Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XIII, Western Europe Region

199. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations (MacArthur) to Secretary of State Rusk¹

Washington, September 1, 1966.

SUBJECT

• Informal Conversations with Senators Kuchel and Dirksen regarding Senator Mansfield’s Resolution Calling for a Reduction of US Forces in Europe²—Information Memorandum

Senator Kuchel:

I had a good personal talk with Senator Kuchel this morning regarding the Mansfield resolution, explaining that we had not been consulted on its contents, timing, or indeed its introduction on the floor of the Senate. I said the resolution was a very bad one and would create major problems for us in NATO which was already suffering from General De Gaulle’s withdrawal. Furthermore, it would cause difficult problems for Chancellor Erhard who would be visiting the US later this month. I explained that for several months at closed NATO meetings, you and other US representatives have been stressing the theme that there cannot be a double standard whereby the US is expected to meet agreed force goals but other NATO members need not meet theirs. The introduction of this resolution would most certainly be exploited by the Gaullists to prove their contention that the US was not dependable and also lead to charges of unilateral US action that further undermined NATO. Finally, the resolution would not be a helpful backdrop for the talks you would be having with Gromyko in New York later this month at the UN General Assembly.³

With respect to Senator Mansfield’s suggestion that the resolution be put on the consent calendar with no committee hearings, I pointed out that the April 1951 resolution, calling for the sending of troops to Europe,⁴ had been considered by the Senate Armed Services Committee and that there were over 800 pages of published testimony of those Committee hearings. I summarized by saying that the resolution was damaging to US national interests. While under any circumstances it would be damaging because of its timing, the resolution was even more harmful because it made absolutely no reference to NATO consultations or to a reciprocal reduction of forces by the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe.

Senator Kuchel said he agreed and did not like the resolution. He thought it absurd that the sponsors had not mentioned NATO consultation and also required the Soviet Union to reciprocate by reducing their forces in Eastern Europe. He said that while the Department might not have been notified by Mansfield, he had assumed from what Mansfield said while introducing the resolution that the President had been fully consulted and had not disapproved. I said that while I could not undertake to speak for the President, I personally felt certain that the President had not been consulted on the contents or the timing of the introduction of the resolution.

Senator Kuchel said that it was also absurd for the sponsors to ask that the resolution be put on the consent calendar. It was particularly nonsensical to suggest that this resolution, which was one of great import, did not need to be examined by committee when as a general practice the Senate referred the most trivial resolutions to committee and the original 1951 resolution had been thoroughly aired in committee.

The Senator said he wanted to help and asked whether on a personal and private basis there were any Administration papers or remarks that I could pass to him without attribution. I replied that my conversation with him was personal and that while there were no papers that I could give him, I did want him to know our views because of the serious damage to our national interests that passage of the resolution might entail.

Senator Kuchel said he fully understood and appreciated very much my call. He was determined to see the resolution be sent to committee and he would try to be helpful in defeating or modifying it. He suggested that we have another talk the middle of next week if there were any new developments.

Senator Dirksen:

I also talked to Senator Dirksen along the same lines as I had talked to Senator Kuchel, stressing the damage that the resolution could do in our relations with NATO and the Germans and the comfort it could give to the Soviet Union which would not fail to exploit it along with other elements unfriendly to the US such as the Gaullists. Senator Dirksen said he agreed. He had met with his Republican colleagues this morning on this subject and enjoined them “to stay off this resolution” and not to hold any press conferences on the subject. He would renew this advice.

1. Source: Department of State, S/S Files: Lot 74 D 164. Confidential; Limit Distribution. Drafted by MacArthur. The source text bears the notation “for Pres Evening Reading.” Copies were also sent to Ball, Leddy, and Johnson.
2. For text of the Mansfield resolution (S. Res. 300), August 31, see The Congressional Record, 1966, Senate, p. 21442.
3. At his September 8 press conference, President Johnson addressed the question of troop strength in Europe, saying that he was aware of the sense of the Senate on this issue, but that it could not be solved by Senate resolutions. (Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966, pp. 998–999)
4. S. Res. 99, 82d Congress.