145. Letter From the Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations (Dutton) to Senator Kenneth B. Keating0
Dear Senator Keating: I have your communication of January 111 in which you inquire concerning student exchanges between the United States and the Soviet Union.
The U.S.-U.S.S.R. Exchanges Agreements of January 28, 1958 and November 21, 19592 have provided for exchange of graduate students between the United States and the Soviet Union. This exchange, like the other exchanges provided by the Agreements, is governed by the principle of reciprocity so that Soviet graduate students are received only on the basis that a similar number of American graduate students are received in the Soviet Union under similar conditions. During the current academic year, thirty-six Soviet graduate students are enrolled in American universities while thirty-seven American graduate students have been accepted in Soviet institutions.
The exchange program with the Soviet Union, as you undoubtedly know, is carried out under the provisions of National Security Council [Page 352] directives. Individual exchanges including the graduate student exchange, as well as the program as a whole, are under continuing evaluation to insure that they are in the national interest. We do not feel that the small number of Soviet students involved will deprive any American students of places in our universities, particularly since they are enrolled in special programs at the graduate level. In any case, we believe that the advantages of having a carefully selected group of mature American graduate students, with a good command of the Russian language, enrolled in Soviet universities more than compensates for any disadvantages in having Soviet students in the United States. No other group of American citizens is in a position to come into such close contact with everyday life in the Soviet Union and particularly with an important segment of Soviet society. We consider there are also some advantages in exposing a limited number of future Soviet intellectuals and scientific leaders to life in the United States. Appropriate measures are taken to see that their presence in the United States does not constitute a serious security hazard.
The report in the New York Times of January 2 that the United States and the Soviet Union have permitted the Exchanges Agreement to lapse, may be misleading. The November 21, 1959 Agreement provided for exchanges during the years 1960-1961, a period which is now concluded. It is possible that there will be negotiations on a new exchanges agreement to provide for exchanges during the years 1962-1963 within the next month or two, and preliminary drafts have already been exchanged. In the meantime, those portions of the last Agreement that govern continuing or recurring programs, such as the graduate student exchange, are considered to be still in effect.
If we can be of further assistance please do not hesitate to let us know.
Sincerely yours,