<--PREV Doc #2130  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #2132 Document #2131; December 6, 1956 To Heads of Executive Departments and Establishments Series: EM, WHCF, Official File 3 ; Category: Memorandum The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XVII - The Presidency: The Middle Way Part XI: The free world's "sad mess"; October 1956 to January 1957 Chapter 23: What is needed is "a calming influence"   SUBJECT: Hungarian Refugees Pursuant to the authority vested in me by Section 401 of the Mutual Security Act of 1954, As Amended, it is hereby determined that the use of funds, available under said Act, for the purpose of carrying out the program of asylum for refugees from Hungary which was announced by my statement of December 1, 1956, is important to the security of the United States and that assistance to such refugees will contribute to the security of the United States.1 The Department of State, the Department of Defense, the International Cooperation Administration, and any other Executive Agencies which may participate in this program are authorized and directed to take such action and make such expenditures as may be necessary to perform such services and carry out such activities as are requested by my Representative for Hungarian Refugee Relief,2 and to be reimbursed from funds available under said Section for additional costs incurred and not otherwise provided for, to the extent agreed upon between such Agencies and ICA and approved by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget. It is my desire that the program be carried out forthwith and without awaiting completion of arrangements for reimbursements.3 The Director of the International Cooperation Administration is requested on my behalf to give appropriate notices, pursuant to Section 513 of the Mutual Security Act of 1954, As Amended, to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the respective Chairmen of the Senate and House Committees on Armed Services.4 1 On December 1 the President had announced that the United States would offer asylum to an additional 21,500 Hungarian refugees (see no. 2116). Eisenhower had emphasized that "the flight of refugees into Austria had created an emergency problem which the United States should share with the other countries of the free world" (Public Papers of the Presidents: Eisenhower, 1956, pp. 1116-18). 2 The White House had announced on November 30 the appointment of Tracy Stebbins Voorhees (LL.B. Columbia University 1915) to serve as Eisenhower's personal representative to coordinate Hungarian refugee problems. Voorhees, a former Under Secretary of the Army under Truman, had served as defense adviser to the United States mission to NATO from 1953-1954, and continued to serve as consultant to Defense Secretary Wilson. In announcing the appointment, Press Secretary Hagerty had stated that Voorhees's task was to assure full coordination of the various voluntary and government agencies and to make sure that everything possible was being done to help the refugees obtain employment and housing (New York Times, Nov. 30, 1956). 3 In his December 1 statement Eisenhower had directed the Secretary of Defense to work out arrangements for the transportation of the refugees to the United States. On December 6 the White House had announced the completion of arrangements for transporting the refugees by air and sea. 4 For background on John Baker Hollister and the International Cooperation Administration see no. 1402. On the Mutual Security Act of 1954 see Congressional Quarterly Almanac, vol. X, 1954, pp. 275-81. Section 513 required the President to notify Congress of a decision to make use of funds available under Section 401 (Special Funds) in the security interests of the United States (see United States Statutes at Large, 1954, vol. 68, pt. 1, pp. 832-64. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. Memorandum To Heads of Executive Departments and Establishments, 6 December 1956. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 2131. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/first-term/documents/2131.cfm <--PREV Doc #2130  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #2132

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