I am transmitting the Military Assistance and Sales Act of 1966 as separate legislation. This new Act will provide a five-year authorization for the program which strengthens U.S. security by building the strength of others to deter and resist aggression.

The new Act will provide:

Greater emphasis on civic action programs. We shall give new stress to civic action programs through which local troops build schools and roads, and provide literacy training and health services. Through these programs, military personnel are able to play a more constructive role in their society, and to establish better relations with the civilian population.

Emphasis on training. One of our most effective methods of building free world security is through the training provided foreign military personnel. Today, 8,500 foreign trainees come to this country each year and a similar number are trained at our service schools overseas. They return to their home countries with new professional skills and a new understanding of the role of the armed forces in a democratic society.

That is why we established land grant colleges and passed the Homestead Act to open our Western lands more than 100 years ago.

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INTERNATIONAL HEALTH AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS

The President's Remarks Summarizing His Message to the Congress. February 2, 1966

Last year Congress, by its acts, declared this Nation's number one task is to now improve the education and health of our people.

Today I call upon Congress to add a world dimension to this task. The International Education Act of 1966 marks our commitment to help others to rid themselves of the slavery of illiteracy and ignorance. The International Health Act of 1966 pledges us to join in banishing the curse of disease.

I have set bold yet prudent goals for all of us to meet: To create 1,000 school-to-school partnerships with the young of other nations; to bring 5,000 exchange Peace Corps volunteers from abroad to live and work in our country; to conquer or control some of the world's killer diseases-cholera, smallpox, malaria; to enrich diets of 150 million infants and mothers in less developed nations.

Half a century ago the philosopher William James declared that mankind must seek "a moral equivalent of war." That search has become more desperate today than ever before. So we call on all rich nations and all poor nations, friend and foe alike, to join us in this combat. It can be the first work of the world for generations yet to come.

[NOTE.-The President spoke at 12:20 p.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White

House.]

The President's Message to the Congress Proposing Methods To Improve the Education and Health of Peoples Throughout the World. February 2, 1966

To the Congress of the United States:

Last year the Congress by its action declared: the nation's number one task is to improve the education and health of our people. Today I call upon Congress to add a world dimension to this task. I urge the passage of the International Education and Health Acts of 1966.

We would be shortsighted to confine our vision to this nation's shorelines. The same rewards we count at home will flow from sharing in a worldwide effort to rid mankind of the slavery of ignorance and the scourge of disease.

We bear a special role in this liberating mission. Our resources will be wasted in defending freedom's frontiers if we neglect the spirit that makes men want to be free.

Half a century ago, the philosopher William James declared that mankind must seek "a moral equivalent of war."

The search continues-more urgent today than ever before in man's history.

Ours is the great opportunity to challenge all nations, friend and foe alike, to join this battle.

We have made hopeful beginnings. Many of the programs described in this message have been tested in practice. I have directed our agencies of government to improve and enlarge the programs already authorized by Congress.

Now I am requesting Congress to give new purpose and new power to our efforts by declaring that:

programs to advance education and health are basic building blocks to lasting peace.

they represent a long-term commitment in the national interest.

the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare is charged with a broad authority to help strengthen our country's capacity to carry on this noble adventure.

EDUCATION

Education lies at the heart of every nation's hopes and purposes. It must be at the heart of our international relations.

We have long supported UNESCO and other multilateral and international agencies. We propose to continue these efforts with renewed vigor.

Schooled in the grief of war, we know certain truths are self-evident in every nation on this earth:

Ideas, not armaments, will shape our lasting prospects for peace. The conduct of our foreign policy will advance no faster than the curriculum of our classrooms.

The knowledge of our citizens is one treasure which grows only when it is shared.

International education cannot be the work of one country. It is the responsibility and promise of all nations. It calls for free exchange and full collaboration. We expect to receive as much as we give, to learn as well as to teach.

Let this nation play its part. To this end, I propose :

to strengthen our capacity for international educational cooperation.

to stimulate exchange with students and teachers of other lands.
to assist the progress of education in developing nations.
to build new bridges of international understanding.

I. TO STRENGTHEN OUR CAPACITY FOR INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL COOPERATION

Our education base in this country is strong. Our desire to work with other nations is great. But we must review and renew the purpose of our programs for international education. I propose to:

1. Direct the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to establish within his Department a Center for Educational Cooperation. This Center will be a focal point for leadership in international education. While it will not supplant other governmental agencies already conducting programs in this field, it will:

Act as a channel for communication between our missions abroad and the U.S. educational community;

Direct programs assigned to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare;

Assist public and private agencies conducting international education programs.

2. Appoint a Council on International Education.

Our commitment to international education must draw on the wisdom, experience, and energy of many people. This Council, to be composed of outstanding leaders of American education, business, labor, the professions, and philanthropy, will advise the Center for Educational Cooperation.

