Speech #930290647

President. I ask the proponent of the amendment whether he is aware of the statement that was made by the American Ambassador in Saigon when he was asked about what should be the contribution of aid and assistance by the United States. in its support of South Vietnam. as compared with the contributions that would be made by the Chinese and the Soviet Union to North Vietnam. He indicated. as shown in a cable that we placed in the proceedings of the Subcommittee on Refugees. that he "would completely agree that our intention all along was to balance the aid being given by the Soviet Union and the Peoples Republic of China to North Vietnam." And he "thought we should give material and trainingto Saigonto match that being given to North Vietnam by the Soviets and the Chinese." Mr. President. when you consider what the whole direction. what the trend has been over the period of recent yearscertainly in the last 3 yearsyou find. according to Defense Intelligence Agency estimates. that there has been a dramatic decline in military assistance being provided North Vietnam by the Soviet Union as well as by the Chinese. and that there has been a slight reduction in economic aid as well. As a matter of fact. the Defense Intelligence Agency estimates that in 1973 there was eight times as much military aid to Indochina provided by the United States as that provided by the U.S.S.R. and China.