US Presidency
1980

But when a man who hopes to be President says, Take this treaty, discard it, do not vote, do not debate, do not explore the issues, do not finally capitalize on this long negotiation ' that is a very dangerous and disturbing thing. MR. SMITH. Governor Reagan, you have an opportunity to rebut that. GOVERNOR REAGAN. Yes, I'd like to respond very much. First of all, the Soviet Union'if I have been critical of some of the previous agreements, it's because we've been outnegotiated for quite a long time. And they have managed, in spite of all of our attempts at arms limitation, to go forward with the biggest military buildup in the history of man. Now, to suggest that because two Republican Presidents tried to pass the SALT treaty'that puts them on its side'I would like to say that President Ford, who was within 90 percent of a treaty that we could be in agreement with when he left office, is emphatically against this SALT treaty.