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Statement by the President Upon Signing Resolution Authorizing Loan for the Construction of United Nations Headquarters

August 11, 1948

IT IS with great pleasure that I have signed Senate Joint Resolution 212, authorizing an interest-free loan of $65 million to the United Nations for construction of its headquarters in New York. The resolution provides for an immediate advance of $25 million by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation; this will enable the United Nations to start construction at an early date.

I am deeply gratified that the Congress has now completed action on this important measure.

At the opening of the General Assembly of the United Nations on October 23, 1946, in New York, I said:

"The overwhelming majority of the American people, regardless of party, support the United Nations.

"They are resolved that the United States, to the full limit of its strength, shall contribute to the establishment and maintenance of a just and lasting peace among the nations of the world."

The loan demonstrates our faith in the future of the United Nations and expresses the welcome which that organization finds within our country. Moreover, it is another example of the solidarity of the American people in behalf of our national policy of strengthening the United Nations and the cause of world peace and security for which it stands.

NOTE: As enacted, the joint resolution is Public Law 903, 80th Congress (62 Stat. 1286).

For the President's address at the opening of the United Nations General Assembly on October 23, 1946, see 1946 volume, this series, Item 236.