Mr. HUGHES. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. EMERGENCIES IN THE DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR SERVICE JUSTIFICATION Senator KILGORE. Proceed, please. Mr. WILBER. The House allowed the $1 million which we requested. With your permission I will file in the record the justification statement (The justification referred to follows:) EMERGENCIES IN THE DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR SERVICE Whenever any Section 107 of title 31 of the United States Code provides as follows: "(Settlement of expenses of intercourse with foreign nations.) sum of money has been or shall be issued, from the Treasury, for the purposes of intercourse or treaty with foreign nations, in pursuance of any law, the President is authorized to cause the same to be duly settled annually with the proper accounting officers of the Treasury, by causing the same to be accounted for, specifically, if the expenditures may, in his judgment, be made public; and by making or causing the Secretary of State to make a certificate of the amount of such expenditure as he may think it advisable not to specify; and every such certificate shall be deemed a sufficient voucher for the sum therein expressed to have been expended." This appropriation is necessary to meet emergency requirements in connection with foreign affairs for which the granting of specific appropriations is not feasible, due to the urgency of requirements in some instances and the confidential character of the purposes for which funds are needed in others. It is essential to the furtherance and protection of the interests of the United States in foreign countries that there should be a fund from which extraordinary expenditures can be made without regard to the ordinary limitations upon the disbursement of Government funds and without the necessity of pubicly reporting the nature of the expenditure, although the expenditures from this appropriation are made with due care and are vouchered and recorded in the same manner as expenditures from other Government appropriations. CONTRIBUTIONS TO INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS STATEMENTS OF DAVID W. WAINHOUSE, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION AFFAIRS; LOY W. HENDERSON, DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARY FOR ADMINISTRATION; HENRY F. HOLLAND, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE; EDWARD B. WILBER, BUDGET OFFICER; AND COL. FRANK A. PETTIT, ARMY, MEMBER, PHOTOGRAPHIC AND SURVEY SECTION, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE JUSTIFICATION Senator KILGORE. What is your next item? Mr. WILBER. The next item is "Contributions for international organizations," for which the House made a reduction of $207,320. We have Mr. Wainhouse here, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for this area, to testify in the matter. The main item which was eliminated by the House was the amount required to pay a past-accrued amount in the assessment for the Pan American Institute, for geography and history. You recall our discussion during the supplemental hearing on that item when it was disallowed by the House. We will speak to that particular organization, with your permission. Senator KILGORE. Before you proceed, the record will show at this point the amendment request and the justifications. (The amendment and justification referred to follows:) CONTRIBUTIONS TO INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS Page 6, line 11, strike out "$28,079,977" and insert "$28,244,608," an increase of $164,631, of which $131,703 shall be for contribution to the Pan American Institute of Geography and History for the period July 1, 1951, to June 30, 1955, as authorized by Public Law 736 approved August 31, 1954. EXTRACT FROM HOUSE REPORT (P. 3 AND 4) "For this item, the committee recommends $28,079,977, a reduction of $207,320 in the amount of the budget estimate and $157,525 below the amount appropriated for contributions to international organizations in the current fiscal year. These funds are for the payment of the United States share of the expenses of the United Nations and its specialized agencies, the inter-American organizations and 12 other international organizations in which the United States participates. "The following table sets forth the amount allowed for each organization: B. Inter-American organizations: 1. American International Institute for the Protection of Childhood.. 2. Inter-American Indian Institute. 3. Inter-American Institute of Agricultural Sciences_ 4. Pan American Institute of Geography and History. 