TRANSCRIPT OF REAGAN'S SPEECH ON SOVIET-AMERICAN RELATIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505370063-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 13, 2010
• Sequence Number: 63
• Publication Date: January 17, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

L I
L. .1
- Approved For Release 2010/09/13: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505370063-4
THg NEW YO* TIMES, TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 198*
of Reagan's Speech\on SovietAmerican Relations
olio,Wing is a tranicript of Presi,dpnt Reagan's foreign policy addresS at
ite House yesterday, as recorded by The New York Times:
During ,the first days of 1984. r 1 our two societies and our philoso-
.votild like to share with you and the Odes, but we should always remem-
PonIP of the world my thoughts on a , tqer that we do have common inter-
.
subject of great importance to the ests. And the foremost among them is
???" Cause of peace -4 relations between to avoid War and reduce the level of
the, United States and the. Soviet arms,
, Union. ? - There is no rational alternative but
" Tomorrow, the United States will to steer a course which I would call
join the Soviet Union and 33 other na.4 r credible deterrence and peaceful
tient' at a European disarmament competition. And if we do so, we
conference in Stockholm. ,The confer might find" areas in which we could
enCe Will search for practical and , engage in constructiveriooperation.
meaningful ways to increase Euro. Our strength and vision of progress
peen security and preserve pea* provide the basis' for demonstrating
We will be in Stockholm with the with equal conviction our commit.
heartfelt wishes of our people, for ment to stay secure and to find peace.
genuineprogress. We live in agnieof ful solutions to problems through ne-
chalfepgeS to peace but also of oppor- gotiations. ???
tunities to Peace,' ? r ? That's why 1984 is a year of oppor-
Throttgh timet of difficulty and - tunities for peace. But if the United
frustration America's highest aspire- * States and the Soviet Union are to rise
don has never Wavered: We haye and ?. to the challenges facing us, seize the
will continue to struggle for a lasting' opportunities for peace, we must do
peace that enhances dignity for men more to find areas of mutual interest
and women everYwhere- r and then build on them. 0
_ I believe that 1914 fiP4theUnitel
StateC in the strongest position in 3 Problem Areas
years to establish a constructive and ?
realistic working relationship with I propose that our Governments
the Soviet Union. We've come a king make a major effort to see if we can
way since" the decade of the 70's, make progress in three broad prob.
years when the United Stated seemed tem' areas,
filled with self-doubt ,and neglected First, we need to find ways to re.
its defenses while the Soviet Union in. duce anl eventually to eliminate the
creased RS military might and sought threat and use of force in solving in.
to expand its influence - by armed ternational disputes. The world has
forces and at, witnessed more than 100 major con.
Over the last ZO year", the Soviets Meta since the end of World War II.
devoted twice as much of their gross Today there are armed conflicts in
national product tb military expend.- the Middle East, Afghanistan, South-
itures as the United States, produced east Asia, Central America and At.
six times as many ICBM's, four times rica. In other regions, independent
as many tanks, twice as many coin,, nations are confronted by heavily
at aircraft. And they began deploy- armed neighbors seeking to dominate
ing the SS-20 intermediate-range rms.- by threatening attack or subversion.
sue at a time when the United States , Most of; these conflicts have their
had no tomparabIe weapon, t origins in local problems, but many
History teaches that wars begin have been exploited by the Soviet
When governments believe the price ? Union and its surrogates. And of
of aggression is cheap. To Itee.p the course, Afghanistan has suffered an,
peace, ? we and our allies must be outright Soviet invasion. ?
strong enough to convince any poten- Fueling regional conflicts and ex.
tial aggressor that war could bring no porting violence only exacerbate
, benefit, only disaster. So, when we ne- local tensions, increase suffering and
glected our defenses, the 'risks of sed. make solutions to real social and eco-
ous confrontation grew. ? - -?? nomic problems more difficult.
Further, such activity carries with
Change in V.S. Course it the risk of larger confrontations.
Would it not be better and safer if we
, Three- Years ago, we embraced a could work together toail-lit people'
mandate from ,the American people in areas of conflict in finding peaceful
to change course. And we have. With ' solutions to their problems. That
the support of the American people should be our mutual goal.
and the Congress, we halted Amen- But we must recognize that the gap
ca's decline. Our economy is now in in American and Soviet perceptions
the midst of the best recovery since and policy is so great that our un-
the 60's. Our defenses are being re- mediate objective must be more mod:
built, our alliances are solid and our est.'
commitment to defend our values has As a first step, our Governments
never been more clear, should jointly examine concrete ac.
