Statement by the President Urging the Congress To Appropriate Requested Foreign Aid Funds.

I URGE the Congress to appropriate foreign aid funds of a magnitude as close as possible to the original request--a request which in the opinion of both President Eisenhower and myself represented the minimum amount necessary to meet our basic commitments and responsibilities in the years ahead.

The fight for freedom throughout the world is in a climactic hour. The developing nations of the world--and especially of our own hemisphere--are engaged in an urgent effort to bring a better life to their people. They are looking to the United States as their only hope for leadership and assistance in this effort. For they realize, as do we, that their failure will inevitably bring the dissolution of democratic governments and greatly increase the threat of the Communist advance.

The countless billions of dollars which we spend for essential military defenses will, in the long run, be unable to ensure our security if we lose the battle to demonstrate to the hungry and impoverished of all lands that free and independent nations have the capacity to meet our basic needs. We must not lose this battle.

Therefore, I again ask the Congress for the tools to carry on this vital task.