THE WHITE HOUSE STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP89B00552R000700060042-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 12, 2002
• Sequence Number: 42
• Publication Date: March 29, 1967
• Content Type: STATEMENT

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IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH 29, 1967
Office of the White House Press Secretary
THE pTTSYTt' T-Tr-tiTTQ''M
STATFMIL'NT DY THE PRESIDENT
I ; ve received the report from the committee which I appointed an February 15
to review relationships between the Central Intelligence Agency and private
American voluntary organizations. This committee consisted of Under
Secretary of State Nicholas Katzenbach, as Chairman, Secretary of Health,
Education, and Welfare John Gardner, and CIA Director Richard Helms.
I accept this committee's proposed statement of policy and am directing all
agencies of the government to implement it fully.
We will also give serious consideration to, the committee's recommendation
"that the government should promptly develop and establish a public-private
mechanism to provide public funds openly for overseas activities of organiza-
tion ,s which are adjudged deserving, in the national interest, of public 'support."
T'a review concrete ways of accomplishing this objective, I am requesting
Secretary Rusk to serve as chairman of a special committee which will include
resentatives from the Executive, the Congress, and the private community.
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Dear Mr. President:
The committee which you appointed on February 15, 1967 has sought,
pursuant to your request:
--To .review relationships between government agencies, notably the
Central Intelligence Agency, and educational and private voluntary organiza-
tions which operate abroad; and
-- To recommend means to help assure that such organizations can
play their proper and vital role abroad.
The committee has held a number of meetings, interviewed dozens of individual:
in and out of government, and reviewed thousands of pages of reports. We
have surveyed the relevant activities of a. number of federal agencies. And
we have reviewed in particular and specific detail the relationship between
CIA and each, relevant organization.
Our report, supplemented with supporting classified documents, follows.
n summary, the committee offers two basic recommendations: .
1. It- should be tl e policy of the United States Government that no federal
agencry shall provide any covert financial assistance or support, direct or
indirect, to any of the nation's educational or private voluntary organizations.
2. The Government should promptly develop and establish a public-private
mechanism to provide public funds openly for overseas activities of organization
which are adjudged deserving, in the na tonal interest, of public support.
l: ANEWPOLICY
The years immediately after World War II saw a surge of communist activity
in organizations throughout the world. Students, scientists, veterans,
women and professional groups were organized into international bodies
which spoke in the cadences, advocated the policies, and furthered the interests
of tkate communist bloc. Much of this activity was organized, directed, and
financed covertly by communist governments.
American organizations reacted from the first. The young men and women
who founded the United States National Student Association, for example, did
so precisely to give American youth the capacity to hold their own in the
international arena. But the importance of students as a force in international
events had yet to become widely understood and NSA hound it difficult to
attract private support for its international activities. Accordingly, the United
States Government, acting through the Central Intelligence Agency, provided
support for this overseas work.
We have taken NSA as an example. While no useful purpose would be served
by detailing any other CIA programs of assistance to private American voluntary
organizations, one fundamental point should be clearly stated: such assistance
was given pursuant to National Security Council policies beginning in October,
1951 and with the subsequent concurrence of high-level senior interdepartmental
review cetmmittees. in the last four Administrations. 'En December, 1960, in a
classified report submitted after a year of study, a public-private ?residential.
Comrni i:c e on Informdation Activities Abroad specifically endorsed both overt
and covert programs, including those assisted. by CIA..
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Ouur study, undertaken at a later time, discloses new developments which
suggest that we should now re-examine these policies. The American public.,
for example, has become increasingly aware of the importance of the complex
forms of international competition between free societies and communist
-x,a renn s has grown, so have potential sources of support
for the overseas work of private organizations.
There is no precise index to these sources, but their increase is suggested
by the growth in the number of private foundations from 2, 220 in 1955 to
18, 000 in 1967. Hence it is increasingly possible for organizations, like
NSA to seek support for overseas activities from open sources.
.just as sources of support have increased, so has the number of American
groups engaged in overseas work. According to the Agency for International
Development, there has been a nine-fold increase just among voluntary
organizations which participate in technical assistance abroad, rising from
24 in 1951 to 220 in 1965. The total of all private American voluntary groups
now working overseas may well exceed a thousand.
The numb e..r of such organizations which has been assisted covertly is a
small fraction of the total. The vast preponderance have had no relationship
with the government or have accepted only open government funds -- which
greatly ex:ceed funds supplied covertly.
The work.. of private American organizations, in a host of fields, has been of
great?beaefit to scores of countries. That benefit must not be impaired by
foreign doubts about. the independence of these organizations. The committee
believes; it is essential for the United States to underscore that independence
immediately and decisively.
For these reasons, the committee recommends the following:
STATEMENT OF POLICY
No federal agency shall provide any covert financial assistance
or support, direct or indirect, to any of the nation's educational
or private voluntary organizations. This policy specifically
applies to all foreign activities of such organizations and it
reaffirms present policy with respect to their domestic activities.
Where such support has been given, it will be terminated as
quickly as possible without destroying valuable private organizations
before they can seek new means of support.
We believe that, particularly in the light of recent publicity, establishment
of a clear, policy of this kind is the only way for the government to carry out
two important responsibilities. One is to avoid any implication that govern-
mental assistance, because it is given covertly, is used to affect the policies
of private voluntary groups. The second responsibility is to make it plat:..n
all foreign countries that the activities of private American groups abroad
are, in fact, private.
