In 1956, the Senate conducted a study of foreign aid with the help of input from a number of independent experts, including a notable report from the MIT professors Max Millikan and Walt Rostow. The resulting 1959 amendment to the Mutual Security Act declared that development in low-income regions was a U.S. objective along with and additional to other foreign-policy interests, attempting thus to clarify development assistance's relationship with the effort to contain Communism.
In 1957, the Development Loan Fund was established within ICA to manage ICA's portfolio of loans for development projects. In 1959, the Development Loan Fund became an independent agency. [22]