55. Memorandum From the Administrator of the Agency for International Development (Gaud) to President Johnson1
SUBJECT
- FY 1967 Foreign Assistance Appropriations Act2
The Conference on the Foreign Assistance Appropriations Act for FY 1967 met this afternoon and completed its work in 45 minutes.
The amounts appropriated for Foreign Assistance Act activities, compared with the budgets requests, are: [Page 160]
| Budget Request | Appropriation | |
| (in millions of dollars) | ||
| Economic | $2,469 | $2144 |
| Military | 917 | 792 |
| TOTAL | $3,386 | $2,936 |
The $2,936 million, which is the same total as the Senate bill, is the lowest appropriation for foreign assistance since FY 1958. It is clear from our talks with Senator Pastore that if the House conferees had tried harder (the House bill was $110 million higher than the Senate bill), we could have done better.3
We are particularly squeezed in four appropriation categories:
| Budget Request | Appropriation | |
| (in millions of dollars) | ||
| Development Loans | $665 | $500 |
| Supporting Assistance (including Vietnam) | 747 | 690 |
| Contingency Fund | 70 | 35 |
| Military Assistance | 917 | 792 |
One other item of significance. The conferees agreed (a) to amend Section 205 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 so that it will permit—rather than require—the transfer of 10% of Development Loan funds to the World Bank family4 and (b) to drop the annual prohibition in the Appropriations Act on the use of load funds for transfer to the World Bank family.
- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Subject File, Foreign Aid [1 of 3], Box 16. Limited Official Use. A handwritten note on the source text by Rostow reads: “OK W”↩
- P.L. 89–691 was approved on October 5, 1966. (80 Stat. 1018)↩
- At the end of this paragraph a handwritten notation by President Johnson reads: “Why didn’t you and your people live with these conferees? L”↩
- Section 205 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended in P.L. 89–579, approved on September 16, 1966. (80 Stat. 797)↩