Letter to General Clay in Response to a Report on the U.S. Military and Economic Assistance Programs.

[ Released March 24, 1963. Dated March 22, 1963 ]

Dear General Clay:

I have received your report and I want to tell you how grateful I am to you and the other distinguished private citizens on your Committee for the time and effort you have devoted to preparing it. The Committee's expression of support for properly administered mutual defense and development programs--coming as it did after an intensive and searching review is very heartening.

I was pleased to note the Committee's recognition of the improvements which have been made in the Foreign Assistance Program in recent years, including the increased emphasis on self-help, better definition of program goals, reduction in its balance of payments impact, and the increased emphasis on the role of United States private investment. You may be sure that the Committee's recommendations including greater selectivity, stricter self-help standards, greater participation by the developed countries in aid efforts and continued improvements in administration, will be carefully applied in our continuing review of this program.

I am hopeful that we will be able to develop widespread public awareness of--to quote your report--"the great value of properly conceived and administered foreign aid programs to the national interest of the United States and of the contribution of the foreign assistance dollar in such programs to the service of our nation's security". Again, I want to thank you and the other members of the Committee for the important service which you have rendered.

Sincerely,

JOHN F. KENNEDY

[General Lucius D. Clay, Chairman, Committee to Strengthen the Security of the Free World, Washington, D.C.]