3. Create a Corps of Education Officers to serve in the United States Foreign Service.

As education's representatives abroad, they will give sharper direction to our programs. Recruited from the ranks of outstanding educators, they will report directly to the Ambassador when serving in foreign missions.

4. Stimulate New Programs in International Studies for Elementary and Secondary Schools.

No child should grow to manhood in America without realizing the promise and the peril of the world beyond our borders. Progress in teaching about world affairs must not lag behind progress made in other areas of American education.

I am directing the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to earmark funds for Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, so that our regional education laboratories_can enrich the international curricula of our elementary and secondary

schools.

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5. Support Programs of International Scope in Smaller and Developing Colleges.

Many of our nation's institutions have been unable to share fully in international projects. By a new program of incentive grants administered through HEW these institutions will be encouraged to play a more active role.

6. Strengthen Centers of Special Competence in International Research and Training.

Over the past two decades, our universities have been a major resource in carrying on development programs around the world. We have made heavy demands upon them. But we have not supported them adequately.

I recommend to the Congress a program of incentive grants administered by HEW for universities and groups of universities

(a) to promote centers of excellence in dealing with particular problems and particular regions of the world,

(b) to develop administrative staff and faculties adequate to maintain long-term commitments to overseas educational enterprises.

In addition, I propose that AID be given authority to provide support to American research and educational institutions, for increasing their capacity to deal with programs of economic and social development abroad.

II TO STIMULATE EXCHANGE WITH THE STUDENTS AND TEACHERS OF OTHER LANDS

Only when people know about-and care about each other will nations learn to live together in harmony. I therefore propose that

we:

1. Encourage the Growth of School-to-School Partnerships.

Through such partnerships, already pioneered on a small scale, a U.S. school may assist the brick-and-mortar construction of a sister school in less developed nations. The exchange can grow to include books and equipment, teacher and student visits.

To children, it can bring deep understanding and lasting friendships.

I recommend a goal of 1,000 school-to-school partnerships.

This program will be administered by the Peace Corps, in cooperation with AID, particularly its Partners of the Alliance Program. The chief cost will be borne by the voluntary contributions of the participating schools.

2. Establish an Exchange Peace Corps.

Our nation has no better ambassadors than the young volunteers who serve in 46 countries in the Peace Corps. I propose that we welcome similar ambassadors to our shores. We need their special skills and understanding, just as they need ours.

These "Volunteers to America" will teach their own language and culture in our schools and colleges. They will serve in community programs alongside VISTA Volunteers. As our Peace Corps Volunteers learn while they serve, those coming to the United States will be helped to gain training to prepare them for further service when they return home.

I propose an initial goal of 5,000 volunteers.

3. Establish an American Education Placement Service.

We have in the United States a reservoir of talent and good will not yet fully tapped:

schools and college teachers eager to serve abroad;

professors and administrators who are retired or on sabbatical leave;

Peace Corps volunteers who desire further foreign service.

To encourage these men and women to assist in the developing nations and elsewhere, I recommend that we establish an American Education Placement Service in HEW.

It will act as an international recruitment bureau for American teachers, and will provide supplemental assistance for those going to areas of special hardship.

In time, I hope this Service will lead to the development of a World Teacher Exchange-in which all nations may join to bring their classrooms into closer relationship with one another.

III. TO ASSIST THE PROGRESS OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING NATIONS

To provide direct support for those countries struggling to improve their education standards, I propose that we:

1. Enlarge AID programs of education assistance.

In my message on Foreign Assistance, I directed AID to make a major effort in programs of direct educational benefit. These will emphasize teacher training-vocational and scientific education-construction of education facilities-specialized training in the U.S. for foreign students—and help in publishing badly needed textbooks.

2. Develop New Techniques for Teaching Basic Education and Fighting Illiteracy.

Our own research and development in the learning process can be adapted to fit the needs of other countries. Modern technology and new communications techniques have the power to multiply the resources available to a school system.

I am calling on HEW to support basic education research of value to the developing nations.

I am requesting AID to conduct studies and assist pilot projects for applying technology to meet critical education shortages.

3. Expand U.S. Summer Teaching Corps.

The Agency for International Development now administers programs for American teachers and professors who participate in summer workshops in less developed countries. They serve effectively to support teacher-training in these countries. They also enrich their own teaching experience.

I propose this year that AID double the number of U.S. participants in the Summer Teaching Corps.

4. Assist the Teaching of English Abroad.

Many of the newer nations have a vital need to maintain English as the language of international communication and national development. We must help meet this demand even as we extend the teaching of foreign languages in our own schools.

I have directed AID, supported by other agencies, to intensify its efforts for those countries which seek our help.