Statement by the President Upon Signing Bill Relating to the World Food Congress.

UNDER the authority of S. 3679, which I have just signed, the United States will be the host nation, June 4-18, 1963, to the World Food Congress of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

At the World Food Congress, the more than 100 member countries of FAO and the United Nations will be invited to report their progress in the current world-wide Freedom From Hunger Campaign of the FAO, and to plan for further improvement of the food and nutrition of the peoples of the world for the years ahead.

The World Food Congress will also commemorate the 20th anniversary of the founding of FAO at Hot Springs, Virginia, in 1943. The United States, which initiated the founding meeting, is a charter member of FAO, and will arrange special ceremonies for this observance.

Under the American system of agriculture, our farmers produce an abundance which is a marvelous technical achievement, and at the same time a mighty weapon in the war against hunger.

The United States has used this abundance to combat hunger abroad, and to provide nations striving to develop their economies with the means of improving the health and vigor of their citizens.

The Food for Peace program is the dramatic and tangible expression of our belief that permanent economic progress is possible--that through voluntary cooperation every country in the free world can achieve a self-supporting economy that provides a decent standard of living for each citizen.