The truth of the matter is that Europe's requirements for the next three or four years of foreign food and other essential products — principally from America — are so much greater than her present ability to pay that she must have substantial additional help, or face economic, social, and political deterioration of a very grave character.…
— Secretary of State George Marshall, Remarks at Harvard University Commencement, June 5, 1947

Which evidence best supports the claim made by George Marshall in this document?
A. providing economic assistance to struggling European nations
B. allowing European workers to settle in the United States
C. installing democratic governments in the nations of Western Europe
D. strengthening European military defenses