The committee is assured that the greatest care will be taken to avoid taking any action which could be regarded as an infringement on the sovereignty of either country.

PROPOSED ACTION AN AID IN PRESERVATION OF PEACE

On the basis of the information it has received during the bearings, the committee is convinced that the proposed action would be an effective measure toward the preservation of peace. It would tend to strengthen the stability and to support the independence of two countries which lie between the east and the west. If the constitutional systems of Greece and Turkey should be overthrown, if these two countries should be deprived of their independence and their peoples of their liberties, political disorder and economic chaos might well be expected in other countries on the Mediterranean, in the Near and Middle East, and even in Europe. World peace would be in extreme danger in an atmosphere of the kind which would be created. On the other hand, the reestablishment and maintenance in Greece and Turkey of political and economic security would not only tend to prevent disintegration in neighboring areas but would have a powerfully encouraging influence upon all regions of the world now suffering from the disorganization, fears, and uncertainties which serve as breeding grounds for wars.

*

227. AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR ASSISTANCE TO GREECE AND TURKEY, MAY 22, 1947.1

Whereas the Governments of Greece and Turkey have sought from the Government of the United States immediate financial and other assistance which is necessary for the maintenance of their national integrity and their survival as free nations; and Whereas the national integrity and survival of these nations are of importance to the security of the United States and of all freedomloving peoples and depend upon the receipt at this time of assistance; and Whereas the Security Council of the United Nations has recognized the seriousness of the unsettled conditions prevailing on the border between Greece on the one hand and Albania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia on the other, and, if the present emergency is met, may subsequently assume full responsibility for this phase of the prob lem as a result of the investigation which its commission is currently conducting; and

Whereas the Food and Agriculture Organization mission for Greece recognized the necessity that Greece receive financial and economic assistance and recommended that Greece request such assistance from the appropriate agencies of the United Nations and from the Governments of the United States and the United Kingdom; and Whereas the United Nations is not now in a position to furnish to Greece and Turkey the financial and economic assistance which is immediately required; and

1 Public Law 75, 80th Congress, 1st session.

Whereas the furnishing of such assistance to Greece and Turkey by the United States will contribute to the freedom and independence of all members of the United Nations in conformity with the principles and purposes of the Charter: Now, therefore,

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, the President may from time to time when he deems it in the interest of the United States furnish assistance to Greece and Turkey, upon request of their governments, and upon terms and conditions determined by him

(1) by rendering financial aid in the form of loans, credits, grants, or otherwise, to those countries;

(2) by detailing to assist those countries any persons in the employ of the Government of the United States; and the provisions of the Act of May 25, 1938 (52 Stat. 442), as amended, applicable to personnel detailed pursuant to such Act, as amended, shall be applicable to personnel detailed pursuant to this paragraph: Provided, however, That no civilian personnel shall be assigned to Greece or Turkey to administer the purposes of this Act until such personnel have been investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation;

(3) by detailing a limited number of members of the military services of the United States to assist those countries, in an advisory capacity only; and the provisions of the Act of May 19, 1926 (44 Stat. 565), as amended, applicable to personnel detailed pursuant to such Act, as amended, shall be applicable to personnel detailed pursuant to this paragraph;

(4) by providing for (A) the transfer to, and the procurement for by manufacture or otherwise and the transfer to, those countries of any articles, services, and information, and (B) the instruction and training of personnel of those countries; and (5) by incurring and defraying necessary expenses, including administrative expenses and expenses for compensation of personnel, in connection with the carrying out of the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 2. (a) Sums from advances by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation under section 4 (a) and from the appropriations made under authority of section 4 (b) may be allocated for any of the purposes of this Act to any department, agency, or independent establishment of the Government. Any amount so allocated shall be available as advancement or reimbursement, and shall be credited, at the option of the department, agency, or independent establishment concerned, to appropriate appropriations, funds or accounts existing or established for the purpose.

(b) Whenever the President requires payment in advance by the Government of Greece or of Turkey for assistance to be furnished to such countries in accordance with this Act, such payments when made shall be credited to such countries in accounts established for the purpose. Sums from such accounts shall be allocated to the departments, agencies, or independent establishments of the Government which furnish the assistance for which payment is received, in the same manner, and shall be available and credited in the same manner, as allocations made under subsection (a) of this section. Any portion

of such allocation not used as reimbursement shall remain available until expended.

(c) Whenever any portion of an allocation under subsection (a) or subsection (b) is used as reimbursement, the amount of reimbursement shall be available for entering into contracts and other uses during the fiscal year in which the reimbursement is received and the ensuing fiscal year. Where the head of any department, agency, or independent establishment of the Government determines that replacement of any article transferred pursuant to paragraph (4) (A) of section 1 is not necessary, any funds received in payment therefor shall be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts.

(d) (1) Payment in advance by the Government of Greece or of Turkey shall be required by the President for any articles or services furnished to such country under paragraph (4) (A) of section 1 if they are not paid for from funds advanced by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation under section 4 (a) or from funds appropriated under authority of section 4 (b).

(2) No department, agency, or independent establishment of the Government shall furnish any articles or services under paragraph (4) (A) of section 1 to either Greece or Turkey, unless it receives advancements or reimbursements therefor out of allocations under subsection (a) or (b) of this section.

