April 8, 1964
Page 7198
VIEWS ON FOREIGN AID BY FRANK M. COFFIN, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
TO THE DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE COMMITTEE
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, the President has submitted to Congress his annual message on our international assistance program, commonly referred to as foreign aid. One of the certainties of the year will be the inevitable attack on the aid program, the controversy over its desirability, and the relentless effort to reduce a program already pared to the bones.
Much of the debate over the aid program is shrouded in confusion and doubt. Public understanding of its objectives, its methods, and its contributions to our foreign policy is limited. Too often the discussions of foreign aid shed more heat than light.
This year, fortunately, we have an opportunity to learn more about international assistance from one of its most articulate advocates. Our U.S. Representative to the Development Assistance Committee, Frank M. Coffin, of Maine, has written a wise and perceptive guide to the intricacies of this vital element in our national policy. In his book, "Witness for Aid," to be published tomorrow by Houghton Mifflin, Frank Coffin has opened the way for a more adequate understanding of oversea development and, hopefully, for more adequate support of the Agency for International Development.
Frank Coffin has a unique combination of talent and experience from which to write this book.. Trained as a lawyer and schooled in the hard ways of political campaigns as a State committee
chairman and candidate, he was elected and reelected to the House of Representatives from Maine's Second District in 1956 and 1958. In the House he served as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Joint Economic Committee. He made a mark as an authority on United States-Canadian relations, the European Economic Community, and the mutual assistance program.
In 1961, President Kennedy appointed him as Director of the Development Loan Fund. Following the reorganization of the mutual assistance program he was appointed Deputy Administrator of the Agency for International Development. President Johnson appointed him to his present post where his responsibilities will include an effort to encourage other nations to increase their contributions to the development of the less favored countries of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
I have known Frank Coffin for over a decade. Our formal political association began just 10 years ago today when I announced my candidacy for the Governorship of the State of Maine. Frank had just accepted the post of State chairman of the Democratic Party of Maine. He was then, as he is today, a persuasive, thoughtful idealist with a sense of the practical limitations of life and a determination to overcome those limitations wherever possible. In 10 years his powers have grown, his perceptions have deepened. His is a voice worth heeding.
In Frank Coffin's words: "Witness for Aid" is not a book about the dark side of the moon. It is a book about a relatively unknown side of the United States -- a side far more visible to two-thirds of the world than to its citizens at home. For this is about our already historic and bold venture in helping the peoples of the developing nations.
Our development assistance program is too important to be shaped in the half-light of suspicion, misunderstanding, and uninformed debate. I hope all Senators will, before the debate on aid begins, read Frank Coffin's book. They will enjoy its style and will remember its message.