Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Congress of the United States: 

The gravity of the situation which confronts the world today necessitates my
appearance before a joint session of the Congress. The foreign policy and the
national security of this country are involved.


One aspect of the present situation, which I wish to present to you at this
time for your consideration and decision, concerns Greece and Turkey.


The United States has received from the Greek Government an urgent appeal for
financial and economic assistance. Preliminary reports from the American
Economic Mission now in Greece and reports from the American Ambassador in
Greece corroborate the statement of the Greek Government that assistance is
imperative if Greece is to survive as a free nation.


I do not believe that the American people and the Congress wish to turn a deaf
ear to the appeal of the Greek Government.


Greece is not a rich country. Lack of sufficient natural resources has always
forced the Greek people to work hard to make both ends meet. Since 1940, this
industrious and peace loving country has suffered invasion, four years of
cruel enemy occupation, and bitter internal strife.


When forces of liberation entered Greece they found that the retreating
Germans had destroyed virtually all the railways, roads, port facilities,
communications, and merchant marine. More than a thousand villages had been
burned. Eighty-five per cent of the children were tubercular. Livestock,
poultry, and draft animals had almost disappeared. Inflation had wiped out
practically all savings.


As a result of these tragic conditions, a militant minority, exploiting human
want and misery, was able to create political chaos which, until now, has made
economic recovery impossible.


Greece is today without funds to finance the importation of those goods which
are essential to bare subsistence. Under these circumstances the people of
Greece cannot make progress in solving their problems of reconstruction.
Greece is in desperate need of financial and economic assistance to enable it
to resume purchases of food, clothing, fuel and seeds. These are indispensable
for the subsistence of its people and are obtainable only from abroad. Greece
must have help to import the goods necessary to restore internal order and
security, so essential for economic and political recovery.


The Greek Government has also asked for the assistance of experienced American
administrators, economists and technicians to insure that the financial and
other aid given to Greece shall be used effectively in creating a stable and
self-sustaining economy and in improving its public administration.


The very existence of the Greek state is today threatened by the terrorist
activities of several thousand armed men, led by Communists, who defy the
government's authority at a number of points, particularly along the northern
boundaries. A Commission appointed by the United Nations security Council is
at present investigating disturbed conditions in northern Greece and alleged
border violations along the frontier between Greece on the one hand and
Albania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia on the other.


Meanwhile, the Greek Government is unable to cope with the situation. The
Greek army is small and poorly equipped. It needs supplies and equipment if it
is to restore the authority of the government throughout Greek territory.
Greece must have assistance if it is to become a self-supporting and
self-respecting democracy.


The United States must supply that assistance. We have already extended to
Greece certain types of relief and economic aid but these are inadequate.

There is no other country to which democratic Greece can turn.

No other nation is willing and able to provide the necessary support for a
democratic Greek government.


The British Government, which has been helping Greece, can give no further
financial or economic aid after March 31. Great Britain finds itself under the
necessity of reducing or liquidating its commitments in several parts of the
world, including Greece.

We have considered how the United Nations might assist in this crisis. But the
situation is an urgent one requiring immediate action and the United Nations
and its related organizations are not in a position to extend help of the kind
that is required.

It is important to note that the Greek Government has asked for our aid in
utilizing effectively the financial and other assistance we may give to
Greece, and in improving its public administration. It is of the utmost
importance that we supervise the use of any funds made available to Greece; in
such a manner that each dollar spent will count toward making Greece
self-supporting, and will help to build an economy in which a healthy
democracy can flourish.

No government is perfect. One of the chief virtues of a democracy, however, is
that its defects are always visible and under democratic processes can be
pointed out and corrected. The Government of Greece is not perfect.
Nevertheless it represents eighty-five per cent of the members of the Greek
Parliament who were chosen in an election last year. Foreign observers,
including 692 Americans, considered this election to be a fair expression of
the views of the Greek people.

The Greek Government has been operating in an atmosphere of chaos and
extremism. It has made mistakes. The extension of aid by this country does not
mean that the United States condones everything that the Greek Government has
done or will do. We have condemned in the past, and we condemn now, extremist
measures of the right or the left. We have in the past advised tolerance, and
we advise tolerance now. 

Greece's neighbor, Turkey, also deserves our attention.

The future of Turkey as an independent and economically sound state is clearly
no less important to the freedom-loving peoples of the world than the future
of Greece. The circumstances in which Turkey finds itself today are
considerably different from those of Greece. Turkey has been spared the
disasters that have beset Greece. And during the war, the United States and
Great Britain furnished Turkey with material aid.

Nevertheless, Turkey now needs our support.

Since the war Turkey has sought financial assistance from Great Britain and
the United States for the purpose of effecting that modernization necessary
for the maintenance of its national integrity.

That integrity is essential to the preservation of order in the Middle East.

The British government has informed us that, owing to its own difficulties can
no longer extend financial or economic aid to Turkey.

