501.MA Palestine/1–2549
The Secretary of Defense (Forrestal) to the Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (Bloom)1
Dear Mr. Bloom: Your Committee has pending before it a legislative proposal recently submitted by the State Department with respect to Palestine refugees. On behalf of the National Military Establishment I should like to strongly recommended the enactment of this legislation.
Many reports from Brigadier General William Riley, U.S.M.C., who is the Senior U.S. Military Observer, as well as the Chief of Staff of the UN Mediator, Dr. Ralph Bunche, indicate that the situation of the [Page 698] refugee is a major obstacle in the path toward peace in Palestine. The presence of almost a half million refugees in various areas of the Middle East not only constitutes a serious threat to the political, economic and social stability of this important region, but seriously endangers the health and welfare of the peoples of the Arab States and Israel. This unhealthy condition also menaces American civilians and military personnel who are present in these countries.
Such a measure would be wholly consistent with the traditional humanitarian role of the United States in cases of major disaster and calamity among the peoples of other lands. Moreover, the Joint Chiefs of Staff are of the opinion that it is militarily important to provide timely and generous aid to these refugees in order to remove the serious threat to the stability of this area which their present plight creates.
To alleviate this dangerous situation our assistance must be prompt and generous and we have every reason to believe that it will be efficiently administered by our American Ambassador, Stanton Griffis, who has been appointed as the UN Director of Relief. I therefore urge early consideration and passage of the proposed legislation.
This office has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that this legislation and this report are in accord with the program of the President.
Sincerely yours,
- Apparently Secretary Forrestal sent an identical letter to Tom Connally, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. He transmitted a copy of his letter to Chairman Bloom on January 25 to the Secretary of State.↩