Evening star., 1961-02-08

~ NO yOSGOUtHy 10 u sITUHS
script OF President Kennedy's
peiDs conference today:
THE PRESIDENT: GOO
morning. I have several an
Iiolmcements. One, / would lik
to announce that I have invitet
the Prime Minister of Canada
the Right Honorable JohI
Dtefenbaker, to make q brie
visit to Washington on Mon
day. February 20, for discus
sion of matters of mutual in,
tereSt to our two countries.
I4rticularly am glad he is com
ing. We will hold q luncheon
in his honor at the White
House, and I think it Is mos
important that harmoniou
relations exist between two ole
friends, and therefore I an
glad to have this chance to visii
with the Prime Minister.
Secondly, I do want to say
q word OF two about NATO
This is our central and most
important defensive alliance
but in the larger sense it is
much more. The members OF
NATO must be leaders also in
and out of NATO itself in such
great causes as the integration
ct Europe, and the cooperative
development of new nations
We, for our part, mean to 60
on as full and energetic part
ners in NATO, and in particular
we wish to maintain our mill
tary strength in Europe. Sec
retary Rusk is making an es-
pecially careful study of our
policy in this great organiza-
ton, and I am delighted to say
that he will have the help not
only Of Ambassador Finletter
but Of an advisory group under
the direction of one of the true
founders of NATO, a distin-
guished former Secretary OF
State, Mr.. Dean Acheson.
Sets Up Child Center
Three. with the approval oi
Secretary Ribicoff, I am di-
recting the Surgeon General
to organize and establish with
in the Public Health Service a
Child Health Center, to deal
with the special health prob
lens Of children. This is a
matter Of particular interest
to me. Some 400, 900 babies are
born each year with congenital
maHormations, and I don't
think as a country nationally,
as a matter Of fact I don't
think probably privately, we
have done enough on research
into the causes Of mental re-
tardation. While a good deal
Of effort is being expended in
this country for the care of
these children, I do think it is
most important that we devote
special effort in the coming
months and years to research
in the causes Of it. I am, there
fore, delighted that we are
going to proceed ahead with
Gov. Ribicoff's strong suppol t.
missile Gap" Query
O. Mr.. President, there ha.
arisen in the past "a hours, a
somewhat hard-to-understand
situation concerning the mis-
sile gap. An official of your
administration, who Is identi-
fled in some newspapers this
morning as Secretary McNa-
mara, has been quoted as say
ing that the missile gap which
was expected and talked about
so much did not exist, nor did
he see prospect of it.
Your press secretary yester-
day afternoon denied this story
Now, I wonder if you can set
the record clear, if you can tel
us your version Of what Secre-
tary Mcnamara said, and how
and where does it exist?
A. My only conversation with
Mr.. Mcnamara was not at any
off-the-record meeting, if such
a meeting took place, but was
in a conversation which I had
with him yesterday afternoon
after the reports appeared.
No Study Concluded
Mr.. Mcnamara stated that
no study had been concluded
in the Defense Department
which would lead to any con-
clusion at this time as to
whether there is a missile gar
or not. In addition, I talked
this morning to Mr.. Hitch, who
is the controller Of the Defense
Department, who has been
given the responsibility by the
Secretary of Defense to con-
duct a review Of your strategic
Heapons. in the same way that
MIR. Nitze is conducting a re-
view OF our tactical weapons
Mr.. Hitch informed me that nc
study had been completed or
this matter.
He hoped to have a prelimi-
nary study completed by Feb
ruary 20, but he did tell me
quite specifically that as OF
today he is not prepared to
make a Judgment as to our ca
pacity in strategic weapons.
There are complicated prob
ems involved. We have the
realization that the United
States will not strike first, and
therefore, we have to consider
what will be available to the
United States II an attack took
place upon us, not only in mis-
siles, but also in the other arms
OF our arsenal. SAC, the Navy
Polaris and all the rest.
Budget Study
So I think, in answer to your
question, the study has not
been completed, and 1t has not
come, therefore, across my desk
There will be a study of how