Mutual Security Act

Mutual Security Act

Long title	An Act to maintain the security and promote the foreign policy and provide for the general welfare of the United States by furnishing assistance to friendly nations in the interest of international peace and security.
Acronyms (colloquial)	MSA
Nicknames	Mutual Security Act of 1951
Enacted by	the 82nd United States Congress
Effective	October 10, 1951
Citations
Public law	82-165
Statutes at Large	65 Stat. 373
Codification
Titles amended	22 U.S.C.: Foreign Relations and Intercourse
U.S.C. sections created	22 U.S.C. ch. 22 § 1651 et seq.
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 5113 by James P. Richards (D–SC) on August 14, 1951 Committee consideration by House Foreign Affairs, Senate Foreign Relations, Senate Armed Services Passed the House on August 17, 1951 (260-101) Passed the Senate on August 31, 1951 (61-5) Reported by the joint conference committee on September 18, 1951; agreed to by the Senate on October 2, 1951 (56-21) and by the House on October 5, 1951 (235-98) Signed into law by President Harry S. Truman on October 10, 1951

The Mutual Security Act of 1951 launched a major American foreign aid program, 1951–61, of grants to numerous countries. It largely replaced the Marshall Plan. The main goal was to help poor countries develop and to contain the spread of communism. It was signed on October 10, 1951, by President Harry S. Truman.^[1] Annual authorizations were about $7.5 billion, out of a GDP of $340bn in 1951, for military, economic, and technical foreign aid to American allies. The aid was aimed primarily at shoring up Western Europe, as the Cold War developed. In 1961 it was replaced by a new foreign aid program, the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, which created the Agency for International Development (AID), and focused more on Latin America.^[2]

The Mutual Security Act also abolished the Economic Cooperation Administration, which had managed the Marshall Plan and transferred its functions to the newly established Mutual Security Agency (MSA). The Agency was established and continued by acts of October 10, 1951 (65 Stat. 373) and June 20, 1952 (66 Stat. 141) to provide military, economic, and technical assistance to friendly nations in the interest of international peace and security, but was abolished by Reorganization Plan No. 7 of 1953, effective August 1, 1953, and its functions were transferred to the Foreign Operations Administration.^[3] The act however, was extended by appropriators each fiscal year until the early 1960s.^[4]

As the Marshall Plan was ending, Congress was in the process of piecing together a new foreign aid proposal designed to unite military and economic programs with technical assistance. In the words of Secretary of State Dean Acheson, who testified before Congress, Western Europe needed assistance against Soviet "encroachment." The measure was intended to signal Washington's resolve to allies and to the Kremlin that the United States was capable of and committed to containing communism globally, even while it fought a protracted land war in Korea. The measure took about two months to work its way through the House, meeting resistance from fiscal conservatives along the way. Republicans were divided about the cost of the expenditures; nevertheless nearly half (80) joined the overwhelming majority of Democrats to pass the measure 260 to 101 on August 17. John M. Vorys of Ohio summed up GOP support for the measure, noting that military aid to "nations who will fight on our side" is "sound economy." Representative James P. Richards of South Carolina, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, noted that the Mutual Security Act was intended "not to fight a war" but "to prevent a war."^[4]