844 



The extent to which congressional convictions have crystallized 

 concerning the importance of assistance to underdeveloped countries 

 in the field of population control can be found in the Foreign Assist- 

 ance and Related Appropriations Act of 1971, PL 91-619. In making 

 assistance available to multilateral organizations, including a specific 

 amount for the U.N. Children's Fund, that law provides that no part 

 of the appropriation is to be used to initiate any project or activity 

 which has not been justified to the Congress, "except projects or activ- 

 ities relating to the reduction of population growth." In an era when 

 Congress is concerned with reasserting its constitutional role in the 

 conduct of foreign policy it seems significant that it should be willing 

 to exempt from its oversight international projects for checking 

 population growth. 



U.S. POLICT TODAY 



In July 1969 President Nixon became the first President to send 

 Congress a message dealing explicitly with the subject of population. 

 It was, he said, a problem the world could not ignore; the United 

 Nations and its specialized agencies and other international bodies 

 should take the lead in responding to world population growth. He 

 pledged full U.S. cooperation with any U.N. efforts, but also pointed 

 out that the United States could help, and was helping, efforts initiated 

 by other governments. He noted that he had asked the Secretary of 

 State and the Administrator of AID to give population and family 

 planning "high priority for attention, personnel, research, and fund- 

 ing among our several aid programs." ^^- The Secretaries of HEW 

 and Commerce and the Directors of the Peace Corps and the U.S. 

 Information Agency were also asked to give close attention to popu- 

 lation matters in planning their overseas operations. The President 

 further declared that all U.S. efforts in this area should give additional 

 recognition to the important resources of private organizations and 

 university research centers. Finally, he called upon other nations to 

 enlarge their efforts to assist family planning and population 

 programs. 



The attention given by the President to the subject demonstrates 

 its new importance in U.S. foreign policy. From a minor element in 

 the foreign aid program it has risen to very high priority. Its import- 

 ance is also confirmed by the number of other agencies besides AID 

 involved in U.S. efforts to help contain population growth in the 

 LDCs. 



U.S. Agencies with Overseas Population Programs 



As overseas interests of the Federal Government have extended to 

 population matters, various agencies of the executive branch have 

 established programs to collect information, to devise policy, and to 

 establish relationships abroad. Demographic studies have long been 

 conducted in the Census Bureau and the Department of Labor of 

 comparative statistics from overseas. Some sociological research in 

 foreign areas has been sponsored in recent years by the Department 

 of Defense — with arrangements for coordination by the Department 

 of State. However, the brunt of U.S. operational concern in foreign 



'« U.S. Agency for International Development. "Population Program Assistance." (Wash- 

 ington, D.C. October 1969), page 14. 



