421. Establishment of Annual Immigration Quotas for Certain Newly Independent States: Announcement Issued by the White House, September 24, 1960 422. Visitors', Quota, and Nonquota Immigrant Visas Issued During Fiscal Year 1960: Announcement Issued by the Department of State, September 26, 1960. 423. Control of Departure of Resident Aliens: Regulations Issued by the Secretary of State and the Attorney General, Effective December 1, 1960 Pages 943 944 944-945 Part 1 PRINCIPLES AND OBJECTIVES OF AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY 1. THE STATE OF THE UNION: Annual Message Read by the President (Eisenhower) Before a Joint Session of the Congress, January 7, 1960 (Excerpts)1 MR. PRESIDENT, MR. SPEAKER, MEMBERS OF THE 86TH CONGRESS, MY FELLOW CITIZENS: Seven years ago I entered my present office with one long-held resolve overriding all others. I was then, and remain now, determined that the United States shall become an ever more potent resource for the cause of peace-realizing that peace cannot be for ourselves alone, but for peoples everywhere. This determination is, I know, shared by the entire Congress-indeed, by all Americans. My purpose today is to discuss some features of America's position, both at home and in her relations to others. First, I point out that for us, annual self-examination is made a definite necessity by the fact that we now live in a divided world of uneasy equilibrium, with our side committed to its own protection and against aggression by the other. With both sections of this divided world in possession of unbelievably destructive weapons, mankind approaches a state where mutual annihilation becomes a possibility. No other fact of today's world equals this in importance-it colors everything we say, plan, and do. There is demanded of us vigilance, determination, and the dedication of whatever portion of our resources that will provide adequate security, especially provide a real deterrent to aggression. These things we are doing. All these facts emphasize the importance of striving incessantly for a just peace. 1Text from the Department of State Bulletin, Jan. 25, 1960, pp. 111-119; see also H. Doc. 241, 86th Cong., and Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1960–61, pp. 3-17. The text as actually read by the President, carried by the major radio and television networks, was an abbreviated version of this document; for the as-delivered text, see the Congressional Record, vol. 106, pp. 135 ff. See American Foreign Policy, 1950–1955: Basic Documents, pp. 57-65. Only through the strengthening of the spiritual, intellectual, economic, and defensive resources of the free world can we, in confidence, make progress toward this goal. Second, we note that recent Soviet deportment and pronouncements suggest the possible opening of a somewhat less strained period in the relationships between the Soviet Union and the rest of the world. If these pronouncements be genuine, there is brighter hope of diminishing the intensity of past rivalry and eventually of substituting persuasion for coercion. Whether this is to become an era of lasting promise remains to be tested by actions. Third, we now stand in the vestibule of a vast new technological age-one that, despite its capacity for human destruction, has an equal capacity to make poverty and human misery obsolete. If our efforts are wisely directed-and if our unremitting efforts for dependable peace begin to attain some success-we can surely become participants in creating an age characterized by justice and rising levels of human well-being. Over the past year the Soviet Union has expressed an interest in measures to reduce the common peril of war. While neither we nor any other free world nation can permit ourselves to be misled by pleasant promises until they are tested by performance, yet we approach this apparently new opportunity with the utmost seriousness. We must strive to break the calamitous cycle of frustrations and crises which, if unchecked, could spiral into nuclear disaster; the ultimate insanity. Though the need for dependable agreements to assure against resort to force in settling disputes is apparent to both sides yet as in other issues dividing men and nations, we cannot expect sudden and revolutionary results. But we must find some place to begin. One obvious road on which to make a useful start is in the widening of communication between our two peoples. In this field there are, both sides willing, countless opportunities-most of them well known to us all-for developing mutual understanding, the true foundation of peace. Another avenue may be through the reopening, on January 12, of negotiations looking to a controlled ban on the testing of nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, the closing statement from the Soviet scientists who met with our scientists at Geneva gives the clear impression that their conclusions have been politically guided. Those of the British and American scientific representatives are their own freely formed, individual and collective opinions. I am hopeful that, as new negotiations begin, truth-not political opportunism-will guide the deliberations. Still another avenue may be found in the field of disarmament, in which the Soviets have professed a readiness to negotiate seriously." They have not, however, made clear the plans they may have, if any, 3 See post, docs. 345 et seq. 'See U.N. doc. GEN/DNT/TWG.2/9, Dec. 19, 1959. 5 See American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1959, pp. 1360–1365. 