Department came up with a substitute plan, the Academy for Foreign Affairs. I do not believe that there is really any conflict between the Freedom-Academy concept and the Academy for Foreign Affairs. Personally, I believe that we also need an Academy for Foreign Affairs in order to better train the diplomats which we send abroad. Mr. ROYBAL. That was what I was trying to get to and that is the establishment of an academy to train our diplomats and then also having those same diplomats go through the Freedom Academy before they were sent to Latin America or any other country. Mr. ICHORD. I think they could very well go through the Freedom Academy because investigations have shown that they just aren't getting the kind of training to become a professional to meet the Communist pro on his own grounds, and I am sure this committee is aware of the extensive network of schools now operated by the Communists. They are sending trained professionals by the thousands into Latin America and Africa. Mr. ROYBAL. You see when they go there they speak the language of the country. They mix with the people. Mr. ICHORD. That's right. Mr. ROYBAL. They work on the community level. We operate quite differently. Mr. ICHORD. We deal with the leaders. They get the people. Mr. ROYBAL. That's right; not only that, but when we send a man to a Latin America country this is not the rule; it may even be the exception, but nevertheless men are sent to Latin America who do not speak Spanish at all; sent to Brazil, who do not speak Portuguese. They do not meet with the people as you have indicated. They meet with the leaders and then they meet with the same leaders who have been exploiting their own people for generations. Then we expect to know what the real situation is in Latin America when we don't have contact with the people they have been serving. Mr. ICHORD. You have your finger right on the problem. Mr. GROSS. Will the gentleman yield? Mr. ROYBAL. Yes. Mr. GROSS. Then we are wasting a lot of money because we are now running Government language institutes all over the map. Mr. ROYBAL. Apparently they are not learning everything if we are running them all over the map because my experience has been in most cases that these men do not have the command of the Spanish language. Mr. GROSS. If the gentleman will yield further, it has been developed by other committees that they may be trained in speaking Spanish and then sent to Switzerland. They learn the French language and they are sent to Timbuktu. Mr. ROYBAL. Jerusalem. Mr. GROSS. Those things happen. Mr. ROYBAL. I think the gentleman is correct. Mr. SELDEN. Mr. Whalley? Mr. WHALLEY. I want to thank Congressman Ichord for coming here and giving of his time to give us the very practical statement and say that what is going on in the world by the Communists today shows the burning need for U.S. professionals to combat Communist professionals. I think most people agree that this is definitely needed. Cuba trained men in Communist practice to create revolutions in Cen tral and South America and naturally we should be doing something about it, but articles are being written currently about the frustration of President Kennedy with the State Department. And, President Johnson's remarks when he appeared as Vice President before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the U.S. State Department certainly infers that the Congress of the United States should be doing something about the activities of the State Department if a freedom school or something else is needed. I will certainly agree with Mr. Gross there isn't much use going ahead until the State Department or its activities are corrected, if they were to run a freedom academy along such lines, because they are the ones in power. We sent out a questionnaire to our area and the answers predominantly were that the United States was not successful in its present foreign policy. So, I think that's the place we ought to be moving. to get in there and see what can be done. It is almost impossible to find out how many people are on the payroll, what the budget is, what their purposes are, or what their duties are or anything else. You may as well start at the top and then bring this about. Mr. ICHORD. I think, Mr. Whalley, that definitely we have to start learning to fight ideological-psychological, political nonmilitary, whatever kind of warfare you want to call it, in order to stop Communist advances or definitely it is going to escalate into hot wars like South Vietnam all over the world. I submit we must curb political warfare before it progresses into the hot warfare stage. I could criticize the State Department for hours, however, that is very easy to do. This is the time for more affirmative thinking and less of the negative. That's why I believe we need the Freedom Academy, which will be operated by an independent agency and financed through the appropriation process by the Congress. And, I would think that Mr. Gross and you would be very interested in an approach such as the Freedom Academy. Mr. WHALLEY. I will agree with you that it is time for action and not words, and anything we can do is better than nothing, and if a freedom academy is the item or the method, why let's start something. I know what the Schlesinger book says about the State Department. It shows that it is going to be a long time to bring about constructive changes in the State Department. Mr. ICHORD. Everybody, I feel, is pointing toward an institution such as the Freedom Academy. This committee by its report, made the best case I have seen for a Freedom Academy. We had a U.S. Senator who went over to South Vietnam some time ago. He came back and said, how we need to win the war in South Vietnam is to improve our political warfare method. Well, you might use political warfare methods in South Vietnam, but when I was there, I got the idea that that was a pretty hot war. The time for the use of political warfare methods effectively was way back before 1954, before the division of South Vietnam. Mr. GROSS. Let's just get one part of this record straight. I don't recall that this committee recommended a Freedom Academy. If it did, I signed the wrong report. Mr. ICHORD. That is quite true; but all of the findings, I submit, make an excellent case for a Freedom Academy to get professionals out in the field rather than the amateurs that we are now sending out. Mr. SELDEN. Are there any further questions? If not, Mr. Ichord, we thank you very much for appearing here today. Mr. ICHORD. Thank you. Mr. BURLESON. I am sorry I didn't get here to hear your entire statement. Mr. SELDEN. If the clerk will clear the room, we will go into executive session to consider the pending resolutions. (Whereupon, at 11:15 a.m., the subcommittee continued in executive session.) O WATER FOR PEACE J. S. HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS EIGHTY-NINTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION ON H.J. Res. 1169 TO ENABLE THE UNITED STATES TO ORGANIZE AND HOLD JUNE 28, 1966 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1966 |