Editorial Note
In a letter of November 24 to the Chairmen of the Senate Committees on Foreign Relations and on Armed Services and the House Committees on Foreign Affairs and on Armed Services, President Truman announced his conclusion that it was essential to use up to $16 million of funds appropriated for the Mutual Defense Assistance Program to provide food for Yugoslavia in an amount equivalent to the immediate food requirements of the Yugoslav armed forces. The President’s letter characterized the Yugoslav drought, consequent crop failure, and imminent famine as a development which seriously affected the security of the North Atlantic area and which weakened the ability of Yugoslavia to defend itself against aggression. A White House background statement which accompanied the President’s letter as released to the press, outlined the stopgap program of emergency aid to Yugoslavia totaling approximately $33,500,000 for food purchases and delivery, involving the Economic Cooperation Administration, the Export-Import Bank, and Mutual Defense Assistance Program funds. For the text of the President’s letter of November 24 and the accompanying background statement, see Department of State Bulletin, December 4, 1950, pages 879–880. The text of the President’s letter is also included in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Harry S. Truman, 1950, page 718.
A pamphlet prepared by the Department of State and issued by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on November 27 (House Committee on Foreign Affairs, 81st Cong., 2d Sess., Yugoslav Emergency Food Assistance Program (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1950)) reviewed the importance of Yugoslavia to American foreign policy, described the background of the Yugoslav drought and the American program for relief, pointed to the need for legislative action, presented the texts of the principal diplomatic exchanges in October and November with the Yugoslav Government regarding the aid program, described economic organization and policies in Yugoslavia, presented tables on the American relief program, and included a record of votes by the United States, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia on certain political items in the U.N. Fifth General Assembly and a chronology of “moves of Yugoslavia away from Kremlin toward the West.”
In a message to the Congress on November 29, President Truman recommended passage of legislation authorizing further emergency aid of $38 million for famine relief in Yugoslavia. For the text of the President’s message, see Department of State Bulletin, December 11, 1950, pages 937–938, or Public Papers of the Presidents of the United [Page 1508] States: Harry S. Truman, 1950, pages 721–722, or Documents on International Affairs, 1949–1950, pages 503–505.
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs held formal hearings in open and executive sessions on November 28 and 29. Witnesses heard by Committee included Assistant Secretary of State George Perkins; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Omar N. Bradley; President of the Commodity Credit Corporation Ralph S. Trigg; Stanley Andrews, Director of the Office of Foreign Agricultural Relations of the Department of Agriculture; and John J. Haggerty, agriculture attaché at the Embassy in Belgrade. For the record of this testimony and other statements and information submitted to the Committee, see Yugoslav Emergency Relief Assistance Act of 1950: Hearings before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, 81st Cong., 2d Sess., on H.R. 9853 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1950). For the text of the prepared statement by Assistant Secretary Perkins at the beginning of his testimony, see Department of State Bulletin, December 11, 1950, pages 938–940. A draft bill on emergency relief assistance to Yugoslavia (H.R. 9853) was introduced on December 5, and the following day the Committee voted to report the bill favorably with amendments; see Yugoslav Emergency Relief Assistance Act of 1950: Report of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, 81st Cong., 2d Sess., on H.R. 9853 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1950). The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held formal public hearings on the legislation on December 4 and an executive session on December 5. A draft bill on emergency relief assistance to Yugoslavia (S. 4234) was approved by the Committee on December 6; see Emergency Relief Assistance to Yugoslavia: Report by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, 81st Cong., 2d Sess., on S. 4234 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1950). The Senate version of the proposed legislation was passed on December 11, and the House version was passed on December 13. A Senate–House Conference Committee reconciled differences in the two bills on December 15, and the Conference Report was approved by the House on December 18 and by the Senate on December 19. For the text of the legislation, approved by President Truman on December 29, Public Law 897, 81st Cong., 2d Sess., entitled “Yugoslav Emergency Relief Act of 1950,” see Department of State Bulletin, February 12, 1951, page 277, or Documents on American Foreign Relations, volume XII, 1950, pages 627–629, or 64 Stat. 1122.
On January 6, 1951, at Belgrade, Ambassador George V. Allen and Yugoslav Foreign Minister Edvard Kardelj signed an agreement regarding the provision of foodstuffs by the United States Government to Yugoslavia in accordance with the provisions of the Yugoslav Emergency Relief Assistance Act of 1950. For the text of the agreement, see Department of State Bulletin, January 22, 1951, pages 150–151; [Page 1509] 2 UST 757; TIAS No. 2146; 93 UNTS 39. Telegraphic exchanges between the Department of State and the Embassy in Belgrade regarding the conclusion of the agreement in late December 1950 and early January 1951 are included in Department of State file 868.03.