SEC. 3. As a condition precedent to the receipt of any assistance pursuant to this Act, the government requesting such assistance shall agree (a) to permit free access of United States Government officials for the purpose of observing whether such assistance is utilized effectively and in accordance with the undertakings of the recipient government; (b) to permit representatives of the press and radio of the United States to observe freely and to report fully regarding the utilization of such assistance; (c) not to transfer, without the consent of the President of the United States, title to or possession of any article or information transferred pursuant to this Act nor to permit, without such consent, the use of any such article or the use or disclosure of any such information by or to anyone not an officer, employee, or agent of the recipient government; (d) to make such provisions as may be required by the President of the United States for the security of any article, service, or information received pursuant to this Act; (e) not to use any part of the proceeds of any loan, credit, grant, or other form of aid rendered pursuant to this Act for the making of any payment on account of the principal or interest on any loan made to such government by any other foreign government; and (f) to give full and continuous publicity within such country as to the purpose, source, character, scope, amounts, and progress of United States economic assistance carried on therein pursuant to this Act.

SEC. 4. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation is authorized and directed, until such time as an appropriation shall be made pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, to make advances, not to exceed in the aggregate $100,000,000, to carry out the provisions of this Act, in such manner and in such amounts as the President shall determine.

(b) There is hereby authorized to be appropriated to the President not to exceed $400,000,000 to carry out the provisions of this Act. From appropriations made under this authority there shall be repaid to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation the advances made by it under subsection (a) of this section.

SEC. 5. The President may from time to time prescribe such rules and regulations as may be necessary and proper to carry out any of the provisions of this Act; and he may exercise any power or authority conferred upon him pursuant to this Act through such department, agency, independent establishment, or officer of the Government as he shall direct.

The President is directed to withdraw any or all aid authorized herein under any of the following circumstances:

(1) If requested by the Government of Greece or Turkey, respectively, representing a majority of the people of either such nation;

(2) If the Security Council finds (with respect to which finding the United States waives the exercise of any veto) or the General Assembly finds that action taken or assistance furnished by the United Nations makes the continuance of such assistance unnecessary or undesirable:

(3) If the President finds that any purposes of the Act have been substantially accomplished by the action of any other intergovernmental organizations or finds that the purposes of the Act are incapable of satisfactory accomplishment; and

(4) If the President finds that any of the assurances given pursuant to section 3 are not being carried out.

SEC. 6. Assistance to any country under this Act may, unless sooner terminated by the President, be terminated by concurrent resolution by the two House of the Congress.

SEC. 7. The President shall submit to the Congress quarterly reports of expenditures and activities, which shall include uses of funds by the recipient governments, under authority of this Act.

SEC. 8. The chief of any mission to any country receiving assistance under this Act shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall perform such functions relating to the administration of this Act as the President shall prescribe.

Approved May 22, 1947.

228. REPORT OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS ON TREATIES OF PEACE WITH ITALY, RUMANIA, BULGARIA, AND HUNGARY, MAY 15, 1947 (EXCERPT) '

The Committee on Foreign Relations, having had under consideration the treaties of peace with Italy, Rumania, Bulgaria, and Hungary, signed at Paris on February 10, 1947, unanimously report all four treaties favorably and recommend that the Senate advise and consent to their ratification.

MAIN PURPOSE OF THE TREATIES

The main purpose of the peace treaties is to formally bring to an end the legal state of war which still exists between the Allied and Associated Powers on the one hand and Italy, Rumania, Hungary, and Bulgaria on the other. The treaties will also settle many economic, political, and military questions still outstanding as a result of the war and will form the basis of friendly relations among these states in the future.

U. 8. Congress, Senate. Executive Report No. 4, 80th Congress, 1st session.

NEGOTIATION OF THE TREATIES

When the heads of Government of the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union met in Potsdam in July 1945 they agreed that the first step toward the reestablishment of peace should be the preparation of treaties of peace with Italy, Rumania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Finland, and that the task of preparing these treaties should be given to the Council of Foreign Ministers which, in turn, would submit them to the United Nations. The Council of Ministers met in London in September 1945, and in Moscow in December of the same year. From January to April 1946 the Council's deputies continued the work of preparation of treaty texts and the Ministers resumed their meetings in April and again in June in 1946 in Paris. Throughout these discussions the United States delegation insisted that not only the great powers but all nations which actively participated in the European war should have a voice in making the peace with Italy and the Axis satellite states.

In consequence of American initiative a Peace Conference was convened in Paris, which lasted from July 29 to October 15, 1946, during the course of which the 21 invited nations were given every opportunity to make their views known regarding the kind of peace they wished to see established. The recommendations of this Conference were then transmitted to the Council of Foreign Ministers, which completed the final drafting in New York in November and December 1946. Out of the 53 Peace Conference recommendations adopted by the Paris Conference by at least two-thirds majority, 47 were incorporated with little or no change in the final text approved by the Council. In all respects the recommendations of this Conference provided the basis for final agreement and without them no peace settlement could have been achieved. Consequently, they represent the composite judgment of those nations whose fighting forces made victory possible.

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE TREATIES

A complete summary of the treaty provisions is contained in the annex to this report. It is sufficient here to summarize their major accomplishments and briefly to deal with the subjects covered.

In the first instance they represent an important first step toward the restoration of peace, order, and stability. Stability and peace can only be achieved as uncertainty is removed. Until the treaties enter into force the armistice regimes continue with their restrictions upon the sovereignty and independence of these states, leaving open the opportunity for further interference in their internal affairs.

The conclusion of the peace treaties, furthermore, constitutes a necessary preliminary to the admission of these states to the United Nations. Once admitted upon an equal status to membership, they subscribe to the principles of the Charter and have an equal voice with other nations in the settlement of problems relating to their peace, security, and future welfare.

These treaties will result in the withdrawal of Allied forces from Italy and Bulgaria and the reduction of occupation garrisons in Rumania and Hungary to the level required only for the maintenance of lines of communication. Freed from the burden of occupation forces, these states can apply themselves to the urgent task of reconstruction lying ahead of them.