THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 1964.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

CONTRIBUTIONS TO INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

WITNESSES

WILLIAM P. BUNDY, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR FAR EASTERN AFFAIRS

CARTER H. HILLS, INTERNATIONAL ADMINISTRATION OFFICER, BUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION AFFAIRS

ROBERT F. SLUTZ, STAFF ASSISTANT, BUREAU OF FAR EASTERN AFFAIRS

VERNE B. LEWIS, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR BUDGET AND FINANCE

SYDNEY S. CUMMINS, INTERNATIONAL ADMINISTRATION OFFICER, BUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AFFAIRS

Mr. ROONEY. The committee will please come to order. We shall, this afternoon, consider a request for the Department of State under the title "Contributions to International Organizations" in the amount of $1,366,000 to pay U.S. contributions to the costs of the International Control Commission in Laos.

This item is set forth at page 7 of House Document No. 338, which states that this proposed supplemental appropriation is to provide funds for the payment of such contributions for the expense of the International Commission for Supervision and Control in Laos for the period July 1, 1963, to June 30, 1965. The United States has agreed by protocol to the 1962 declaration on the neutrality of Laos to contribute 17.6 percent of the annual operating costs of the Commission. We shall at this point insert in the record the justifications. (The pages follow :)

CONTRIBUTIONS TO INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
(H. Doc. 338)

Appropriation to date (House allowance, H.R. 11134).
Request (for 11 months from August 1964).

PURPOSE AND NEED FOR SUPPLEMENTAL

$87, 168, 000 1,366, 000

No provision for the U.S. contribution to the costs of the International Control Commission in Laos for periods corresponding to the U.S. fiscal years 1964 and 1965 was included in the fiscal year 1965 appropriation request since legislative action on the authorizing bill had not been completed at that time. However, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on July 1, 1964, reported favorably and without amendment on S. 1627 which passed the Senate on July 16, 1963. The bill passed the House on August 12, 1964, and is now waiting Presidential signature.

PURPOSE AND NEED FOR SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION

The amount requested, $1,366,000, consists of a contribution of $683,000 to the International Control Commission for Laos for the period July 1, 1963, to June 30, 1964, and of the same amount ($683,000) for the period July 1, 1964, to June 30, 1965.

INTERNATIONAL CONTROL COMMISSION IN LAOS, VIENTIANE, LAOS

Reason for supplemental

No provision for the U.S. contribution to the costs of the International Control Commission in Laos for periods corresponding to the U.S. fiscal years 1964 and 1965 was included in the fiscal year 1965 appropriation request since legislative action on the authorizing bill had not been completed at that time.

The International Commission for Supervision and Control in Laos, commonly known as the International Control Commission (ICC) was initially established by the 1954 Geneva Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities in Loas. It was terminated in 1958 and reestablished in April 1961 by agreement among the powers then convened in Geneva at the International Conference on Settlement of the Lao Question. Composed of representatives of Canada, Poland, and India its purpose was to supervise and control a cease fire in Laos.

The United States was a participant in the Geneva Conference of 1961-62 and was one of the signatories of the protocol to the Declaration on the Neutrality of Laos (July 23, 1962). The protocol assigned to the ICC in Laos a number of functions, its principal tasks being: (1) To supervise and control and withdrawal of foreign military personnel from Laos; (2) to supervise and control the cease fire in Laos; (3) to investigate cases of illegal introduction of foreign military personnel into Laos; (4) to assist the Government of Laos in cases of illegal introduction of armaments into Laos; and (5) to investigate other possible violations of the provisions of the protocol and the declaration.

Article 18 of the 1962 Geneva Protocol provides for the costs of the ICC. The Governments of Canada, India, and Poland are to pay the personnel salaries and allowances of their delegations and the Lao Government is to provide local serv

ices. All other costs are to be met from a fund to which the signatories are to contribute the following proportions: (1) Communist China, France, U.S.S.R., United Kingdom, and the United States-17.6 percent each; (2) Burma, Cambodia, the Democratic Peoples Republic of (North) Vietnam, Laos, the Republic of (South) Vietnam, and Thailand-1.5 percent each; (3) Canada, India, and Poland-1 percent each.

