EXTENSION OF UNRRA RELIEF FOR ITALY TUESDAY, JULY 10, 1945 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D.C. The committee met in executive session at 10:30 a.m., Hon. Sol Bloom (chairman) presiding. Chairman BLOOM. We are meeting now informally, but in executive session, to go into a matter that is very important. We want to see what we can do, and we want to get the right information as to what is going to be done and what can be done, as well as what cannot be done, with reference to the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) situation. You know that Mr. Dirksen [of Illinois] is insisting upon an investigation of UNRRA, and other people are talking about the same thing. Representative McCormack, as you know, the majority leader, spoke to me yesterday, and we decided that we wanted to go into the matter. Mr. McCormack, will you kindly tell the committee what is on your mind with reference to Italy? STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN W. McCORMACK, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS, HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER Mr. McCORMACK. I shall be very glad to. I have had called to my attention, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, and representatives of the executive branch departments who are here, a situation which, if substantially correct in whole or in part, is one that is going to stare us in the face in the near future in relation to Italy. It impresses me as a most distressing one at the present time. It is my understanding, based upon information that I have received and I would like to find out if the information I received 1 Members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 79th Congress, 1945-46: Democrats: Sol Bloom, New York, Chairman; John Kee, West Virginia; James P. Richards, South Carolina; Joseph L. Pfeifer, New York; Pete Jarman, Alabama; Wirt Courtney, Tennessee; Thomas S. Gordon, Illinois; Emily Taft Douglas, Illinois; James W. Trimble, Arkansas; Helen Gahagan Douglas, California; Joseph F. Ryter, Connecticut; Mike Mansfield, Montana; A. S. J. Carnahan, Missouri; and Thomas E. Morgan, Pennsylvania. Republicans: Charles A. Eaton, New Jersey; Edith Nourse Rogers, Massachusetts; Robert B. Chiperfield, Illinois; John M. Vorys, Ohio; Karl E. Mundt, South Dakota; Bartel J. Jonkman, Michigan; Frances P. Bolton, Ohio; James W. Wadsworth, New York; Charles L. Gerlach, Pennsylvania; Lawrence H. Smith, Wisconsin; and Chester E. Merrow, New Hampshire. Boyd Crawford, clerk. 71-567-76- -8 is correct-that practically all the supplies now being furnished to the people of Italy are through the military, known as military supplies. They are supplied to the people behind the lines to keep them quiet and to keep epidemics down. It is my understanding that UNRRA does not apply to Italy and that the only immediate relief is through what is termed, or might be termed, the military supplies. FEARS ITALIAN CRISIS AND POSSIBLE U.S. REACTION Of course, if that military source of supplies is cut off-and with UNRRA not being applicable at the present time-unless some new relief supply system is devised, we are liable to be faced with a situation which would be extremely distressing over there and have a bad reaction in our own country. The information I get is that unless something is done the effect will be disastrous. It is my understanding that in the Balkans and in eastern Russia UNRRA applies. Italy is still considered a cobelligerent, and does not have access to UNRŘA. Mr. JOHNSON. Is that the reason that they do not have access—the fact that they are a cobelligerent? Mrs. DOUGLAS of Illinois. UNRRA has been applicable for mothers and children and the sick. STATEMENT OF HON. DEAN ACHESON, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR CONGRESSIONAL RELATIONS Mr. ACHESON. Under the UNRRA resolutions, UNRRA cannot operate in an enemy or ex-enemy country. Those are the words. It has nothing to do with cobelligerency; it is "enemy." That is the law. Without the permission of the Council of UNRRA, which is a meeting of the representatives of all the countries which have joined UNRRA no such aid can be given. That is in the fundamental document which the Congress approved.2 EXISTING UNRRA AID TO ITALY At the meeting in Montreal we put forward a resolution under which $50 million was set aside by UNRRA for the relief of children and expectant and nursing mothers, and the care of displaced persons, such as refugees, in Italy. That program is going forward and is being administered by UNRRA in Italy. Mr. JOHNSON. To what classes is that restricted? Mr. ACHESON. Children, expectant and nursing mothers, and refugees within the country-$50 million. That was approved in Montreal. Chairman BLOOM. Refugees is a sort of broad term. Mr. ACHESON. People homeless and driven from one part of the country to another. Mr. McCormack is quite right. There is a serious situation in Italy. At the present time the Italians' essential imports of food and cloth 2 H.J. Res. 192, 78th Congress, to enable the United States to participate in the work of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Organization, Public Law 267, March 28, 1944 (58 Stat. 122). The UNRRA Council's second meeting took place at Montreal in September 1944. Its decision to provide $50,000,000 for Italian medical and other relief marked the first such gesture toward a former enemy by the United Nations. ing and the various materials that they have to have are financed by the Army, requesting from the Foreign Economic Administration (FEA) the necessary funds, which it may do under the law, and the necessary materials, and FEA procures those materials and turns them over to the Army. They are then distributed under the supervision of the Allied Control Commission. Now, there is in the present FEA budget, the lend-lease budget, $100 million for Italy; that is, it is not earmarked as such, but it is included in the funds which went to make up the lend-lease appropriation which was recently passed on the 30th of June. Those funds, it is estimated, will carry the Italian supply situation along until some time late in the fall. It may carry them until the end of the year, or it may carry them until some time in November. ITALY'S LONG-TERM AID NEEDS; TEMPORARY LEND-LEASE HELP In order to carry Italy through the harvest of 1946 it would take approximately, using rough figures, $500 million; that is, to care for the essential imports of materials into Italy-food, coal, clothing, and such essential raw materials as are necessary to get employment started in some way in Italy. Mr. JOHNSON. What about this $100 million that you said is included in the bill? Will that be available? If so, when? Mr. ACHESON. That is available now, and that will carry the Italian program through to an undetermined period which may end in November or may go through to the end of the