851 



Successful operation of family planning programs requires mstitu- 

 tional support. Institutions must be available and equipped to perform 

 research, training, consulting assistance, and evaluation. Funds have 

 been provided since 1965 to tour U.S. institutions to develop expertise 

 in these services. These are the four previously mentioned : Johns Hop- 

 kins, North Carolina, Michigan, and Hawaii Universities. AID be- 

 lieves those developing countries which have population programs 

 ought to have appropriate institutional support, where feasible. Pre- 

 sumably AID intends to expand its field services in this direction. 



With so many government agencies concerned with population pro- 

 grams, a problem of coordination is likely to arise. Recognizing the 

 need for a forum which would air suggestions and comments on 

 world population problems. Secretary Rusk in 1967 suggested the cre- 

 ation of an Interagency Committee on Population Matters. This Com- 

 mittee was duly formed of representatives of the State Department, 

 AID, the Defense Department, HEW, the Interior Department, the 

 Commerce Department, the Labor Department, the Agriculture De- 

 partment, USIA, the Peace Corps, the White House Office of Science 

 and. Technology, the National Science Foundation, the National Acad- 

 emy of Sciences, and the Bureau of the Budget (now the Office of 

 Management and Budget) . A Working Group on Population Matters 

 was set up to coordinate the foreign affairs agencies with an in- 

 terest in this field. It consisted of representatives from State, AID, the 

 USIA, and the Peace Corps. The function of both of these groups was 

 essentially informational — that is, to alert the various agencies of the 

 Government to the nature and scope of the population explosion, so 

 that the departments which might be concerned would think about the 

 problems it posed and the action the United States might take to cope 

 with them. Neither of these bodies is now functioning, and policy coor- 

 dination is the responsibility of the Secretary's Special Assistant for 

 Population Matters, who exercises it through a variety of informal 

 channels. On the other hand, neither of these bodies has been officially 

 terminated.^^ 



The Assistant Administrator of AID for Technical Assistance, 

 within whose jurisdiction AID's Population Office is located, holds 

 conferences twice a year at which Government representatives and 

 those from private organizations interested in the population field ex- 

 change ideas and comment. These conferences serve, at present, as the 

 formal channel for people in the executive branch concerned with the 

 population explosion in the LDCs, and their counterparts in private 

 organizations, to compare notes and coordinate their activities. 



The Congressional Role 



The evolution of U.S. policy toward the food/population equation in 

 the LDCs has been affected by congressional action. Voices were raised 

 in Congress and resolutions introduced on the problem of controlling 

 population growth as early as 1963, at about the time that the 

 highest echelons of the executive branch began to indicate support for 

 programs in this area."® Congress has been responsive to executive 



"8 Conversation with the Office of the Special Assistant to the Secretary of State for 

 Population Matters. 



^Philip Appleman. "The Silent Explosion." (Boston, Beaton Press. 1965), pages 114-6. 