While the ICC has demonstrated shortcomings, it has played a helpful role in support of the Lao Government and remains the only international peacekeeping machinery in the country.

Computation of estimate

For the costs of the ICC from July 1, 1963, through June 30, 1964, the United Kingdom and the U.S.S.R. as cochairmen of the Geneva Conference of 1961-62 approved a budget of $3,880,600. This estimate was communicated to all signatory States in April 1964 with a request for payment of contributions on the basis of the formula embodied in article 18 of the protocol. The assessment on the United States for the period corresponding to the U.S. fiscal year 1964 is 17.6 percent or $683,000.

It is estimated that the ICC budget to be adopted for the present fiscal year will be roughly the same as for the previous year and that therefore the U.S. assessment for fiscal year 1965 will be the same. This supplement request therefore provides funds to cover the U.S. assessment for the 2 years or a total of $1,366,000.

It should be noted that the Commission negotiated in September 1962 and May 1963 agreements with the United States for the purchase of helicopters to be supplied by the Department of Defense. Payment is scheduled over a 4-year period. The Department fo State acting for the ICC will make payments from the supplemental appropriation to the Department of Defense (amounting to $380,868 in fiscal year 1964 and $380,868 in fiscal year 1965) which will be credited as part of the U.S. contribution to the costs of the ICC for those years. Mr. ROONEY. We have with us this afternoon Mr. William P. Bundy, Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs, who has a prepared statement.

Before you proceed, Mr. Secretary, I might remind the committee that the authorization for the making of this appropriation is the bill which passed the House yesterday on a rollcall vote, previously having passed the Senate, and is now on its way to the White House for Presidential action. You may proceed, Mr. Secretary.

GENERAL STATEMENT

Mr. BUNDY. Mr. Chairman, I might suggest that my statement be entered in the record and I will cover it in short lay language. Mr. ROONEY. The statement will be made a part of the record at this point and you may proceed orally.

(The prepared statement follows:)

STATEMENT BY WILLIAM P. BUNDY

Subject: U.S. contribution to the International Control Commission for Laos. As you know, it is our policy to halt Communist aggression in southeast Asia and we hope to accomplish this by using all political means possible without resort to active hostilities. One of the best existing tools for this purpose is the International Control Commission (ICC) which we believe will continue to play a significant role in Laos. In the critical situation in Laos the ICC is a constructive and useful international mechanism to deter Communist aggression there. We are well aware that in this task it has not been as successful as we would have wished, but we believe it is a continuing deterrent to what otherwise might be extensive Communist activities in Laos. While circumstances and

Pathet Lao obstructionism have prevented the ICC from fulfilling our highest hopes we do not believe the ICC should be scrapped or that we should withdraw our support from it. The ICC is the only existing international mechanism for peacekeeping purposes.

As an example of its usefulness in U.S. eyes the ICC by a majority vote (India and Canada) can and has submitted a series of reports that clearly place the guilt for violations of the 1962 Geneva Agreements upon the Pathet Lao and their supporters from North Vietnam.

The most recent report of the ICC (No. 31 of June 20, 1964) is a majority report (India and Canada) informing the Cochairmen of the serious cease-fire violations in the Plain of Jars in May 1964. This report clearly indicates Communist responsibility for the attack on Kong Le's neutralist troops.

The ICC has also played an important role by offering its "good offices" toward an improvement in the unstable political situation that arises periodically in Vientiane. For example, the ICC, acting with the representatives of the Cochairmen (the British and Soviet Ambassadors in Vientiane), has facilitated meetings between the Prime Minister and leaders of the Pathet Lao faction. This arrangement makes possible continuing contact between the rival factions. By its very presence or by special arrangements it has insured security at various meetings between the rival faction leaders. Not the least of its "good offices" activities are the ICC inquiries into the welfare of the two Americans and other foreign prisoners who are held by the Pathet Lao.