As in the case of Greece, if Turkey is to have the assistance it needs, the
United States must supply it. We are the only country able to provide that
help.

I am fully aware of the broad implications involved if the United States
extends assistance to Greece and Turkey, and I shall discuss these
implications with you at this time.

One of the primary objectives of the foreign policy of the United States is
the creation of conditions in which we and other nations will be able to work
out a way of life free from coercion. This was a fundamental issue in the war
with Germany and Japan. Our victory was won over countries which sought to
impose their will, and their way of life, upon other nations.

To ensure the peaceful development of nations, free from coercion, the United
States has taken a leading part in establishing the United Nations, The United
Nations is designed to make possible lasting freedom and independence for all
its members. We shall not realize our objectives, however, unless we are
willing to help free peoples to maintain their free institutions and their
national integrity against aggressive movements that seek to impose upon them
totalitarian regimes. This is no more than a frank recognition that
totalitarian regimes imposed on free peoples, by direct or indirect
aggression, undermine the foundations of international peace and hence the
security of the United States.

The peoples of a number of countries of the world have recently had
totalitarian regimes forced upon them against their will. The Government of
the United States has made frequent protests against coercion and
intimidation, in violation of the Yalta agreement, in Poland, Rumania, and
Bulgaria. I must also state that in a number of other countries there have
been similar developments.

At the present moment in world history nearly every nation must choose between
alternative ways of life. The choice is too often not a free one.

One way of life is based upon the will of the majority, and is distinguished
by free institutions, representative government, free elections, guarantees of
individual liberty, freedom of speech and religion, and freedom from political
oppression.

The second way of life is based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed
upon the majority. It relies upon terror and oppression, a controlled press
and radio; fixed elections, and the suppression of personal freedoms.

I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free
peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by
outside pressures.

I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in
their own way.

I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and financial aid
which is essential to economic stability and orderly political processes.

The world is not static, and the status quo is not sacred. But we cannot allow
changes in the status quo in violation of the Charter of the United Nations by
such methods as coercion, or by such subterfuges as political infiltration. In
helping free and independent nations to maintain their freedom, the United
States will be giving effect to the principles of the Charter of the United
Nations.

It is necessary only to glance at a map to realize that the survival and
integrity of the Greek nation are of grave importance in a much wider
situation. If Greece should fall under the control of an armed minority, the
effect upon its neighbor, Turkey, would be immediate and serious. Confusion
and disorder might well spread throughout the entire Middle East.

Moreover, the disappearance of Greece as an independent state would have a
profound effect upon those countries in Europe whose peoples are struggling
against great difficulties to maintain their freedoms and their independence
while they repair the damages of war.

It would be an unspeakable tragedy if these countries, which have struggled so
long against overwhelming odds, should lose that victory for which they
sacrificed so much. Collapse of free institutions and loss of independence
would be disastrous not only for them but for the world. Discouragement and
possibly failure would quickly be the lot of neighboring peoples striving to
maintain their freedom and independence.

Should we fail to aid Greece and Turkey in this fateful hour, the effect will
be far reaching to the West as well as to the East.

We must take immediate and resolute action.

I therefore ask the Congress to provide authority for assistance to Greece and
Turkey in the amount of $400,000,000 for the period ending June 30, 1948. In
requesting these funds, I have taken into consideration the maximum amount of
relief assistance which would be furnished to Greece out of the $350,000,000
which I recently requested that the Congress authorize for the prevention of
starvation and suffering in countries devastated by the war.

In addition to funds, I ask the Congress to authorize the detail of American
civilian and military personnel to Greece and Turkey, at the request of those
countries, to assist in the tasks of reconstruction, and for the purpose of
supervising the use of such financial and material assistance as may be
furnished. I recommend that authority also be provided for the instruction and
training of selected Greek and Turkish personnel.

Finally, I ask that the Congress provide authority which will permit the
speediest and most effective use, in terms of needed commodities, supplies,
and equipment, of such funds as may be authorized.

If further funds, or further authority, should be needed for purposes
indicated in this message, I shall not hesitate to bring the situation before
the Congress. On this subject the Executive and Legislative branches of the
Government must work together.

This is a serious course upon which we embark.

I would not recommend it except that the alternative is much more serious.
The United States contributed $341,000,000,000 toward winning World War II.
This is an investment in world freedom and world peace.

The assistance that I am recommending for Greece and Turkey amounts to little
more than 1 tenth of 1 per cent of this investment. It is only common sense
that we should safeguard this investment and make sure that it was not in
vain.

The seeds of totalitarian regimes are nurtured by misery and want. They spread
and grow in the evil soil of poverty and strife. They reach their full growth
when the hope of a people for a better life has died.
We must keep that hope alive.

The free peoples of the world look to us for support in maintaining their
freedoms.

If we falter in our leadership, we may endanger the peace of the world -- and
we shall surely endanger the welfare of our own nation.

Great responsibilities have been placed upon us by the swift movement of
events.

I am confident that the Congress will face these responsibilities squarely.