmitting to the Congress legislation which would authorize funding for my foreign aid proposals for the coming fiscal year. This draft bill, which is entitled the Foreign Assistance Act of 1972, also contains provisions to make our military assistance more effective.

As I have often indicated, our foreign assistance programs are a central element in our foreign policy for the 1970s. For it is as dangerous for this Nation to ignore the problems of poverty and hunger and the need for security in other nations as it is to ignore our own domestic needs.

The Congress, acting after two-thirds of the current fiscal year had already passed, drastically reduced my foreign assistance requests for fiscal year 1972. In my judgment, the amounts appropriated for both security and development assistance in fiscal year 1972 are below the minimum level required to attain our foreign policy and national security goals. These reductions have created difficult problems in essential programs and in our relations with several countries. A repetition of these reductions and delays in 1973 would call into serious question the firmness of our commitments abroad and could have a destabilizing effect at a time when calm confidence in our support and perseverance will be critically needed. I therefore urge the Congress to act promptly to authorize and appropriate the full amounts requested for foreign assistance in fiscal year 1973.

In forwarding the Foreign Assistance Act of 1972, I would also underscore the points I made in my message to the Congress on April 21, 1971. In that message I addressed the need for fundamental reform of foreign assistance and recommended a major reorganization of these programs. I hope that the Congress will give closer consideration to these proposals in this session, and that together we can develop the most effective program possible, one that truly merits the broad bipartisan support that foreign aid has enjoyed in the past.

SECURITY ASSISTANCE

As I pointed out in my annual Report to the Congress on Foreign Policy last month: "Security assistance is a cornerstone of our foreign policy and of Free World security..." We live today in a period of transition in world affairs, in a time in which the United States is taking bold initiatives to build a new structure of peace, while asking our friends and allies to assume a greater responsibility for their own defense.

As we begin to make adjustments in our international role, it is especially critical that we maintain a firm United States commitment to an adequate level of security assistance. For without such adequate levels, our friends and allies will lack the confidence required for successful international cooperation in an era of negotiations. And without adequate security assistance, we cannot safely reduce our military presence abroad.

I am therefore requesting authorizations for security assistance programs totalling $2,151 million in fiscal year 1973: $780 million for grant military assistance, $527 million for military credit sales, and $844 million for security supporting assistance, of which an estimated $50 million is intended for Israel.

NARCOTICS CONTROL

I am requesting that a separate appropriation of $42.5 million be authorized for the support of international narcotics control activities. Control of illicit drug production and trafficking is one of the highest priorities of my Administration. I believe the authorization and appropriation of funds specifically for this purpose is essential to clearly demonstrate the determination of the Administration, the Congress, and the American people to overcome this serious menace.

SOUTH ASIA RELIEF AND RECONSTRUCTION ASSISTANCE

I am also proposing the authorization of $100 million in fiscal year 1973 for refugee relief and humanitarian assistance in South Asia. This sum would be in addition to the $200 million appropriated for this purpose for the current fiscal year.

The damage and destruction growing out of the war between India and Pakistan has truly been immense. We have indicated our willingness to work with other donors under the auspices of the United Nations to provide relief and rehabilitation to those in need.

The Secretary General of the United Nations has issued an assessment of these needs and a special appeal for support. We have already made an initial contribution to this effort and will continue to contribute in the light of the efforts of others and further assessments of need. The $ I co million which I am requesting would enable us to continue to participate generously, along with other nations, in this important work.

RICHARD NIXON

THE WHITE HOUSE,

March 14, 1972.