John F. Kennedy photo

Statement by the President on the Cut in the Mutual Security Authorization Bill.

August 23, 1963

[ Broadcast from the Fish Room at the White House ]

THE ACTION of the House today in drastically cutting the mutual security authorization bill is unprecedented, unwarranted, and unwise.

This cut will critically affect our strength at a time when the forces of freedom are moving around the world.

The most disturbing aspect of today's House action is that for the first time since the end of World War II, this program experienced a shocking and thoughtless partisan attack by the Republican leadership on a program which both parties have consistently supported as being vital to our national security.

I recall during 8 years in the Senate from 1953 to 1960 consistently supporting the requests which General Eisenhower made as President of the United States.

This program has been opposed by some members of both parties in the past but today was the first time that the leadership of one party led the attack upon it.

This year's authorization bill was carefully trimmed before it went to the Hill and was examined by General Clay and others. It was one of the lowest ever presented to the Congress. Despite all of this, the House of Representatives has made the sharpest cut it has ever made in a foreign aid authorization bill.

This action cannot be explained by any change in the world situation or by the requirements of our national security or as an economy measure. It is simply a shortsighted, irresponsible, and dangerously partisan action. If today's vote stands, no development loans could be made in Iran, Greece, Thailand, or other countries on the rim of the Communist empire except to fulfill existing commitments.

Under the terms of this bill, hopeful social and economic progress in Latin America will be stalled and our shield against Communist aggression in this hemisphere will be weakened. It will mean that the Soviet Union will be giving almost as much assistance to the small island of Cuba as the United States is to the whole of Latin America. This is no way to defeat communism in this hemisphere.

A $225 million cut in military aid will jeopardize the effectiveness of allied forces on the border of the Sino-Soviet bloc which now receive over 70 percent of our military assistance. Obviously, the foreign authorization voted by the House today is unsatisfactory. It represents not only a partisan attack on the foreign policy of this Government, but a repudiation of the foreign policy which this country has pursued since the end of the Second World War.

In the key vote on foreign assistance today, only 9 percent of the Republican Members of the House supported this program which has hitherto commanded bipartisan support, and I reiterate again, time and again this program had bipartisan support in the years of the fifties. The danger is just as great today. I see no reason why the program and its bipartisan support should be destroyed.

I urge, therefore, that members of both parties in the Senate restore the full amount of this request and that the conference will give the House of Representatives an opportunity to reconsider its ill-advised actions of today.

John F. Kennedy, Statement by the President on the Cut in the Mutual Security Authorization Bill. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/237333

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