April 19, 1949
The Secretary telephoned Senator Connally this morning before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee met to say that we had been hoping that the Committee would set a date to begin hearings on the North Atlantic Pact next week. The Secretary said that while we did not want to hurry the Committee, there had been much speculation in the press and if a definite date for the hearings could be set, this speculation would stop.
Senator Connally said that some of the members were not in any hurry about having these hearings, but that they would talk it over in the Committee this morning, adding that it would not be earlier than the 27th.
The Secretary said that he was coming up on Thursday to give a report on the German discussions and talk about the arms program, adding that he hoped to have clearance from the Budget Bureau today or tomorrow.
The Secretary then mentioned the various rumors which had been appearing in the press recently relative to the settlement of the Berlin question. He said that the Russians were continually dropping remarks and whether some of them might be serious, some propaganda or some merely gossip, it was difficult to say. Mr. Acheson said he hoped the Committee would not get into too much speculation on this question. Connally said that the Committee would not do anything on this and that it had no disposition to get into such a discussion.
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