Message to the Congress Transmitting Annual Report of the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.

To the Congress of the United States:

The report which I transmit to you covers the activities of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency during the calendar year 1970. It is noteworthy that this is the Agency's Tenth Annual Report; it marks a decade of diligent pursuit of arms control and disarmament.

I have set as my goal the attainment of a generation of peace. I believe that arms control presents both a necessary and a promising road towards a stable, secure world in which true peace can exist. There are many problems to be solved and the answers will not come easily, but with determination and perseverance, we can prevail.

For the first time, a realistic dialogue is taking place between the Soviet Union and ourselves about the management of our strategic relations. The mutuality of interests which brought us to the table encourages our hope that the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks will succeed. I am heartened by the work which has already been done, and I am hopeful that the constructive nature of the exchange will continue in Phase IV of SALT, which resumes in Vienna in March.

During the past year, another arms control measure was added to the growing number which have emerged from international negotiations. A treaty banning weapons of mass destruction from the ocean floor was successfully negotiated, thus expanding still farther the areas and environments in which nuclear weapons are precluded.

These and other efforts in the arms control field are described in the accompanying report. Progress is not always dramatic, but the direction is sure. My Administration is dedicated to finding better, safer, and cheaper alternatives for insuring our security than the expedient of competition in weaponry.

RICHARD NIXON

The White House

March 15, 1971