Statement by the President Upon Nominating Walter J. Donnelly as Minister and U.S. High Commissioner for Austria

I AM today sending to the Senate of the United States the nomination of Mr. Walter J. Donnelly of Washington, D.C., to be Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the U.S.A. to Austria and concurrently U.S. High Commissioner for Austria.

The designation of Mr. Donnelly is based on the decision of the three Western Foreign Ministers at their London meeting on May 18, 1950, "to proceed at an early date to appoint civilian high commissioners in Austria in accordance with the provisions of Article 9 of the Control Agreement of June 28, 1946."

The Governments of the United Kingdom and France have previously announced the appointments of Sir Harold Caccia and M. Jean Payard, respectively.

The three Western Powers have taken this step because in the absence of an Austrian treaty--blocked by the Soviet Union--they are determined to carry out such measures as may properly be taken to strengthen within the framework of existing quadripartite agreement the authority of the Austrian Government and to lighten the burden of occupation on Austria to the greatest possible extent.

Ambassador Donnelly is a career diplomat who has had a long and distinguished record of service in Canada and Latin America. He was a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Rio de Janeiro Conference in 1947 and the Bogota Conference in 1948, and for the past 4 years he has served brilliantly as United States Ambassador to Venezuela. I have selected Mr. Donnelly for this new and challenging assignment because of his long and outstanding record of public service and achievement.

As Minister he will be accredited to the Austrian Government and as High Commissioner he will represent the U.S. in the Allied Commission for Austria. He will succeed John G. Erhardt, now Ambassador to the Union of South Africa, as Minister to Austria, and Lt. Gen. Geoffrey Keyes, who will retire in October, as High Commissioner. The U.S. occupation forces in Austria will be commanded by Maj. Gen. Leroy Irwin.