July 18, 1949
Mr. Paul Hoffman telephoned the Secretary just before six-clock this evening to express his concern relative to the ECA legislation.
He said he might be unduly concerned about the matter but he was fearful that if ECA and MAP were tied in together, it would just mean one more delay. The Senator said he had Scott Lucas' promise to put ECA on as soon as the North Atlantic Pact was concluded.
Hoffman said he was concerned about having Averell Harriman come back here on Friday. He said they hoped to have the appropriation bill on the Senate floor Friday morning. In any event he was trying to push the thing so the bill would go to conference by Tuesday. He said his concern was that the MAP testimony would hit Congress before they got ECA out of the way and he did not want Harriman identified with it until they got ECA out of the way since he symbolized a close relationship between ECA and MAP. Hoffman said they did not want Harriman to testify until the latter part of next week and that it would be better not to come to the US too early.
The Secretary said he would consult with his people in the department and let Hoffman know the outcome in the morning.
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