6 See ibid., pp. 1264 ff. for mutual inspection and verification-the essential condition for any extensive measure of disarmament. There is one instance where our initiative for peace has recently been successful. A multilateral treaty signed last month provides for the exclusively peaceful use of Antarctica, assured by a system of inspection. It provides for free and cooperative scientific research in that continent, and prohibits nuclear explosions there pending general international agreement on the subject. I shall transmit its text to the Senate for consideration and approval in the near future. The treaty is a significant contribution toward peace, international cooperation, and the advancement of science. The United States is always ready to participate with the Soviet Union in serious discussion of these or any other subjects that may lead to peace with justice. Certainly it is not necessary to repeat that the United States has no intention of interfering in the internal affairs of any nation; by the same token we reject any attempt to impose its system on us or on other peoples by force or subversion. This concern for the freedom of other peoples is the intellectual and spiritual cement which has allied us with more than 40 other nations in a common defense effort. Not for a moment do we forget that our own fate is firmly fastened to that of these countries; we will not act in any way which would jeopardize our solemn commitments to them. We and our friends are, of course, concerned with self-defense. Growing out of this concern is the realization that all people of the free world have a great stake in the progress, in freedom, of the uncommitted and newly emerging nations. These peoples, desperately hoping to lift themselves to decent levels of living must not, by our neglect, be forced to seek help from, and finally become virtual satellites of, those who proclaim their hostility to freedom. Their natural desire for a better life must not be frustrated by withholding from them necessary technical and investment assistance. This is a problem to be solved not by America alone, but also by every nation cherishing the same ideals and in position to provide help. In recent years America's partners and friends in Western Europe and Japan have made great economic progress. Their newly found economic strength is eloquent testimony to the striking success of the policies of economic cooperation which we and they have pursued. The international economy of 1960 is markedly different from that of the early postwar years. No longer is the United States the only major industrial country capable of providing substantial amounts of the resources so urgently needed in the newly developing countries. To remain secure and prosperous themselves, wealthy nations must extend the kind of cooperation to the less fortunate members that will inspire hope, confidence, and progress. A rich nation can for a time, without noticeable damage to itself, pursue a course of self-indulgence, making its single goal the material ease and comfort of its own citi zens thus repudiating its own spiritual and material stake in a peaceful and prosperous society of nations. But the enmities it will incur, the isolation into which it will descend, and the internal moral, spiritual, economic, and political softness that will be engendered, will, in the long term, bring it to disaster. America did not become great through softness and self-indulgence. Her miraculous progress and achievements flow from other qualities far more worthy and substantial adherence to principles and methods consonant with our religious philosophy; a satisfaction in hard work; the readiness to sacrifice for worthwhile causes; the courage to meet every challenge; the intellectual honesty and capacity to recognize the true path of her own best interests. To us and to every nation of the free world, rich or poor, these qualities are necessary today as never before if we are to march together to greater security, prosperity, and peace. I believe the industrial countries are ready to participate actively in supplementing the efforts of the developing nations to achieve progress. The immediate need for this kind of cooperation is underscored by the strain in our international balance of payments. Our surplus from foreign business transactions has in recent years fallen substantially short of the expenditures we make abroad to maintain our military establishments overseas, to finance private investment, and to provide assistance to the less developed nations. In 1959 our deficit in balance of payments approached $4 billion." Continuing deficits of anything like this magnitude would, over time, impair our own economic growth and check the forward progress of the free world. We must meet this situation by promoting a rising volume of exports and world trade. Further, we must induce all industrialized nations of the free world to work together to help lift the scourge of poverty from less fortunate nations. This will provide for better sharing of this burden and for still further profitable trade. New nations, and others struggling with the problems of development, will progress only, regardless of any outside help, if they demonstrate faith in their own destiny and possess the will and use their own resources to fulfill it. Moreover, progress in a national transformation can be only gradually earned; there is no easy and quick way to follow from the ox cart to the jet plane. But, just as we drew on Europe for assistance in our earlier years, so now do those new and emerging nations that have this faith and determination deserve help. Over the last 15 years, 20 nations have gained political independence.10 Others are doing so each year. Most of them are woefully lacking in technical capacity and in investment capital; without free 9 See American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1959, p. 1451. 10 See ibid., p. 54, footnote 9. |