America's recovery may have tions that; we both can take to reduce
taken Soviet leaders by surprise, the risk of U.S.-Soviet confrontation
- They may have counted on us to keep in these areas. And if we succeed, we,
weakening ourselves. They've been should he able to move beyond this
saying for years that our demise was immediate objective.
inevitable. They said it so often they Our second task should be to find
probably started believing it. Well, it ways to reduce the vast stockpiles of
so, I think they can see now they were armaments in the world. It's tragic to
,wrong. see the, world's developing nations
This may be the reason that we've spending more than $150 billion a
been hearing such strident rhetoric year on armed forces, Some 20 per.
from the Kremlin recently. These cent of their national budgets.
harsh words have led smile to speak We must find ways to reverse the
of heightened uncertainty and an in. vicious cycle of threat and response
creased danger of conflict. This is un- which drives arms races everywhere
derstandable but profoundly mistak- it occurs.
en. ,
Look beyond the words and one fact U.S. Stockpile Declines -
stands out. America's deterrence is
more credible, and it is making the With regard to nuclear weapons,
world a safer place. Safer because the simple truth is America's total
now there is less danger that the nuclear stockpile has declined. Today
Soviet leadership will underestimate we have far fewer nuclear weapons
qur strength or question our resolve. - than we had 20 years ago. And in
' Yes, we are safer now. But to say _terms of its tote/ destructive power,
that our restored deterrence has our nuclear stockpile is at the lowest
made the world safer is not to say that level in 25 years.
it's safe enough. We're witnessing Just three months ago, we and our
tragic conflicts in many parts of the allies agreed to withdraw 1,400 nu-
world. Nuclear arsenals are far too clear weapons from Western Europe
high, and our working relationship This comes after the withdrawal of
with the Soviet Union is not what it 1,000 nuclear weapons from Europe
must be. three years ago. Even if all our
These are conditions which must be planned Litermediate-range missiles -
addressed and improved. Deterrence have to be deployed in Europe over -
is essential to preserve peace and the next five years ? and We hope this
f. protect our way of life, but deterrence will not be necessary we would
is not the beginning and end of, our have eliminated five existing nuclear
policy toward the Soviet Union. weapons for each ney weapon de.
, We must and will engage the Sovi- ployed.
ets in a dialogue as serious and con- - But this is not enough. We must ac-
structive as possible, a dialogue that celerate our efforts to reach agree-
will serve to promote peace in the ments that will greatly reduce nu-
, troubled regions of the world, reduce, clear arsenals, provide greater
the level of arms and build a con. stability and build confidence.
structive working relationship. Our turd task is to establish abet-
Neither we nor the Soviet Union can ter working relath?nship with each
wish away the differences between other, one marked by greater cooper-
,
,
I I, , The New York Times/ Paul Ilinefros
Edwin Meese 3d, right, the Presidenes Counselor, talking with Gen. John W. Vessey Jr., Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, ifter the President'S address yesterday. Behind them is Energy Secretary Donald P. Node!.
,
, -
ation and underitanding, Cooperation 'conflict could well be mankiiid's last.
and undersarlding are built on deeds, q And that is why I proposed over two
not words. Complying with agree- years ago the zero option for inter-
ments helps; violating them hurte, mediate-range missiles. Our aim was
Respecting the rights of individual' 7;?: and continues to be to eliminate an
citizens bolsters the relationship; entire class of nuclear arms. Indeed,
denying these rights harms it. Ex- I support a zero option for all nuclear
pending contacts across borders and arms. As I've said before, my dream
permitting a free exchange Or inter- , is to see the day when nuclear wean-
change of information and ideas in- ons will be banished from the face of
crease confidence; sealing off one's the earth.
people from the rest of the world re- Last month, the Soviet Defense
duces it. Peaceful trade helps, while Minister -stated that his country
organized theft of industrial secrets ';',would do everything to avert the
certainly hurts,- - - threat of war. Well, these are encotn.
Cooperation and understanding are, aging words?, but now is the time to
especially important to arms control. Move from words to deeds, The op..
Ii recent years, we've had serious poftunity for progress in arms control
concerns about Soviet compliance exists. The Soviet leaders should take
with agreements and treaties. Corn,-: advantage of it.
pliance is important because we seek, We have proposed a set of ipitia-
truly effective arms control. * tives that would reduce substantially
However, there's been mounting nuclear arsenals and reduce the risk
evidence that provisiond of agree. . of nuclear confrontation. The world
raents have been violated and that a& regrets -; certainly we do -- that the
vantage has been taken of ambigtV Soviet Union broke off negotiations on
ties in our agreements. intermediate-range nuclear forces
In response to a Congressional ret and has not set a date for the resump-
qUest, a report on this will be submit- tion of the talks on strategic arms and
e ext few, ys. It is cleat
that we cannot simply assume that
agreements negotiated will be ful-
il ed. We must take the Soviet 0)112t. ward agreetnentS Start and
? pliance record into account, both in M.B.F.R. We will negotiate in good
the development or out defense pro- faith. Whenever the Soviet Union is
grain and in our approach to erma ready to do likewise, we'll meet thein
control. - ; halfway,
In out discussions with the Soviet We seek to reduce nuclear arsenals
Union, we will work to remove the oh- and to reduce the chances for danger-
stacles which threaten to undermine 0118 misunderstanding and miscalcu-
, existing agreements and the broader latice. So we have put forward
arms control proceia, / proposals for what we call confi-
- Examples I've cited illustrate why dence-building measures. They cover
our relationship with the Soviet Union a wide range of aCtivities.
is not what it should be.. We have a In the Geneva negotiations, we've
long way tq go, but we're determined proposed to exchange advance noti-
to
try and try again. We may hayefications of missile tests and major
start in small , ways, but start we military exercises. Following up on
on conventional forces in Europe.
