United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency Message to the Congress Transmitting a Report.
To the Congress of the United States:
I am pleased to transmit to you the annual report for 1979 of the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Over the past few years SALT has tended to dominate our thinking about the arms control activities of the United States. It is one of many arms control endeavors which this report will describe.
Last June in Vienna, I signed the SALT II Treaty with Soviet President Brezhnev and submitted it for the Senate's advice and consent to ratification. Since that time, SALT has been the subject of an intense national debate and of hearings by three committees of the Senate. In November, the Committee on Foreign Relations reported the Treaty favorably to the Senate.
After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, however, I asked that the Senate delay consideration of the SALT II Treaty on the floor so that the Congress and the executive branch can devote our primary attention to the legislative and other matters required to respond to this crisis. But I intend to ask the Senate to take up this treaty after these more urgent matters have been dealt with. As I said to you in my State of the Union address, "especially now in a time of great tension, observing the mutual constraints imposed by the terms of (such) treaties will be in the best interests of both countries and will help to preserve world peace." When the full Senate begins its debate on SALT II, I am convinced that those who are concerned about our national security will support the Treaty as a wise and prudent step.
This Administration continues to believe that arms control can make genuine contributions to our national security. We remain deeply committed to the process of mutual and verifiable arms control, particularly to the effort to prevent the spread and further development of nuclear weapons.
Those of you who have an opportunity to read and reflect upon the attached report will find a compelling case for the importance of the work described—to us, our allies, and those who look to us for leadership in the world. We must diligently pursue negotiated, verifiable solutions to the many arms races upon which nations are now embarked. We must be prepared to work with others to bring peace and stability to the world.
While we depend upon the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, the Department of Defense and other agencies to be vigilant in their duties, none of us should forget the danger that confronts us all individually and collectively, and that threatens us as a sovereign nation and as a part of the world of nations.
JIMMY CARTER
The White House,
March 7, 1980.
Jimmy Carter, United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency Message to the Congress Transmitting a Report. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/249907