POINT FOUR PROGRAM


847


purposes of the Title as effectively as would participation in compar-
able programs on a bilateral basis." A total of $35,000,000 is author-
ized for the technical assistance program during the next fiscal year
including amounts neededlto carry on the existing work being done
by the Institute for Inter-American Affairs and activities pertaining
to economic development.now..being conducted under Public Law 402
  (Smith-Mundt Act).4 The full-amount authorized has been requested
  and !hearings have been held before the Senate Appropriations Com-
  mittee. It is anticipated that an appropriation-will be included in the
  omnibus appropriation bill now under consideration in the Senate.

                       LEGISLATIVE BACKGROUND
  1. On July 12, 1949 Judge John Kee, Chairman of the House
  Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced a Bill, H.R. 5615, to authorize
  participation in a technical :cooperation program, as one method of
  carrying out the Point IV objective outlined by the President in his
  Inaugural speech.5- Shortly thereafter Representative Herter, Repub-
  lican, introduced a bill emphasizing the role of private capital in the
  economic development process and authorizing a very limited range
  of technical assistance activities on a purely bilateral basis by the
  United-States Government. Assistance would have been available only
  to countries which signed rigid investment treaties with the United
  States, assuring .our investors of favorable treatment in those coun-
  tries. Hearings were held on both bills during the latter part of the
  first session of the 81st Congress. The hearings.developed an almost
unanimous support of the general concept involved in Point IV but
considerable differences as to the best method of achieving the ob-
jectives. Representatives of a number of business groups, especially
the Foreign Trade Council, felt thatprimary reliance should be placed
on the provision of capital and that technical assistance in all but a
few fields should be supplied by private investors. Witnesses testify-
ing on behalf of the administration and other groups took the ,position
that the Government itself could usefully undertake a considerable
amount of technical assistance and that there were many important
fields such as public ,health, agriculture, education and public admin-
istration, where Government agencies were particularly equipped to
participate. They emphasized,, however, the importance of utilizing

   "United States'Information and Educational Act of 1948" (January
27, 11948)';
62 Stat. 6.
   There is an extensive documentation on the Department of State's preparation
of thislegislation in the Consolidated D'epartmental Committee Lot File,
Lot 122,:
Box 33 (15584). 'An important !collection of background information was
assembled in a "Preparation Book on Point IV," prepared for the
Set of
Sgtate at the time that Congressional hearings were initiated.