Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume II, Organization and Management of U.S. Foreign Policy, 1969–1972

160. Memorandum by the Chairman of the Under Secretaries Committee (Irwin)¹

NSC–U/DM 71

Washington, August 5, 1971.

TO

The Deputy Secretary of Defense

The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs

The Director of Central Intelligence

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

The Under Secretary of Treasury

The Assistant Director, Office of Management and Budget

The Director, U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency

The Administrator, Agency for International Development

SUBJECT

• Establishment of Security Assistance Program Review Committee

In order to advise and assist the Secretary of State in the discharge of his statutory responsibilities for the Security Assistance Program, I believe we should establish an interagency group to be designated the Security Assistance Program Review Committee. Under existing delegations of authority from the Secretary of State, I will serve as Executive Chairman of the Committee until passage of the pending legislation and the formal appointment of the Coordinator for Security Assistance in the Department of State.

The Committee will operate under the following terms of reference in advising and assisting the Chairman:

• —to review FY 1973 country² program plans and make recommendations for approval or changes.
• —to make recommendations on all outstanding policy issues involving Security Assistance goals and objectives, resource allocation and proposed budgetary levels.
• —to provide guidance for such post-FY 1973 planning efforts as may be required to insure effective cooperation and coordination among participating agencies.
• —to prepare a recommended FY 1973 and subsequent fiscal years budgetary submissions to the Office of Management and Budget.³

Representatives of the following Agencies and Departments are being asked to participate in the Committee’s work: State, Defense, JCS, AID, the NSC Staff, ACDA, CIA, OMB, Treasury and Commerce. We hope each of you will serve but will also designate an alternate. Until the Coordinator is appointed, Mr. Ronald I. Spiers, Director of the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs in the Department of State will serve as my alternate. Please communicate the name of your alternate to Mr. Spiers.

John N. Irwin II

1. Source: National Archives, RG 59, S/S–NSDM Files: Lot 83 D 305, NSDM 112. Confidential. The memorandum was rescinded and a revised memorandum issued on August 20. (Ibid.) The revisions, proposed to Rogers by Haig in an August 16 memorandum (ibid.) and agreed to on August 19 (see Document 162), are noted in footnotes 2 and 3.
2. In the revised memorandum the words “security assistance” were added after “country.”
3. In the revised memorandum a new paragraph was inserted following this term of reference: “In cases of countries for which Country Program Memoranda have been approved in accordance with the procedures of NSDM 112, the Country Program Memoranda will serve as the basic guidance for preparation of the Security Assistance Program.” (National Archives, RG 59, S/S–NSDM Files: Lot 83 D 305, NSDM 112)