Date: 1983-10-17
Speaker: JOHN MCCAIN (republican)
Chamber: S

and JOHN PORTER. sponsored a build down measure in the House of Representatives which. in the course of a few days. received significant support in that body. As the debate over the MX missile system heightened. the build down became part of a broader approach to weapons modernization and arms control. In the House of Representatives. Members such as Congressmen ALBERT GORE. LES AsPIN. and NORM Dicxs continued to offer fresh and innovative ideas on force planning and arms control. In the wake of pressure from both congressional bodies and from Members on both sides of the aisle. the administration undertook to modify its START position. develop a build down proposal. move forward on a small. single warhead ICBM. and create a durable. bipartisan arms control paniel. During the summer. numerous meetings were held with administration officials to develop a meaningful build down proposal. This was a difficult process which. frankly. became mired at times in bureaucratic quicksand. Last month. Senator NUmN. Senator PERCY. and I decided to make a final attempt at invigorating the process. We chose the medium of the Scowcroft Commission. which has been so helpful last spring In moving the administration toward a useful melding of arms control and weapons modernization. In a letter to General Scowcroft. we suggested a broad approach which incorporated the thinking and Ideas of a number of Congressmen and Senators. military specialists. and the stated concerns of administration off iciais. We noted that. If the Reagan Administration and the Congress can agree on a sensible strategic program and on a coordinated. reasonable approach towards arms control. we will demonstrate that we have the political cohesion and the longterm bipartisan commitment needed to maintain our strength and reduce the risk of nuclear war. We outlined our approach in seven principles which offered the nearterm benefits of the build down conceptImmediate reductions as the price for modernizationand a longer term approach to resolving the major differences between the United States and the Soviet Union on strategic arms control. We recognized that to be negotiable. any proposal to the Soviets would have to offer meaningful restraints on strategic bombers. an area in which the two countries are likely to modernize significantly in the next decade. To deal with bomber forces equitably and effectively will require important negotiating breakthroughs. The mimsile throw weight question has been a major stumbling block in START. By proposing meaningful limits in the area where the United States enjoys a substantial and increasing advantagethe bomber forcewe believed that the United States could extract reductions in the area where the Soviets hold a substantial leadmissile throw weight. Senator NUNN. Senator PERCY. and I felt that the approach we suggested reflected. In addition to our own thinking. the ideas and views of congressional colleagues who we believed were on parallel tracks in their deadlings with the administration.. To merge these tracks. we held a series of meetings with Congressmen GORE. AsPIN. and Dicas. What emerged was a unified approach which we felt could lead to a broad congressional consensus behind an arms control package the President could sent to Geneva for negotiation in START. This type of support. we believed. would significantly strengthen the credibility and effectiveness of U.S. negotiators by making clear to the Soviet Union that the U.S. proposal had strong. broad support in the U.S. Congress. Our group of six developed a set of principles which were specific enough to clearly reflect the thrust of the groups thinking. but general enough to allow flexibility in implementing the approach in negotiations with the Soviet Union. We met with General Scowcroft and. subsequently. with Judge Clark to present these ideas. In a series of intensive meetings over the past week. the details were worked out and presented to President Reagan. who endorsed the principles advanced by the group of six. During this process. General Scowcroft proved again why he is. in my view. a national asset. He listened carefully to all views and stepped in at critical moments to bridge differences and keep the process moving forward. Ultimately. it was President Reagans personal Involvement which insured thle success of the endeavor. He made clear. over the objections of many within the administration. that he supported the approach. and he met personally with our congressional group to insure that agreement was reached. His actions demonstrated his sincere commitment to promoting stability through reasonable and meaningful arms control measures. Ile recognizes that this requires flexibility by both sides and. In his Rose Garden statement to the departing START delegation. explicitly offered to meet Soviet concerns: We seek limits on the destructive capability of missiles and recognize that the Soviet Union would seek limits on bombers In exchange. There will have to be tradeoffs and the United States is prepared to make them. so long as they result In a more stable balance of forces. This is a significant and. in my view. courageous step. and I sincerely hope the Soviet Union will realize that. as President Reagan said. "The door to an agreement Is open." Mr. President. in these troubled times I am reluctant to take an optimistic stance on the prospects for achieving an arms control breakthrough with the Soviet Union. I must say. however. that the proposal Ambassador Rowny is carrying with him to Geneva contains the basis for real progress. I look now to the Soviet Union to study the proposal carefully. recognize the flexibility it displays. and negotiate toward an agreement which will significantly reduce the threat of a nuclear holocaust. The U.S. Government has shown In these proposals its willingness to look beyond the Immediate tensions in SovietAmerican relations and to focus on the longterm interests of both sides in a durable arms control regime. I hope that the Soviet Government. likewise. will rise above the frictions of the day and receive these fresh initiatives with a similar recognition that they open the way to an equitable agreement serving the security