GENERAL CONFERENCE STATEMENT OF METHODIST CHURCH

I would like to refer briefly to the general conference statement of the Methodist Church in 1960 to remind you that the church is officially on record believing that "economic assistance, which seeks to make the benefits of scientific advance and industrial progress available for the improvement of underdeveloped areas is an example of both Christian love and practical international brotherhood.

All programs of technical assistance and economic aid should be designed to benefit the peoples of underdeveloped countries and their economies rather than to serve political or military purposes.

On April 9 of 1969, the United Methodist Council of Bishops passed another very important statement saying that:

We affirm that the wealthiest nation in history, where the gross national product is near $1 trillion annually, has a special responsibility to the rest of the world. This responsibility should be shared by other affluent nations.

We deplore that more funds are being spent in most of the nations on military establishments than on all programs and agencies for human betterment com

bined.

Senator PELL. Actually I think two-thirds of our money has been spent for wars, past, present, and one-third for other things.

Mr. RANDALL. Yes; and in continuing the official statement the Council of Bishops said:

We urge the development of world trade and aid policies that will stabilize the world market and make available resources and food stuffs for developing nations.

I will conclude that part of the official statement of the Council of Bishops. The rest of it is in the statement.

I wish to refer briefly to a statement made by Mr. Robert McNamara saying that "the gap between the rich and poor nations is no longer merely a gap. It is a chasm." Those of us in the Christian Churches believe, therefore, that we have a bigger job to do than we did before, and some of us seriously question whether we are making enough headway. The evidence is that we are not making enough headway so that places a greater moral burden upon us and also with concern for our national interest as well.

MOTIVATION OF OUR AID QUESTIONED

There is a very serious question in my observation in visiting the areas of the world in Africa, Asia, and Latin America during this past year finding people questioning our motivation for aid. I think we need to take a real look again at the provisions of our act and the bills and to see how they look to the peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Do they find an idealistic concern for really helping them or do they feel we are concerned more about fighting a political, ideological battle with the so-called political enemies in the world, provid ing a favorable environment for U.S. private investment and helping to subsidize the exportation of U.S. products in other areas of the world that wouldn't be able to compete on the world market. These are some of the questions that reflect upon the idealistic moral concern. I have elaborated further on this in the statement and bring it to your attention. This is a concern of people in the churches.

SEPARATE MILITARY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM URGED

We are also reminding you that the churches have, and the Methodist Church has, been on record as recommending in the past and at present that the military assistance program is still tied in with this aid program. It detracts from the idealism of the program. We feel it ought to be in the Defense Appropriations Act rather than in the economic aid program.

Senator PELL. One reason for that is we have a chance to look at it in the Foreign Relations Committee, and maybe if you followed out your recommendation you might find it would be only going through the Armed Services Committee.

Mr. RANDALL. I would be glad to come back at another time Mr. Chairman, to elaborate on this because this is of deep concern.

DISPROPORTIONATE EMPHASIS ON PRIVATE ENTERPRISE PROVISION

We are also concerned about the disproportionate emphasis of the act on the private enterprise provision. When looked at from the point of view of Africans, Asians, and Latin Americans, it exposes us unfortunately to the slogans of "colonialism," "neocolonialism", and "imperialism," and many will see very little in this bill of genuine concern for aiding the underdeveloped areas.

I feel it would be prudent to drop the term "private" in many instances. I have also elaborated this in my statement and suggested that the bill could use more of the tactics of the World Bank that is not opposed to private enterprise, in terminology that would not be offensive to the people we are committed to help.

U.S. SHOULD NOT FLAUNT ITS WEALTH

In my testimony, I refer to a specific reference to chapter 4 of the Senate bill in which it says:

The President shall seek to assure that no contributions to the U.N. development program authorized by this act shall be used for projects for economic or technical assistance to the Government of Cuba, so long as Cuba is governed by the Castro regime.

Being personally familiar with the background and present situation in Cuba, and having recently spent 2 weeks there with my passport especially validated by the State Department for my independent visit, it is my personal judgment that the above provision is neither moral nor in our national interests in the eyes of the world.

I wish to remind you that Mr. Thomas J. Watson, the president of IBM, recently made the following statement:

If we flaunt our wealth in the eyes of the people in the Southern and Eastern countries of the world, we will drive them to despair, frenzy or revolution such as the world has never seen before.

Mr. Chairman, it is my view that this represents a concern of an enlightened businessman and many others of us who feel we are miscalculating the temper of the peoples, the poor peoples, in our own land as well as the rest of the world.

