68 



The alie Illative oj a study commission 



Two proposals were offered, one in March by Representative Jacob 

 Javits ^^ and the other in April, by Senators Eugene Millikin and 

 Leverett Saltonstall ^° for the establishment of bipartisan committees 

 to study whether a technical assistance program was needed. Although 

 generally regarded as delaying maneuvers, the proposals are open to 

 various possible interpretations. 



A measure of support was given to the Saltonstall/Millikin bill 

 which would create a commission similar in functions to the Krug 

 and Herter committees which had been established after the war to 

 study the need for the EGA program. The proposed commission would 

 examine all existing laws on the subject, assess the need and chart 

 the course of a future technical assistance program, and suggest 

 additional provisions for guaranteeing private capital and stimulating 

 capital investment in underdeveloped areas. 



Principal siij)port for the proposal of a study commission was based 

 on congressional recognition of deficiencies in the scientific and tech- 

 nical aspects of the administration's program. For instance, Senator 

 Millikin challenged the proposition that the United States possessed 

 the capability to supply technical assistance. He touched upon serious 

 obstacles to social and economic development posed by factors 

 indigenous to the underdeveloped nations. He said in part: 



Do we have a surplus of technical skill available for work in connection with 

 these foreign i)rojects * * *? How much will these programs improve the welfare 

 of foreign countries * * *? We have not begun to commence to start to study 

 the implications of this program * * *. [What will happen in the way of depress- 

 ing food supplies and the harmful dislocations to communal life which will 

 ensue from the introduction of modern technology?] * * * In our programs are 

 we going to deal from government to government, or, where it suits us to do so, 

 are we going to short circuit and go over the heads of the local dictators and chiefs 

 of the countries ***?*** Will the intrusion of these foreign-inspired pro- 

 grams and their operation on the ground accentuate the cleavages between races 

 and classes? * * * Is it not a fact that the development of resource-poor areas 

 may create more economic and social problems than it solves? -^ 



Defeat of the study commission proposal was insisted upon by the 

 Administration and its congressional supporters. However, the views 

 of the proponents of the concept appear to have had considerable 

 validity in the light of the subsec{uent history of the program. 



in. The Role of Technology in Economic Development 



During the past 20 years, U.S. foreign aid programs have taken 

 two main forms: indirect and direct assistance. Indirect assistance, 

 whose objective is to improve the growth potential of an entire 

 national economy, includes such programs as — 

 Removing discriminatoiy trade barriers; 

 Eliminating tariff's to facilitate international trade; and 

 Encouraging private usiness initiative in the underdeveloped 

 areas. 



" Representative Javits introduced liis bill to create a Committee on Foreign Economic Policy to review 

 the situation. His remarks on tliis proposal appear in the Congressional Record (Mar. 30, 1950), p. 4414. 



M This was an amendment to S. 3304. to supplant title V with title VI. See statements of Senators Salton- 

 stall and Millikin, Congressional Record (Amendment of Economic Cooperation Act of 1949, April 1950), 

 passim. 



21 Statement of Senator Eugene D. Millikin. Amendment of Economic Cooperation Act of 1948. Con- 

 sideration on the floor of the Senate. Congiessional Record (May 4, 1950), pp. 6374-6375. 



