APPENDIX TABLE XXI.-Uses of foreign currency as provided in title I, Public Law 480 agreements signed July 1, 1958, through June 30, 1959 1

[Amounts are in dollar equivalents of the deposit rate of exchange and are stated in millions]

1 Amounts shown are subject to adjustment when actual commodity purchases and currency allocations have been made.

2 In order to provide flexibility in the use of funds, many agreements provide that a specified amount of foreign currency proceeds may be used under various U.S. use categories, including currency uses which are limited to amounts as may be specified in appropriation acts. These amounts, together with amounts provided for specific U.S. uses, comprise the amounts shown below. Included in this category are uses specified under subsecs. 104 (a), (b), (h), (i), (j), (k), (1), (m), (n), (o) and sometimes (d) and (f).

3 Amounts shown in this column may differ from amounts on appendix table VII, which reflects purchase authorization transactions.

The agreements and the authority do not exclude the possibility of health research, and this would be within the discretion, of course, of the ICA, which handles this particular part of Public Law 480 currencies (sec. 104 (d) and the first phrase of 104 (e)) and the foreign governments who have made the agreements containing this condition on their use.

The foreign governments would have to acquiesce in any projects, but I suggest that a paragraph in your report might stimulate further action by the executive branch in initiating such projects, and it might further result in a certain portion of these foreign currencies being set aside, for health research and for health service programs in all future agreements.

You might even see fit to add a paragraph in the bill itself to accomplish that. This is a matter that the House Agriculture Committee has felt is somewhat outside of their jurisdiction, but I believe they might welcome an amendment to the bill that will soon be reported from that committee extending Public Law 480, if such an amendment were proposed by this committee.

There is already an amendment or will be an amendment in the bill which earmarks a minimum of 5 percent for U.S. agricultural development purposes. I do not suggest a particular minimum figure, but I think there should be some amount set aside in all these agreements that would be useful in the many years to come, even after the Public Law 480 program has come to a close, where these currencies could be used over the years for health programs and health research programs. At the moment, under existing law, under the same law, there is the other provision, section 104 (k), with which you are familiar, that authorizes the use of these currencies by NIH, recently changed in its language by an amendment included in the mutual security bill, that provision, unfortunately, still requiring advance authorizations in appropriation acts, which restriction has been somewhat of an impediment in its use. The use of these Public Law 480 currencies for scientific purposes generally has been retarded and discouraged by reason of the disparity in allocations by the Bureau of the Budget as between the uses for which appropriation action is required in advance, and those which are authorized under the permanent authorizations in Public Law 480.

A clear indication of this disparity in allocation is indicated in the two tables I ask permission to insert, which were included in Senate Document 38, 86th Congress, submitted before section 104 (k) was amended, an excellent study on this whole subject of foreign currencies.

(The document referred to follows:)