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

To the Congress of the United States:

There is no more important responsibility for me as President than ensuring the safety and security of our nation. Like Presidents before me, I am meeting this responsibility: ( 1 ) by maintaining sufficient military forces to protect ourselves and our Allies; and (2) by seeking equitable and verifiable arms control measures to reduce the risk of war. The attached report is a summary of the actions taken through the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in 1978 toward this latter goal.

The SALT process, which has been carried forward by four Administrations since 1967, is the most fundamental of our arms control efforts. A SALT II agreement to limit strategic offensive weapons will serve as the linchpin of all of our other arms control efforts, including: SALT III, where we hope to achieve further strategic arms limitations; a ban on tests of nuclear explosives; mutual and balanced force reductions in Europe; limitations on antisatellite capabilities, chemical weaponry, and conventional arms transfers; and prevention of nuclear weapons proliferation.

To prevent war—and to redirect the resources of nations from arsenals of war to human needs—will be a formidable challenge to all mankind in this last quarter of the 20th Century. It is a challenge that I am determined to meet.

JIMMY CARTER

The White House,

April 23, 1979.