I would like to call your attention to a very serious development in this regard, Mr. Chairman, in terms of the recent evidence on chem

ical and biological warfare which Secretary General U Thant of the United Nations called to our attention. Chemical and biological war methods are available to the poor nations of the world as well as to the rich.

Senator PELL. Excuse me, I must interrupt you because we have three more witnesses. I find your testimony very interesting. I only wish we had longer time to go over it. But it will be put in the record and studied in full. I must move on, if I may, to Mr. Danielian.

Mr. RANDALL. I realize, Mr. Chairman, I have touched a very delicate subject and it makes our concern all the more important. If we can't defend ourselves with all the military might and power, we really have to defend ourselves by showing concern for the rest of the human race. The church and, we hope, the Government, can deflect more of the ideals of our concern and our heritage so all of the peoples can feel we are really concerned with helping them meet their human needs.

Senator PELL. I share your hopes 100 percent. (Mr. Randall's full statement follows:)

STATEMENT OF DARRELL RANDALL, REPRESENTING THE DIVISION OF WORLD PEACE, BOARD OF CHRISTIAN SOCIAL CONCERNS OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am Darrell Randall, Professor in the School of International Service, at the American University, in Washington, D.C. I teach subjects on international relations, related to Africa, and courses on world human needs and international development planning and international service administration. As an active church member, I have been asked to represent here, the Division of World Peace of the General Board of Christian Social Concerns of The United Methodist Church.

I have served as a lay mission survey representative of this denomination in Africa and Asia during the period of 1946-50. I later served as Associate Executive Director of the Department of International Affairs of the National Council of Churches during the period of 1957-1961, during which I was an observer at the United Nations. Since that time I have been on the faculty of American University. I have also been a study tour program director for the Association of Colleges for International Intercultural Studies, and have had the opportunity to lead and accompany study groups of faculty and advanced students, or to make independent surveys in most of the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

My first survey trip around the world was during the years 1946-49, on behalf of the Methodist Church which undertakes educational and health services within its mission program. Last year I made two survey trips through Africa and Asia, and was an observer at the UNCTAD Conference (U. N. Conference on Trade and Development) at New Delhi, India. This year, while on sabbatical, I have visited nearly all of the Latin American countries. During these past twenty-three years, it has been my opportunity to make many trips among the countries of the third world, watching the emergence of new independent countries being released from colonialism, and have been observing their achievements and difficulties of development.

I have had the opportunity of visiting most of the countries of our U.S. Aid programs and have met with Aid directors and staff members in these countries, as well as with others related to overseas economic and social welfare development.

I appreciate this opportunity to appear before you on this subject today. I have been asked to report official positions of the United Methodist Church in respect to international assistance, including population and family planning programs and have met with Aid directors and staff members in these countries, personal observations and comments about our international assistance program and world needs. I will also refer to some of the implications of chemical and bacteriological warfare threats to our affluent society, which are being discussed seriously in the United Nations and around the world, which have implications for our planning international aid and cooperation at this time.

In the light of the traditional support given by the United Methodist Church and its Board of Christian Social Concerns, to the principle of economic assistance to developing nations, I would like to address myself today to the specific legislation which embodies this principle for the next year. I urge strongly your approval of the economic assistance program with special encouragement and support for provisions of supplying aid funds for the population programs, including family planning information, assistance and supplies. I will also present some personal comments and modifications for your consideration.

In reporting on the positions taken by the United Methodist Church, it is appropriate to say that they refer to both moral concern and what is conceived to be in our national interest.

The 1960 General Conference of The Methodist Church passed the following statement:

"The desperate unmet needs of people in this world are of grave concern to Christians. The economic gap between the rich nations and the poor nations is widening as time elapses. The population explosion further jeopardizes the stability and progress of many lands.

"We believe that economic assistance, which seeks to make the benefits of scientific advance and industrial progress available for the improvement of underdeveloped areas is an example of both Christian love and practical international brotherhood. ***

"All programs of technical assistance and economic aid should be designed to benefit the peoples of underdeveloped countries and their economies rather than to serve political or military purposes. For maximum effectiveness, it is important that these programs be on a long-range basis."

In another statement adopted by the General Board of Christian Social Concerns in 1964, the Board declared:

"The provision of development assistance should be conditioned on the undertaking of land reform, equitable taxation, sound fiscal policies, and careful economic planning by the recipient countries. Strong encouragement should be given to the formation and growth of self-help institutions, such as credit unions, consumers' and producers' cooperatives, and savings and loan associations.

"We endorse the principle of multilateral assistance, especially through the U.N., and urge upon the nations wholehearted and generous participation in U.N. development programs. The Bible and the history of mankind contain ample warning to affluent peoples who will not share their abundance."

