Asked to comment by General Cutler, Director Erundage pointed out that he and his associates had been working very hard on the However, acts of Congress made civilian side of the FY 1959 Budget. it practically impossible to reduce civilian expenditures without new legislation. This meant serious political problems were going to face us in the future. The President said that he wanted to repeat what he had said many times before. He was not so concerned about achieving a balanced budget in any one year but he did believe that you could not have 4 repeated unbslanced budget year after year and at the same time maintain the nation's security. We mist keep a very dose watch on the relationship between ex- penditures end our Gross National Product. We must somehow try to achieve the right balance between a desirable defense program and our available resources. We could not take any risks to our national security but we would certainly have to make some very hard decisions. (A copy of the Defense Department presentation given at this meeting is filed in the official Minutes of the meeting). The National Security Council: Noted and discussed an oral presentation of the current status of the U.S. Military Programs for FY 1959 as developed to date within the Department of Defense and presented at the meeting by the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Assistant Secretary of Defense McNeil, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, and the respective Service Secretaries and Chiefs of Staff of the three Militery Departments. Roted that the Secretary of Defense, after further review in the light of the discussion, would present at the next Council meeting his recommendations as to the U.S. Military Progrems for FY 1959. NOTE: The action in b above, as approved by the President, a a + subsequently transmitted to the Secretary of Defense. y { A ‘ Cnt .a S. EVERETT GLEASON z wi -1lo- a no . TAD CEAIET a ey 3 om et ke Qa ) im H aH ) a f oO 2 a ° & om te & - ; ninetiessanwe a NR mn hone a we nT ae ee TE - SO