Question: Who was it who proffered American aid in order to help European recovery and reconstruction?
About the article "Marshall Plan", section "The Speech".

Candidate passages:
"On the Road" portrays the story of a fierce personal quest for meaning and belonging.
This comes at an interesting point in American history when conformity was praised and outsiders were suspect.
The Beat Generation arose out of a time of intense conflict, both internally and externally.
The issues of the Cold War, the Second Red Scare and McCarthyism took center stage of the cultural arena in the 1950s.
As the U.S government cracked down on left-wing influences at home and abroad, the sentiment of unifying and banding together led to extreme measures of censorship and control.
The Cold War was the backdrop for this fight.
In a short time after defeating Germany, the Soviet Union fell from ally to threat in the eyes of the United States.
In the postwar reconstruction process, the two powers found themselves continually at odds.
The sentiment arose clearly as a struggle between two opposing ways of life.
Contention over Soviet support for alleged communist revolution in Iran, then Turkey and Greece, led to the American policy of containment and the Truman Doctrine.
Before a joint session of Congress on March 12, 1947, President Harry S. Truman stated, "I believe it must be the policy of the United States to support the people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures."
That summer, Secretary of State George C. Marshall proposed a plan for the economic reconstruction of Europe.
While Western European countries planned how to go about rebuilding with American help, the Soviets walked away and forced the Eastern European countries to do the same.
A Soviet aid and recovery plan followed for these countries and would mark the beginning of a punch and counterpunch pattern that would typify the early years of the Cold War.
This laid a foundation for the tension that would define the period. 
The reconstruction plan, developed at a meeting of the participating European states, was established on June 5, 1947.
It offered the same aid to the Soviet Union and its allies, but they did not accept it, as to do so would be to allow a degree of US control over the Communist economies.
During the four years that the plan was operational, US donated $15 billion in economic and technical assistance to help the recovery of the European countries that had joined in the Organization for European Economic Co-operation.
In 2013, the equivalent sum reflecting currency inflation since 1948 totalled roughly $148 billion.
The $15 billion was in the context of a US GDP of $258 billion in 1948, and was on top of $15 billion in American aid to Europe between the end of the war and the start of the Plan that is counted separately from the Marshall Plan.
The Marshall Plan was replaced by the Mutual Security Plan at the end of 1951.
The ERP addressed each of the obstacles to postwar recovery.
The plan looked to the future, and did not focus on the destruction caused by the war.
Much more important were efforts to modernize European industrial and business practices using high-efficiency American models, reducing artificial trade barriers, and instilling a sense of hope and self-reliance.
By 1952, as the funding ended, the economy of every participant state had surpassed pre-war levels; for all Marshall Plan recipients, output in 1951 was at least 35% higher than in 1938.
Over the next two decades, Western Europe enjoyed unprecedented growth and prosperity, but economists are not sure what proportion was due directly to the ERP, what proportion indirectly, and how much would have happened without it.
A common American interpretation of the program's role in European recovery is the one expressed by Paul Hoffman, head of the Economic Cooperation Administration, in 1949, when he told Congress that Marshall aid had provided the "critical margin" on which other investment needed for European recovery depended.
The Marshall Plan was one of the first elements of European integration, as it erased trade barriers and set up institutions to coordinate the economy on a continental level — that is, it stimulated the total political reconstruction of western Europe.
Belgian economic historian Herman Van der Wee concludes the Marshall Plan was a "great success": "It gave a new impetus to reconstruction in Western Europe and made a decisive contribution to the renewal of the transport system, the modernization of industrial and agricultural equipment, the resumption of normal production, the raising of productivity, and the facilitating of intra-European trade."
Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi refused foreign aid for the emergency, saying that Italians were "proud people" and had sufficient resources to deal with the crisis.
However he singled out the United States, announcing that he would accept aid for reconstruction: "If the United States wants to give a tangible sign of its solidarity with Italy, it could take on the responsibility of rebuilding heritage sites and churches.
We would be very happy to have this support."
and suggested the USA help rebuild "a small district of a town or a suburb".
Aid was offered by Austria, Brazil, Croatia, the European Union, France, Germany, Spain, Greece, Slovakia, Israel, Portugal, Iran, Macedonia, Mexico,Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Tunisia, theTurkish Red Crescent, Ukraine, and the United States.
Aid was also offered by various organisations, companies, sport clubs and celebrities including ACF Fiorentina, Carla Bruni, Madonna, S.S.C.
Napoli, Zastava and Fiat.
On Friday 20 November 2009 in Bruxelles, Pawel Samecki and Guido Bertolaso who, at that time, were European Commissioner for Regional Policy and commander in chief of the Italian Civil Protection department respectively, signed an agreement to destine 493,7 millions of euros from EU solidarity fund to help reconstruction in Abruzzo 
The Costa Rican Red Cross sent 400 personnel to assist in the recovery.
The agency said, "Some 42 communities were affected and sustained serious impacts on civil and electrical infrastructure... are going to need a lot of help.
"Four helicopters were also dispatched in order to help aid efforts.
The "" (National Emergency Commission) requested private helicopters to help with the aid.
Additionally, the United States and Colombia dispatched helicopters with aid to assist with the relief and recovery efforts.
About 2,000 aftershocks were felt throughout Costa Rica.
On January 12, President Oscar Arias declared a five day period of national grieving out of respect for the victims, and asked the organizers of the "Fiestas de Palmares" to postpone them.
On January 13, the Banco de Costa Rica announced that it would offer home financing credit to homeowners who want to rebuild or fix their home. 
Response by intergovernmental organizations.EU.
In early January 2010 the EU released €3 m in emergency funding.
The European Council and its member nations later announced more than €429 million () in emergency humanitarian aid, rehabilitation aid and medium-to long-term reconstruction aid.
The aid was to be provided as detailed: Humanitarian Assistance The EU pledged €122 million in humanitarian assistance:Emergency relief aid package: €30 million (incl.
a €3 million ECHO fast-track decision).
Commission funds were to be distributed via UN agencies, international NGOs and the Red Cross.€92 million from member countries.
Support for Early Recovery and Reinforcing State Capacity.
The European Commission pledged to provide €100 million for short term recovery and rehabilitation.
Reconstruction and Rehabilitation.
The European Commission pledged to provide €200 million from the 10th and 9th EDF funds for Haiti.
They would be in addition to bilateral contributions from EU Member States' budgets.
The European Union thus pledged at least €429 million to Haiti in both emergency and humanitarian aid to help the medium and long term work of rebuilding the country devastated by the earthquake.
In addition, the 27 countries decided to send some 150 troops from the European Gendarmerie to ensure that humanitarian aid would reach the people affected by the earthquake.
The financial contribution of the EU as a whole totaled €429 million, broken down as: €92 million coming from contributions made by Member States, €30 million from the European Commission itself, €107 million from existing EU funds that were being redirected to Haiti, and another €200 million shuffled for the medium and long term rehabilitation.