Shelters and Survival

Archive Report

Revival of Emphasis on Civil Defense

President KENNEDY's call for a new start in the nation's civil defense program is an integral part of the administration's over-all plan for meeting the current Berlin crisis. The apparent strategy behind the revised civil defense policy—spearheaded by a request for a tripling of federal appropriations for this purpose in fiscal 1962—is to convince Soviet leaders that Americans are ready to risk nuclear war, if necessary, to protect rights of access to West Berlin.

Congress on Aug. 10 granted the full $207,600,000 asked by the administration for a start on a national fallout shelter program. This sum was in addition to $86,550,000 already approved by Congress.1 The President on Aug. 14 requested another $73,200,000 for food and medical stockpiling programs. ...

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