October 13, 1983

I am pleased today to congratulate Prime Minister Thatcher and the British people on the silver anniversary of the Technical Cooperation Program. It was due to the foresight of President Eisenhower and Prime Minister MacMillan that the program was established and given the high-level government support required for its initial impetus. Immediately afterwards, Canada joined, followed by Australia and New Zealand, in 1965 and 1969 respectively.

Today, we in the United States and our friends in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand lead a more secure existence as a result of this cooperative effort. The primary purpose of the program has remained as originally expressed in the Declaration of Common Purpose by President Eisenhower and Prime Minister MacMillan: that no member country possessed the resources to provide adequate defense research and development by itself and each must assist the other by sharing resources and tasks in many fields so that progress and security can be found by all.

I remain committed to the principle of cooperation in resolving all international problems. The Technical Cooperation Program is a good example of cooperation and the results that can be obtained from it.

 

Date
10/13/1983