interests of both our peoples. Mr. President. I ask that the text of Presidehit Reagans Rose Garden statement and a factsheet released by the administration be printed in the RECORD. TEXT OF REMARKS BY THE PnRcsllENT ON THE STRATEGIC ARms REDUcTioNS TALKtS Liter today. Ambassador Ed Rowny and the other members of the START delegation will depart for Geneva for thle opening of the fifth round of the Strategic Arms Reductions Talks. They will carry with them a new set of Instructions. From the first day of these negotiations. our highest goal has been to achieve a stable balance at reduced levels of nuclear arsenals. We want to reduce the weapons of war. pure and simple. All our effortsin both the START and the INF negotiationscontinue to be guided by that objective. Just this morning. I repeated this commltment to President Carstens of the Federal Republic of Ciermany. As I pledged to the United Nations. the United States will accept an equitable. verifiable agreement that stabilizes forces at lower levels than currently exist. We want significant reductions and that pledge stands. In the last round of negotiations. we proposed a number of new Initiatives which were in harmony with the recommendations of the Presidential Commission on Strategic Forces. and which provided additional flexibility to our negotiators. Those initiatives supported our basic goals and they also responded to a number of Soviet concerns. I deeply regret that the Soviet Union has yet to give any significant response. Throughout the negotiating process. it is the United States who has had to push. pull. probe and prod In the effort to achieve any progress. The heartfelt desire shared by people everywhere for an historic agreement dramatically reducing nuclear weapons could. and indeed. will be achieved. provided one condition changes: The Soviet Government must start negotiating in good faith. Let me emphasize that the United States has gone the extra mile. We have removed the dividing line between the two phases of our original proposal. Everything is on the table. We are still most concerned about limits on the fastflying. most dangerous systems. But we are also prepared to negotiate limits on bomber and air launched cruise missile limits below SALT 11 levels. We have shown great flexibility in h.ealing with the destructive capability of ballistic missiles. Including their throwweight. We have alho relaxed our limits on the number of ballistic missiles. We have gone a very long way to address Soviet concerns. But tile Soviets have yet to take their first meaningful step to address ours. Particularly in the INF talks. but also In START. they have been stonewalling our proposals. When we proposed confidence building measures that could be agreed to right now. they said. wait. Apparently they believe that time is on their side. that they can exploit one democracy against another. and that their uncompromising attitude and delay will ultimately win out. Well. we will prove them wrong. The diversity of our democracies is a source of strength. not weakness. From free discussion among free people comes unity and commitment. Thle sooner this Is understood. the sooner we will reach an agreement in the interests of both sides. We will continue to press Moscow for an equitable. fair. and verifiable agreement. When the START negotiations resume tomorrow. thle United States delegation will again hftve substantial flexibility. Within the framework of thle basic principles that have guided us throughout these negotiations. I am directing Ambassador Rowny to offer the following new initiatives. Wie are incorporating Into START a series of builddown proposals. The United States will Introduce a proposal for a mutual. guaranteed builddown designed to encourage stabilizing systems. The proposal will include specific provisions for building down ballistic missile warheads. and concurrently. for addressing a parallel builddown onl bombers. To discuss these major new initiatives. we will also propose the establishment of a U.S.-Soviet "builddown" working group In the Geneva talks. On another front. and in our effort. again. to be absolutely as flexible as possible. we will be willing to explore ways to further limit the size and capability of airlaunched cruise missile forces. In exchange for reciprocal Soviet flexibility onl items of concern to us. We seek limits on the destructive capability of missiles and recofenize that the Soviet Union would seek limits on bombers In exchange. There will have to be tradeoffs and tile United States Is prepared to mike thenm so long as9 they result in a M~ore stable balance of forces. The Soviet Union should not doubt the bipartisan support for our efforts. During our review process. I looked for ways to broaden Americas bipartisan approach to our overall arms control effort. We have consulied with many Members of the Congress and again with the Commission headed by Brent. Scowerof I. Their counsel has been invaluable. and I want to thank them for their tireless efforts and helpful advice. A solid natidnal bipartisan consensus. sustained from year to year and from adininistration to administration. is crucial If we arc to keep America safe and secure. and If we are to achieve successful arms reductions. Therefore. I have decided to take a number of new steps. Among these are to designate a member- of the Scowcroft Commission. James Wolsey. as a memberatlarge to our START negotiations. These actions reflect Americas democratlc process at its best. Ambassador Rowny. as you and your team depart for Geneva. you go with the certain knowledge that you are negotiating with the full support of the American people. Our bipartisan support is stronger than ever before. And you carry with you fair. equitable proposals. proposals that are In the Interest of both nations and all humankind. It is fitting today to repeat what I said last week: The door to an agreement is open. All the world is waiting for the Soviet Union to walk through. Should the Soviet leadership decide to join us now In our good faith effort. the fifth round of these negotiations will be the one in which. finally. a breakthrough was made. and finally the world began to breathe a hit easier. To the entire START Delegation. Godspeed and good luck.