Presidential Commission on World Hunger Statement on the Commission's Report.

The Report of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger represents a challenge to all Americans. I commend the members of the Commission for their comprehensive analysis and thoughtful proposals.

As Chairman Sol Linowitz has noted, few of the measures recommended by the Commission will be easy, and many of the most important will take time. Some will be difficult to implement quickly in the face of fiscal restraints imposed by our fight against inflation. But I agree with the Commission that our national security and our fundamental values compel us to mount a growing effort to build a world without hunger. I intend to make that effort.

I have today directed the appropriate departments and agencies of the Federal Government to examine promptly the Commission's proposals and to recommend to me both immediate and longer term action. The Commission's report will be a spur to new achievement; it will not gather dust in the files.

I intend to share the Commission's basic message with other national leaders in June at the economic summit conference in Venice, where I will make specific proposals for collective action.

I urge the Congress and all Americans to join me in a renewed commitment to mobilize the world's resources in a larger, more effective, and continuing effort to overcome world hunger.