The United States is making every effort to bring this conflict to a very swift and honorable conclusion, measured in days not weeks.

I have concluded that it is necessary to take decisive actions that will avoid any possibility of a constitutional crisis.

I am today requesting that the Congress authorize emergency security assistance of $2.2 billion for Israel and $200 million for Cambodia.

It would also have resolved any lingering thought that the President himself might have been involved in a Watergate coverup.

I am pleased to be able to say that Chairman Sam Ervin and Vice Chairman Howard Baker of the Senate Select Committee have agreed to this procedure.

The purpose of the Foundation is not to alter the role of private patronage in the arts and humanities, but rather to supplement, stimulate, and extend that role.

Government has a vital role to play in encouraging the arts and humanities in our national life.

My actions today are in accordance with that duty, and in that spirit of accommodation.

What matters most, in this critical hour, is our ability to act--and to act in a way that enables us to control events, not to be paralyzed and overwhelmed by them.

As we approach the Bicentennial anniversary, the National Foundation will have an increasingly important role to play in helping to represent to the Nation and the world the richness and diversity of our artistic and cultural heritage.

Our actions there have reflected my belief that we must take those steps which are necessary for maintaining a balance of military capabilities and achieving stability in the area.

I want to repeat that I have taken this step with the greatest reluctance, only to bring the issue of Watergate tapes to an end and to assure our full attention to more pressing business affecting the very security of the Nation.

I am also requesting $200 million emergency assistance for Cambodia.

I have, therefore, instructed White House Counsel not to seek Supreme Court review from the decision of the court of appeals.

I am confident that the Congress and the American people will support this request for emergency assistance for these two beleaguered friends.

I am pleased to sign today S. 795, a measure extending for 3 years the authorization for the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities.

This is necessary to prevent the emergence of a substantial imbalance resulting from a large-scale resupply of Syria and Egypt by the Soviet Union.

The request I am submitting today would give us the essential flexibility to continue meeting those responsibilities.