Statement on Signing the Continuing Appropriations Resolution.

I HAVE signed, with serious reservations, the continuing resolution (H. J. Res. 1167) providing necessary funds after a 3-week delay for the operation of several departments and agencies and for the temporary continuation of our foreign aid programs.

Despite two vetoes of similar versions of this bill and my public statements concerning the damage to our diplomacy that would result from its restrictions on military aid to Turkey, Congress has nevertheless persisted by clear majorities in a course which I consider ill-advised and dangerous.

The restrictions imposed in this bill on our military assistance to Turkey create serious problems. Without substantial benefit to any other country, these restrictions threaten our relations with a country which is a close ally, which is the eastern anchor of an alliance vital to the security of the United States, and which plays a fundamental role in the strategic interests of the United States in the Eastern Mediterranean area. It is for these reasons--the national security interests of the United States--that we have been providing military assistance to Turkey.

The problem created by these legislative restrictions with respect to our relations with Turkey are not compensated for in any way by benefits to Greece or the Greek Cypriots. Contrary to the intentions of the supporters of these restrictions, this bill can only hinder progress toward a settlement of the Cypriot dispute which is so much in the interest of both Greece and the people of Cyprus.

As a result of my vetoes of two earlier versions of this continuing resolution, the Congress has eased the most troublesome of the earlier restrictions. Nevertheless , the risks created by the remaining ones fail to provide compensating benefits. I will, of course, do my best to accomplish the goals which we had set before the Congress took this action. Whatever we can still do to assist in resolving the Cyprus dispute will be done. But if we fail despite our best efforts, those in the Congress who overrode the Congressional leadership must bear the full responsibility for that failure.