year. Mr. JOHNSON. Is that under UNRRA or lend-lease? Mr. ACHESON. That has nothing to do with UNRRA at all. That is in the appropriation which was made to FEA for the purpose of carrying on the act of March 11, 1941. Chairman BLOOM. If the $100 million will last only to the end of this coming fall, the $50 million will not do much good. Mr. ACHESON. The $50 million should not be regarded as funds which are used or available for the general import program of Italy. That is a special relief program. Chairman BLOOM. It is for relief? Mr. ACHESON. It is for relief, but it is a special program to a special and limited class of people. CONGRESSIONAL ROLE Now, getting down to the heart of Mr. McCormack's situation, unless something is done, there will develop a very serious situation, indeed, toward the end of this year. That has been foreseen and plans are being made to deal with it. Those plans require consultation with the Congress. Chairman BLOOM. That is what we are here for. That is what we want to know. We want to know it quickly, because if we are going to do anything we just cannot wait. The idea behind this investigation was to find out what UNRRA is doing. People are starving, and if anything is to be done, we do not want the Congress blamed. What would you suggest this committee should recommend to the Congress? Mr. ACHESON. Before going into that I would like to inform the committee that the President has appointed Mr. Clayton as the American representative on the Council of UNRRA, and Mr. Clayton is here, and I think that he would perhaps rather pick up the story at this point. Chairman BLOOM. I thought that I would have both of you come. When Mr. Acheson leaves the track then Mr. Clayton can jump on. STATEMENT OF HON. WILLIAM L. CLAYTON, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR ECONOMIC AFFAIRS Mr. CLAYTON. That is right. Mr. Acheson is much more familiar with the UNRRA situation than I am. I think that he had better carry on, and if you want to ask any questions I shall be glad to answer them. Chairman BLOOM. I thought that you might do it together, a sort of duet. We want the facts. We want to do something. If not, something is going to blow up around here. Mr. KEE. UNRRA can function with the consent of the Council. Mr. ACHESON. Yes, the Council is going to meet on August 7 in London. A meeting has been called and will take place on August 7 of this year. A MULTILATERAL UNRRA AID PROGRAM PREFERRED Now, in trying to work out the Italian situation it seemed to all the branches of the executive branch of the Government that have been working on this, that the most desirable way to deal with Italy is through UNRRA, and to get the Council to extend its operations so as to include supplies to Italy. There are other ways in which it could be done. You could have a truly American relief organization which could get some money from the Congress; Congress would give the money to it, and it would deal with Italy. We think that is not as desirable as doing it through UNRRA, because if you go through UNRRA, the United States will bear two-thirds of the cost instead of 100 percent. In addition, we already have UNRRA's setup. This is what it is set up to do. Its staff is broken in now. It knows how to go about the work. It has established relations with FEA, and we can go forward better through UNRRA than to set up something new. Therefore, it has seemed best to the FEA, the War Department, the State Department, and the various people working with the problem that we should take up with the Council, meeting in London on August 7, the proposition that UNRRA should extend its operations: to Italy, and, if necessary, to Austria and other adjacent areas that may need relief. APPROPRIATIONS ROLE FOR CONGRESS Mr. JOHNSON. To do this, Mr. Secretary, it is not necessary, is it, that there be any legislative action? Mr. ACHESON. There is something Congress ought to do, but it does not have to do it exactly at this moment. If UNRRA extends its opera tions to Italy, that will put a very large additional burden upon UNRRA. It will not be possible to get the Council to agree to extend its operations to Italy with its present funds because that simply means that operations somewhere else will have to stop. There is not enough money to go forward and finish through the harvest of 1946 all the obligations of UNRRA and take on Italy in addition. In fact, there is not enough money in UNRRA to go through the harvest of 1946 without Italy, so that it will be necessary to come to the Congress again and ask for additional funds. Therefore, before going to the Council meeting on the 7th of August in London, it is necessary for Mr. Clayton, as the American representative, to have a pretty clear idea of whether the Congress of the United States will give UNRRA more money, (a) for Italy, and (b) for additional operations in other UNRRA countries. Mr. JOHNSON. It will be necessary to have authorization for this appropriation, or is the authorization sufficiently large? Mr. ACHESON. No, it will be necessary to have an additional authorization and an extension of time. Under the existing law the authorization is limited to $1,350 million, and it expires on the 30th of June 1946. It would be necessary to have the period extended and the amount increased. Mr. JOHNSON. That means that this committee will have to report out some legislation? Mr. ACHESON. Yes. TIMING OF CONGRESSIONAL ACTION Chairman BLOOM. If you are going to this Council and ask them to extend UNRRA to Italy and other places, do you not think that you should have the legislation beforehand? If we suggest that it be done and cannot get the appropriation, do you not think that would place us in an embarrassing position? Mr. ACHESON. It would be highly desirable to do that. I understood it would be difficult to get legislation before this House adjourns. I do not think it is essential to do that if in talks with you, the Speaker, the majority leader, and the leaders of the Appropriations Committee Mr. McCORMACK. And the minority leaders. Mr. ACHESON. If Mr. Clayton were told that he could go ahead with safety on this route, then there would be time to appropriate additional money and give additional authorization in the fall, because UNRRA can go ahead using its funds now under the rate of shipment which is possible at the present time, in view of the deployment of our troops. UNRRA can give everything it can ship for the rest of this year with its existing funds, but then UNRRA will have committed all its funds by the end of this year, and if it is to go on with Italy and to go on with this other program, it must have more funds which will be called upon somewhere in the early spring. That is the situation. Chairman BLOOM. If you make the suggestion to the Council in London, does that have to be by unanimous vote? Mr. ACHESON. No, that will be just by a majority vote. |