246. Letter From Secretary of Commerce Hodges to President Johnson1
Dear Mr. President:
Following your instructions to seek additional funds for the commercial specialist program of the Foreign Service, Secretary Rusk and I have personally appealed to the Senate Appropriations Committee for the addition of one million dollars to State’s budget. The fact that State earlier claimed no increase in its personnel makes it desirable that you call Senator McClellan to indicate your approval of this change in State’s budget. Deputy Under Secretary Crockett of State and Tom Wyman of my staff have detailed the request to the Senator this week, justifying the specific needs and the posts to which the new officers would be assigned.
For your use, the $1 million would permit assigning 37 new U.S. officers overseas in addition to the existing 149; 15 of the 37 officers would be assigned to posts where there are no commercial officers; we would also add 100 local and 8 U.S. clerical assistants. As you know, without these new officers our successful export drive simply cannot be sustained.
Respectfully yours,
P.S. The Senate Subcommittee mark-up of the State Department appeal will start today.3
- Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 40, Secretary of Commerce Files: FRC 69 A 6828, White House, July–August. No classification marking. Drafted by Behrman and Wyman.↩
- Printed from a copy that indicates Hodges signed the original.↩
- On an August 6 transmittal memorandum from Wyman to Hodges, attached to the source text, Hodges wrote out the postscript, which in slightly amended form became the typed postscript to this letter.↩