The committee has sought carefully to assess the impact of this Statement of
Policy on CIA. We have reviewed each relevant program of assistance ca-ied
out by the Agency in case - by-case detail. i Asa result of this scrutiny, the
corn mittee is satisfied that application of the Statement of Policy "will not
unduly handicap the Agency in the exercise of its national security responsibil-
ities, Indeed, it should be noted that, starting well before the appearance of
',On the basis of our case-by-_case review, we expect that the process
of termination can be largely -- perhaps entirely -- completed by December
1967.
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recent publicity, CIA had initiated and pursued efforts to disengage from
certain of those activities.
The committee also recommends that the implementation of this policy be
supervised by the senior interdepartmental review committee which already
passes on proposed CIA activities and which would review and assist in the
process of disengagement.**
2: NEW METHODS OF SUPPORT
While our first recommendation seeks to insure the independence of private
voluntary organizations, it does not deal with an underlying problem --- how
to support the national need for, and the intrinsic worth of, their efforts
abroad.
Anyone who has the slightest #amailiarity with intellectual or youth groups
abroad knows that free institutions continue to be under bitter, continuous.
attack, some of it carefully organized and well-financed, all of it potentially
dange rous' to this nation.
It is of the greatest importance to our future and to the future of free institu-
tions everywhere that other nations, especially their young people, know and
understand American viewpoints. There is no better way to meet this need
than through the activity of private American organizations.
The time has surely come for the
Y government to help support such activity
in a mature,,, open manner,
Some progress toward that aim already has been made. In recent years, a
number of federal agencies have developed contracts, grants, and other forms
of open assistance to private organizations for overseas activities. This
assistance, however, does not deal with a major aspect of the problem. A
number of organizations cannot, without hampering their effectiveness as
independent bodies, accept funds directly from government agencies.
The committee therefore recommends that the Government should promptly
develop and establish a public-private mechanism to provide public funds
openly for overseas activities of organizations which are adjudged deserving,
in the national interest, of public support.
I
** If the Statement of Policy is to be effective, it must be rigorously
enforced. In the judgment of this committee, no programs currently would
justify any exception to this policy. At the same time, where the security of
the nation may be at stake, it is impossible for this committee to state
categorically now that there will never be a contingency in which overriding
national security interests may require an exception -- nor would it be
credible to enunciate a policy which purported to do so.
We therefore recommend that, in the event of such unusual contingencies,
the inte rdepartmental review committee be ermined to make exceptions
to the Statement of Policy, out only where ove rridinnational se
interests so rec~uir . only on a case-by-case basis; only where open sources
of support are shown to be unavailable; and only when such exceptions
receive the specific approval of the Secretari4s of State and Defense. In no
event should any future exception be approved which involves any educational,
philanthropic, or. cultural organization.
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Such a mechanism could take various forms. One promising proposal,
advanced by Mr. Eugene Black, calls for a publicly funded but privately
administered body patterned on the British Council.
The British Council established in 19:34, operates in 80 countries dmic~-
iste ring approximately $30, 000, 000 annually for reference libra, as,
exhibitions, scholarships, international conferences, and cults. al
exchanges. Because 21 of its 30 members are drawn from private life, the
Council has maintained a reputation for independence, even though 90 percent
of its funds are governmental.
According to the UNESCO Directory of Cultural Relations Services, other
nations have developed somewhat similar institutions. The Indian Council
for Cultural Relations, for example, is entirely government-financed but
operates autonomously. The governing body of the Swedish Institute for
Cultural Relations consists of both government and private members. This
institute receives 75 percent of its funds from the government and the
remainder from private contributions.
The experience of these and other countries helps to demonstrate the
desirability of a similar body in the United States, wholly. or largely
funded by the federal government. Another approach might be the establish-
ment of a governmental foundation, perhaps with links to the existing Federal
Inter-Agency Council on International Education and Cultural Affairs.
Such a public-private body would not be new to the United States. Congress
established the Smithsonian Institution, for example, more than a century
ago as a private corporation, under the guardian-ship of Congress, but
governed by a mixed public-private Board of Regents.
The committee began a preliminary study of what might be the best method
of meeting the present need. It is evident, however, that, because of the
,treat range both of existing government and private philanthropic programs,
1ie refinement of alternatives and selection among them is a task of
considerable complexity. Accordingly, we do not believe that this exclusively
governmental committe is an appropriate forum for the task and we recommend,
instead, the appointment of a larger group, including individuals in private
life with extensive experience in this field.
'be basic principle, in any eve nt, is clear. Such a new institution would
.involve government funds. It might well involve government officials. But a
premium must be placed on the involvement of private citizens and the
.xxrcise of private judgments, for to be effective, it would have to have -- and
be recognized to have -- a high degree of independence.
The prompt creation of such an institution, based on this principle, would
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'. fill an important -- and never more apparent -- national need.
Re spe ctfully,
/s/ John W. Gardner
'Secretary of
Health, Education and Welfare
/s/
Richard Helms
Director of
Central Intelligence
/s/ Nicholas de B. Katzc.n.bach
Under Secretary of State,
Chairman
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