Mr. President,

In the past several months, a book called The Ugly American
has become a conversation piece throughout the United States,
and in many other countries, too. The well -advertised theme 
or the book. —  the deficiencies of our foreign service people 
in Asia — assured its wide sale. And its prose style — a kind 
of vivid journalese  -- assured its being read by anyone who 
bought it.
It has occurred to me that, while the question of  the books
validity has become a minor polemic in many world  capitals, it
has not been discussed In the Congress.  Yet the impact of 
The Ugly American is of concern to all of all.
This book is fiction, However, in their epilogue the authors 
plead, and I quote, that “each of the small and sometimes tragic 
events we have described has happened..many times .  Too many times.
Most of the American foreign service officers who people 
this book are hopelessly incompetent in their jobs. At one level, 
they are generalists in an area that needs specialists. At