We believe the ICC in Laos contributes a large part to maintaining the independence of the Royal Lao Government. It is therefore important for U.S. interests to keep the ICC alive for both the potential functional as well as the psychological benefits resulting from its activities. By its very presence in the area it helps to maintain the integrity of the country, to keep pressure on the Communists to live up to their responsibilities under the Geneva agreements, and to focus international attention on Communist violations of these agreements. The Department of State feels strongly that the U.S. Government should make its contribution to the expense of the ICC just as soon as possible. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1964, the United States and Communist China are the only two major contributors which have not made any payment toward their assessment.

We are hopeful that agreement of the two Cochairmen can be reached on the fiscal year 1965 estimates so that an assessment may be made for this period at an early date. The budget for this period has been estimated at the same level. Therefore we are requesting an appropriation of $683,000 for fiscal year 1964 and $683,000 for fiscal year 1965 at this time.

Mr. BUNDY. This ICC organization, made up of India, Canada, and Poland, had been in Laos for some time but was renovated and put on a different footing under the 1962 agreement that provided for a government of national union with the three factions in Laos under Prince Souvanna Phouma. This ICC has the major function of policing the observation of those agreements particularly on the military side.

Under the 1962 agreement, as I have stated, the shares were allocated with 17.6 percent to us and to four other major guarantor powers the Soviets, Communist Chinese, French, and British. We have paid our 1963 contribution, fiscal year 1963, on a basis of being allowed to do so as a contribution to an international organization without a formal authorization. Beyond that point, we required an authorization, and the authorizing bill did not go through the House

at the last session.

It finally went through, as you have stated, last night. Perhaps. the members of the committee are familiar with the debate in which Mr. Zablocki explained the purposes and the whole background of the case at some length.

We do not make any bones about this. This is not a perfect organization by a long sight. It has been hampered from the outset by Communist refusal to permit it to operate.

Mr. ROONEY. Are there three Commissioners?

Mr. BUNDY. There are three nationalities and three senior men on the ground. There are about 200 people who are paid for out of this budget and an additional hundred that come out of the national payrolls of the 3 nations.

The Commission has not been able to get into Communist areas to anywhere near the degree we would like-in fact, with no real freedom at all. Nor has it been able to really observe movement and all that kind of thing.

What it has been able to do, though, is to investigate and report whenever there were significant violations on the other side. I would point particularly to its helpfulness in that respect in June of this year. As you know, there was a major Communist offensive in May which caused a situation to which we responded by providing the Lao with T-28's, our own reconnaissance aircraft, and other support. It became very important to get a clear statement of what had happened, that the Communist side was at fault, to refute their propaganda, and so on. This, the ICC did in a two-member report, Canadians and Indians, with the Poles abstaining. That was of great help to us at that point.

In addition, it has provided the major channel for communication. It is a major mechanism for getting back and forth between the opposing forces and for keeping in touch such as it is.

Those are the two principal things it has done. It has also stabilized the situation in Vientiane itself, so when there has been, as occurs occasionally, trouble with some junior officers, and we can understand their motives, the ICC has exerted a helpful and moderating influence. In general, it is part of the policy we are pursuing there. We need the ICC in operation to carry that out, and the amounts before you are required as our contribution to keep it in being.

As I say, it is 17.6 percent of the budget, substantial amounts of that money in fact will go to pay our own Department of Defense for the installments on helicopters we sold to the Commission.

Mr. ROONEY. How much will be paid to the Defense Department? Mr. BUNDY. I do not know the exact amount, sir, but in the total budget the amounts for helicopter payments are about $400,000 or about 10 percent of the total budget of the ICC-$380,000 is the figure. That is it in a nutshell, sir.

Mr. ROONEY. Yesterday it was stated the amount was $379,000.
Mr. BUNDY. $379,000 or $380,000.

Mr. ROONEY. Which is it, or don't you people go in for such specifics?

Mr. BUNDY. It is $379,680 in the budget before me, which is not the final return, but it is the best we now have.

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ACTIVITIES

Mr. ROONEY. Are we to understand that the Department of Defense will get at least $379,000 out of the $1,366,000?

Mr. BUNDY. Actually, this is a 1-year figure, sir.

Mr. ROONEY. Why don't you answer the question?

Mr. BUNDY. The answer is it will get about twice that in the long run; $379,000 is for 1 year's budget, and the amount we are requesting, $781,000, is to cover both 1964 and 1965.