On April 9, 1969, the United Methodist Council of Bishops released the following statement:

"As bishops of the United Methodist Church, we urge each church member to consider prayerfully the following concerns:

"I. Hunger and people

"The world population is increasing by 180,000 persons every 24 hours. Experts estimate the present population of 3.3 billion will double in the next 30 years. The most rapid expansion comes in developing countries which have the least capacity to provide for new people. There is mounting concern that mankind is losing the race to produce enough food for an expanding population.

“Jesus asserted that to feed the hungry and clothe the naked is to minister to Him.

"We question the morality of amassing huge food surpluses in the United States and other countries with similar resources, when literal starvation is rampant, and more than half of the world's people suffer from malnutrition.

"We affirm that the wealthiest nation in history, where the gross national product is nearing $1 trillion annually, has a special responsibility to the rest of the world. This responsibility should be shared by other affluent nations.

"We deplore that more funds are being spent in most of the nations on military establishments than on all programs and agencies for human betterment combined.

"We urge the development of world trade and aid policies that will stabilize the world market and make available resources and food stuffs for developing nations.

"We believe that responsible family planning must be encouraged as one solution to the acute population problem.

"We call upon United Methodists to encourage every unit of their respective governments to give human need top prioprity in all policy decisions and fiscal expenditures, and to witness to the humane impulse of the gospel in all their relationships."

These statements speak for themselves. They represent the deep-felt concerns and obligations of our Church leaders and general membership.

Population and development.-Mr. Robert S. McNamara made an important address at the University of Notre Dame, May 1, 1969, which expresses the concern of many of us. He said:

"If there is anything certain about the population explosion, it is that if it is not dealt with reasonably, it will in fact explode: explode in suffering, explode in violence, explode in inhumanity. * * *

"The bluntest fact of all is that the need for development is desperate.

"One-third of mankind today lives in an environment of relative abundance. But two-thirds of mankind-more than two billion individuals-remain entrapped in a cruel web of circumstances that severely limits their right to the necessities of life. . . . They are caught in the grip of hunger and malnutrition; high illiteracy; inadequate education; shrinking opportunity; and corrosive poverty.

"The gap between the rich and poor nations is no longer merely a gap. It is a chasm. On one side are nations of the West that enjoy per capita incomes in the $3,000 range. On the other are nations in Asia and Africa that struggle to survive on per capita incomes of less than $100.

"The greatest single obstacle to the economic and social advancement of the majority of the peoples in the underdeveloped world is rampant population growth.

"Having said that, let me make one point unmistakably clear: the solution of the population problem is in no way a substitute for the more traditional forms of developmental assistance: aid for economic infrastructure; aid for agriculture: aid for industrialization; aid for education; aid for technological advance.” I would also call your attention to the testimony of Mr. Ernest Gruening a few days ago on this bill. As a distinguished Senator who conducted hearings and study of the population crisis for the Senate, his recommended amendment seems especially worthy of serious consideration. While my denominational Board has not had access to this amendment and has not passed upon it, I wish to record my general agreement and personal endorsement of it. It would place AID population programs in a secure position of priority by funding them within the foreign aid effort at a level of at least $100 million in the fiscal year 1970.

From my personal observation and consultations among people concerned with this question in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, I am convinced that this amount can be spent effectively.

Having had the opportunity for making independent visits with U.S. Aid directors and other people serving human need in most of the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America recently, there are some questions and concerns about our AID program which I feel should be shared with you for consideration as you formulate our future AID program. These questions and concerns are reported within a context of the desire to be constructive. I believe that U.S. AID is important, is needed, and should be greatly expanded in real terms which could be convincing evidence to the world that the United States wishes to be helpful in working with others for meeting basic human needs. This requires a vigorous readjustment of our national priorities commensurate with human needs at home and abroad.

How much aid?-Christians have a responsibility to support aid in accordance with need, and in proportion to our talents and resources. If what is being done within an area plus what is being done from our assistance from outside is not enough to facilitate development for meeting human needs, then that is evidence that present efforts are not sufficient and that more resources and talent are needed. In traveling among the nations of Africa, Asia and Latin America during this past year, it has been particularly embarrassing to try to answer the question: Why is America, when it is richer than ever before, contributing less to help the poorer countries? The evidence is clear that the needs are growing. It is humiliating to try to answer that question.

When we see and hear the testimony of conditions of the world at first hand, it brings sadness to us, and to many of our Aid personnel who have been asked by our Government to cut back Aid programs because of inadequate appropriations here in Congress. With current expenditures on military activities, space adventures, and modern luxuries so enormous at a time of increasing misery among the poor in our cities and among the less developed countries of the world, it is time for questioning our priorities and to ask ourselves if we are really doing enough for the world!