Remarks on the 20th Anniversary of the Inter-American Defense Board

General, gentlemen:

I want to express my great pleasure at welcoming you to the White House on the occasion of your 20th anniversary.

As you know, I have been and this Government is extremely interested in building stronger and stronger ties between the countries of this hemisphere. I consider it our most direct responsibility. And therefore this Board, which I feel plays a most important part in binding us closer together and providing the kind of security behind which a more happy life can be provided for our people, this work is most vital.

As the General said, the kind of aggression which we were threatened with 20 years ago, when the Board was rounded, is different from the kind of aggression and subversion which threatens the hemisphere today. We meet new techniques--though the general threat in a sense is unchanged. But these new techniques require the most sophisticated, informed judgments; it requires a knowledge far beyond the usual technical subjects which occupy so much of our military studies, requires a knowledge of political, social, and economic conditions, requires a knowledge of the past as well as the future--so that this is a great challenge for us all. And I am delighted, therefore, to welcome you here.

I am particularly interested in the resolutions which you have passed to make more effective use of our military forces for social work, economic work--the kind of work that our engineers do and the kind of work your engineers do.

Also I want you to know that we are putting great emphasis on the Inter-American Defense College at fort McNair, which we are giving strong support to and which I think can serve as an admirable center for a study of the methods by which the new aggression can be countered.

So, gentlemen, you are most welcome-on behalf of yourselves and your own work and on behalf of our sister Republics which you represent.