SEPTEMBER 8, 1961

PAGE 18754

CREATION OF U.S. AGENCY FOR ARMS CONTROL AND DISARMAMENT

Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I rise to add my support for the bill S. 2180, which will create a new Agency for Arms Control and Disarmament.

The United States has been meeting with the Soviet Union and other countries for many years now in an effort to work out effective and workable arms control and disarmament agreements. Progress has yet to be made. The main obstacle has been the lack of willingness on the part of the Soviet Union to accept reasonable and effective controls. But there also has been an obstacle in that the United States has not been well prepared always for the disarmament negotiations.

We have often been disorganized in our efforts. Occasionally different agencies have not agreed as to what our policy should be, and in the absence of any coordinating agency to work out our policy the United States has often appeared indecisive. Furthermore, we have not pursued an aggressive information program to carry our story on disarmament to the nations of the world. As a result the picture has sometimes been blurred as to what our policy was.

The bill before us today presents us with an opportunity to remedy some of the problems which I have just described. This bill sets up an agency, under the direction of the Secretary of State, to assure that the United States will be well prepared for the disarmament negotiations of the future.

The bill will establish a group within the Government with the responsibility of coordinating disarmament policy. The executive branch will now be equipped to do the necessary research, policy planning, and coordination to the end that the chances for progress toward arms control and disarmament may be increased. Our policy machinery will now be modernized. We should now be in a position to formulate effective policies and present them in a clear and forthright manner to the nations of the world.