1. President Johnson's Message to Congress
August 5, 1964
(Department of State Bulletin, August 24, 1964)
Last night I announced to the American people that the North
Vietnamese regime had conducted further deliberate attacks
against U.S. naval vessels operating in international waters,
and I had therefore directed air action against gunboats and
supporting facilities used in these hostile operations. This
air action has now been carried out with substantial damage to
the boats and facilities. Two U.S. aircraft were lost in the
action.
After consultation with the leaders of both parties in the
Congress, I further announced a decision to ask the Congress for
a resolution expressing the unity and determination of the
United States in supporting freedom and in protecting peace in
southeast Asia.
These latest actions of the North Vietnamese regime has given a
new and grave turn to the already serious situation in southeast
Asia. Our commitments in that area are well known to the
Congress. They were first made in 1954 by President Eisenhower.
They were further defined in the Southeast Asia Collective
Defense Treaty approved by the Senate in February 1955.
This treaty with its accompanying protocol obligates the United
States and other members to act in accordance with their
constitutional processes to meet Communist aggression against
any of the parties or protocol states.
Our policy in southeast Asia has been consistent and unchanged
since 19554. I summarized it on June 2 in four simple
propositions:
1. America keeps her word. Here as elsewhere, we must and shall
honor our commitments.
2. The issue is the future of southeast Asia as a whole. A
threat to any nation in that region is a threat to all, and a
threat to us.
3. Our purpose is peace. We have no military, political, or
territorial ambitions in the area.
4. This is not just a jungle war, but a struggle for freedom on
every front of human activity. Our military and economic
assistance to South Vietnam and Laos in particular has the
purpose of helping these countries to repel aggression and
strengthen their independence.
The threat to the free nations of southeast Asia has long been
clear. The North Vietnamese regime has constantly sought to
take over South Vietnam and Laos. This Communist regime has
violated the Geneva accords for Vietnam. It has systematically
conducted a campaign of subversion, which includes the
direction, training, and supply of personnel and arms for the
conduct of guerrilla warfare in South Vietnamese territory. In
Laos, the North Vietnamese regime has maintained military
forces, used Laotian territory for infiltration into South
Vietnam, and most recently carried out combat operations - all
in direct violation of the Geneva Agreements of 1962.
In recent months, the actions of the North Vietnamese regime
have become steadily more threatening...
As President of the United States I have concluded that I should
now ask the Congress, on its part, to join in affirming the
national determination that all such attacks will be met, and
that the United States will continue in its basic policy of
assisting the free nations of the area to defend their freedom.
As I have repeatedly made clear, the United States intends no
rashness, and seeks no wider war. We must make it clear to all
that the United States is united in its determination to bring
about the end of Communist subversion and aggression in the
area. We seek the full and effective restoration of the
international agreements signed in Geneva in 1954, with respect
to South Vietnam, and again in Geneva in 1962, with respect to
Laos...
2. Joint Resolution of Congress H.J. RES 1145
August 7, 1964
(Department of State Bulletin, August 24, 1964)
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
That the Congress approves and supports the determination of the
President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures
to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United
States and to prevent further aggression.
Section 2. The United States regards as vital to its national
interest and to world peace the maintenance of international
peace and security in southeast Asia. Consonant with the
Constitution of the United States and the Charter of the United
Nations and in accordance with its obligations under the
Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, the United States is,
therefore, prepared, as the President determines, to take all
necessary steps, including the use of armed force, to assist any
member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective
Defense Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom.
Section 3. This resolution shall expire when the President
shall determine that the peace and security of the area is
reasonably assured by international conditions created by action
of the United Nations or otherwise, except that it may be
terminated earlier by concurrent resolution of the Congress.