7. Organization of American States_. Subtotal... C. Other international organizations: 2. Cape Spartel and Tangier Light 3. Caribbean Commission 4. International Bureau of the Permanent Court of Arbi- 9. International Hydrographic Bureau_ 10. International Sugar Council 11. International Wheat Council. Subtotal 7. International Bureau of Weights and Measures_ 6. International Bureau for the Publication of Customs 5. International Bureau for the Protection of Industrial 1, 282 1, 767 2, 233 14, 700 8, 175 9, 997 13, 720 26, 264 61, 396 288, 709 JUSTIFICATION 28, 079, 977 The House allowance of $28,079,977 is a reduction of $207,320 in the amount of the budget estimate of $28,287,297. House Report No. 417 indicates this reduction is to apply against (1) the Organization of American States in the amount of $42,689 and (2) the Pan American Institute of Geography and History in the amount of $164,631. The reduction of $42,689 in the amount provided for the Organization of American States is based on action by the Organization subsequent to the submission of the President's budget and will not affect the ability of the United States to meet its assessment to the Organization. Thus, the House action on this item is appropriate. The reduction of $164,631 in the amount provided for the Pan American Institute of Geography and History, however, will preclude the United States from paying the balance of the United States assessments to the Institute for the fiscal years 1952–55 and, in addition, provide only $10,000 toward the United States assessment for 1956 of $42,928. The annual assessment to the United States for the period 1952-55 has been approximately $42,928, but until passage of Public Law 736, 83d Congress, the United States contribution was limited to an amount not to exceed $10,000. This increase was caused by a reorganization in October 1950, of the Institute's program and financing structure which resulted in higher amounts being requested from all member governments in support of the organization. The other major contributors have all increased their contributions retroactive to July 1, 1951. In the case of the United States, legislation was submitted to the 82d Congress on July 17, 1951, and again on January 19, 1953, to raise the $10,000 statutory limitation, and the 83d Congress enacted Public Law 736 on August 31, 1954. Under the terms of Public Law 736 approved August 31, 1954, the Congress authorized (1) the appropriation of $98,775 for the payment of the remainder of its assessed annual contributions for the period beginning July 1, 1951 and extending through the fiscal year expiring June 30, 1954, and (2) a contribution subsequent to June 30, 1954 in an amount not to exceed $50,000 annually. Under the terms of this authority the total amount needed by the United States to meet its assessment in full for the fiscal years 1952-56 is $174,631. It is this amount against which the House Committee on Appropriations has allowed only $10,000. The Pan American Institute of Geography and History is carrying on an inter-American technical program in which the United States is strongly interested and desirous of seeing continued. Major United States Government military cartographic projects in this hemisphere are, for instance, greatly facilitated by the agreements reached at the regular meetings of the Institute, whose publications and other activities have stimulated accelerated map and chart production, on the basis of United States technical standards, at a net saving to this Government. Since the reorganization in 1950, the Institute has been able to conduct its basic operations partially on the basis of the higher contributions and receipt of lumpsum unpaid balances, of other members including the other largest contributors whose shares were also quadrupled because of the amalgamation at that time of the technical commissions into the parent Institute. The amount of $10,000 provided in the House bill, originally fixed in 1935, is no longer realistic for this Government, as it would not meet a fair proportion of the headquarters secretariat expenses, much less of the increased budget resulting from this reorganization ($10,000 is 9 percent of total current assessments, and is less than the quotas paid by Mexico and Brazil). Only through the contribution by the United States of its present pro rata share (42,928 which is 39.41 percent of current assessments and within the limitation set in Public Law 736) can the worthwhile program of the Institute adequately be carried on. Without these funds, the Institute will not be able to continue providing its members governments, including the interested technical agencies of this Government, with the same types of facilities and services which have afforded them numerous practical benefits in the past and concerning which the Department of Defense and other agencies are prepared to testify. In addition, the inability of the United States to meet its share as adopted by this Institute in 1950 would place this Government in a most difficult and embarrassing position as a member of the Institute. While the consequences of such a development cannot be foretold at this time, there seems to be no question but that this Government would decline in prestige from the place of leadership it now occupies in the affairs of this agency. Correspondingly, the constructive working relations between this Government and the other American Republics developed through years of mutually beneficial cooperation, as members of the Institute would be seriously impeded if the United States were to be alone among the members in failing to pay its proportionate share of the expenses of the Institute. The Department would regret this outcome, especially at a time when our general inter-American policies favor the strengthening of ties with Latin America and of the useful technical agencies of the Organization of American States such as this Institute. |