166. Memorandum From the Director of the United States Information Agency (Shakespeare) to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)1
SUBJECT
- Modernization of Voice of America Transmitting Facilities
The transmitting facilities of the Voice of America are becoming increasingly obsolescent and unable to match the technical capability of broadcasts from the Communist word. We therefore request consideration of capital funds in the order of $75 million to be spent over the next few years to construct the necessary new transmitting facilities.
The Voice of America provides the only direct, uncensorable, overt channel of the U.S. Government to the peoples and leaders of those countries where the free flow of information is restricted or prohibited. At times of crisis the Voice provides a uniquely useful service.
To achieve maximum effectiveness the Voice must not only be audible but the audience must hear the signal as easily and reliably as the signals of our competitors. The Voice is falling seriously behind the rest of the world in its ability to deliver a competitive signal, especially to the most important targets of East Europe, Russia and China. The Voice has too few transmitters with which to combat the jamming. The rest of the world is building at a very rapid rate. For example, Russia is well along in construction of four massive new transmitting facilities. Their new antennas are significantly more powerful than our best.
Prior to World War II, 50-kilowatt transmitters were among the most powerful for shortwave broadcasting. When the Voice started a [Page 426] building program in the late fifties in order to catch up with the competition which had continued to build while the Voice sat still during the early fifties, it pioneered the development of 250-kilowatt transmitters. In 1962 there were nineteen such transmitters in the world, fourteen at the Voice of America, four Voice of America transmitters which had been purchased by Radio Liberty, and one Communist Chinese. By 1968 there were 52 transmitters, 32 of which were U.S. There are now 185 high powered transmitters—all operated by their respective governments. The Voice has 45, Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe each have four, making a U.S. total of 53. The Communists have 71. Our information indicates that approximately 100 new high power transmitters are under construction or actively planned, many of them of 500-kilowatts or better, of which only nine 250-kilowatts are ours. The last VOA appropriation for new shortwave transmitters was in fiscal 1964 when the construction of the facility at Kavala, Greece was begun.
High power is necessary due to the chaos existing in the shortwave frequency bands. Shortwave broadcasting by all the countries of the world has increased 25% in the last decade. There are now about 1300 transmitters located throughout the world which result in an average of two transmitters on each frequency simultaneously. At peak hours and to highly important targets there may be as many as three or four transmitters on the same frequency. Only the strongest signal will get through. The others will be drowned out. I therefore consider it essential that the Voice of America power be significantly increased.
Our three oldest, most obsolete plants are in Okinawa, Tangier and Munich—the latter using transmitters captured from the Germans in World War II.
Okinawa is the most urgent since the Reversion Treaty2 requires us to relocate by May 1977. The tone of debate in the Diet indicates that there is little chance of obtaining a reversal or even a delay. The Japanese have agreed to pay us $16 million, the cost of duplicating the old station. However, we need modern high power transmitters if we are to put a competitive signal into Northern China and Asiatic Russia. We have, therefore, proposed to the OMB that we seek an agreement [Page 427] with South Korea and construct a modern plant. This would require an additional $20 million.
Due to the potential instability in Morocco, I believe that rather than modernize the plant in Tangier we should build a new one in either Portugal or Spain. The cost, $25 million, would be about the same as modernizing Tangier. The modernization of our plant in Germany would be approximately $20 million.
While these three transmitter facilities are of the highest priority, there are three or four others, including some in the United States, requiring improvement which we should have in order to make our signal competitive throughout the world.
The state of the art, particularly in high power transmitting tubes, has so advanced that it appears feasible to construct a superpower transmitter—10 times more powerful than current transmitters. We believe that the Russians are now experimenting in this field and that we at an early point should consider building and operating such a new generation transmitter. The cost would be about $10 million.
However, we should first concentrate on the highest priority—replacement of the obsolete.
Even with the most friendly countries, experience has shown that negotiating a relay station agreement is a long, arduous and sometimes expensive undertaking. It should not be commenced without assurance that if an agreement is obtained the necessary funds will be provided. Experience also indicates that it takes about five years from beginning negotiations until the transmitters are functioning.
These capital funds—in the order of $75 million—loom so large compared to our regular operating budget of $200 million that it is very difficult to get approval through the normal budgetary channels.
I therefore request that we be authorized to seek the necessary agreements with foreign governments so that when and if such agreements are obtained we will be able to request funds through the normal procedures.
I believe this project to be urgent and of unique importance to our national interest.
- Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 306, Agency Files, Voice of America. Secret. Kissinger initialed the top right-hand corner of the memorandum. Shakespeare sent the memorandum to Kissinger under an undated handwritten note, commenting: “Henry—There is a closely held report on transmitter construction in the USSR that is very relevant to this memo. F.” (Ibid.) Attached as Tab B to a March 16 covering memorandum from Sonnenfeldt to Kissinger, in which Sonnenfeldt stated that Shakespeare had asked for “authorization to discuss with foreign governments plans for replacement and modernization of VOA facilities that will be necessary over the next several years. The cost, he estimates, will be about $75 million. He is not asking for the money yet, but only wants to have conducted some negotiations with the host countries in advance.” Sonnenfeldt continued: “I see no problems with this, except that your reply should not be construed as an approval of the funds. (I am trying to run down the ‘intelligence’ Shakespeare refers to in his covering note.).” He requested that Kissinger sign an attached memorandum, dated March 18. In the March 18 memorandum to Shakespeare, Kissinger noted: “Your plans for modernization create no problems that I am aware of.” (Ibid.)↩
- Presumable reference to the Okinawa Reversion Treaty. During World War II, United States forces captured the Ryukyu and Daito Islands; under the 1951 Peace Treaty, the United States assumed responsibility for the islands. In November 1969, Nixon and Japanese Prime Minister Sato announced an agreement that reversion negotiations would take place. On June 17, 1971, U.S. and Japanese officials signed the “Agreement Between the United States of America and Japan Concerning the Ryukyu Islands and the Daito Islands” both in Washington and in Tokyo. On November 10, the Senate, by an 84–6 roll call vote, ratified the Reversion Treaty (Exec. J, 92nd Cong., 1st sess.), which returned control of the Ryukyu and Daito Islands to Japan. The reversion subsequently took place on May 15, 1972. (Congress and the Nation, vol. III, 1969–1972, pp. 878–879)↩