Message Marking the 20th Anniversary of the United States Information Agency.

TWENTY YEARS ago, President Eisenhower signed the reorganization plan which established a separate United States Information Agency to communicate the objectives and policies of the United States to the people of other nations and to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other peoples of the world.

For two decades, the USIA has presented to the world reliable information about our people, our culture, our aspirations, and our policies. As the relationships among nations have changed and as we have moved from an era of confrontation to a new and challenging period of negotiation, USIA's efforts take on new importance. In a climate of lessened tensions and increased negotiations, international relationships are more complex and the issues more complicated. To succeed, our policies must be understood, our motives made clear and our ideals articulated.

Truly there is a need today for a communications effort in support of our diplomatic initiatives to build a durable structure of peace in which those who would influence others will do so by the strength of their ideas, not by the force of their arms.

On this twentieth anniversary year of the United States Information Agency, I extend to its staff serving at home and abroad congratulations for a job well done and my best wishes for the future.

RICHARD NIXON