Our negotiators are ready to return
to the negotiating table to work to-
must ' = ,Congressional suggestions, vire also
3 Principles T ProP9Sed a number of ways to int-
for ask prove direct channels of communica-
hon.
In working on these tasks,. our ap- Last week, we had productive dis-
proach is based bit three Vidlot Prin" cussions with the Soviets here in
ciples: realism, strength an dia., washington on improving communi.
'
logue. - - . , --cations, including the hotline. Now
Realism means we must start with these bilateral proposals will be
a clear-eyed understanding of the. r, broadened at the conference in Stock.
world w,e live tn. We must recOgnize holm. We're working with our allies
that we are in al long-term Competi- to develop practical, meaningful
tion with a Government that does not ways to reduce the uncertainty and
share our notions of individual liber-
', ties at hoine and, peaceful change potential for misinterpretation sur-
abroad. We must be frank in acknOwk-
i rounding military activities and to di-
edging our differences and unafraid minish the risk of surprise attack.
,
to rmote our values.
success y and protect our inter-
- ests. If we're weak, we can do nei- Arms control has long been the
ther. Strength is more than militar most visible area of U.S.-Soviet dia-
power. Economic strength is crucial',Logue. But a durable peace also re-
and America's economy is leading quires ways for both of us to defuse
the world' oth Eq,u II i tensions and regional conflicts.
tren le essential to negotiate What Soviet Could Do
recovery. 4 Y m-
portant is our strength of spirit and
? unity among our people at home and
with our allies ahrnad. ?
We're strenger in all these areas
than we were three years ago. Our
strength is necessary to deter war
and to facilitate negotiated solutions.
Soviet leaders know it makes sense to
compromise only if they Can get
something in return. But Arherica
can now offer something in return.
Strength and dialogue go hand in
hand. We're determined to deal with
our, differences peacefully through
negotiations. We're i3repared to dis-
cuss the problems that divide u$ and
to work for practical, fair solutions on
the basis of mutual compromise. We
will never retreat from negotiations.
I have openly expressed my view of
the Soviet system. I don't know why
this should come as a surprise to
Soviet leaders who've never shied
from expressing their view of our sys-
tem. But this doesn't mean that we
can't deal with each other,
: We don't refuse to talk when the
Soviets call us imperialist aggressors
and worse. Or because they cling to
the fantasy of, a Communist triumph
over democracy. The fact that nei-
ther of us likes the other's system is
no reason to refuse to talk. Living, in
this nuclear age makes it imperative
that we do talk.
What U.S. Js Proposing
Our commitment to dialogue is
firm and unshakeable, but we insist
that our negotiations deal with real
problems, not atmOspherics. In our
approach to negotiations, reducing
the risk of war, and especially nu-
clear war, is priority NO. I. A nuclear
The New York Times
Kenneth I. Adelman, director of Arms Control and Disarmament Agency,
a
talking with Dr. Fred C. Ikle, right, Under Secretary of Defense, before ad..
drest at the White House. Identit of man at left wainot known.,
?
Take the Middle 'East as an exam-
ple. Everyone's interest would be
served by stability in the region. And
our efforts are directed toward that
goal. The Soviets could help reduce
tensions there instead of introducing
sophisticated weapons into the area.
This would certainly help us to deal
more positively with other aspects of
our relationship.
Another major problem in our rela-
tionship with the Soviet Union is
human rights. Soviet practices in this
area, as much as any other issue,
have created the mistrust and ill will
that hangs over our relationship.
Moral considerations alone compel ,
us to express our deep concern over
prisoneri of conscience in the Soviet
Union and over the virtual halt in the
emigration of Jews, Armenians and
others who wish to joio their families
abroad.
Our request is simple and straight-
forward: that the Soviet Union live up
to its obligations. It has freely as-
sumed those obligations under inter-
national convenants, in particular, its
commitments under the Helsinki ac-
cords. Experience has shown that
greater respect for human rights can
contribute to progress in other areas
of the Soviet-American relationship.
2" Conflicts of interest- between the
United States and the Soviet Union
are real, but we can and must keep
the peace between our two nations
an?make it a better and More peace-
ful for all mankind. '
U.S. Policy on Soviet
Our policy toward the Sovie't Union,
a policy of credible deterrence,
peaceful competition and construc-.
tive cooperation, will serve our two
nations and People everywhere. It is a
policy not just for this year Nit for the
long term. It's a challenge for Ameri-
cans; it is also a challenge for the
Soviets.
If they cannot meet us halfway, we
,will be prepared to protect our inter-
ests and those of our friends and
allies. But we want more than deter-
rence. We seek genuine cooperation.
We seek progress for peace.
Cooperation begins with communi-
cation. As I've said, we'll stay at the
negotiating tables in Geneva and
Vienna.
Furthermore, Secretary Shultz will
be meeting this week with Soviet For-
eign Minister Gromyko in Stockholm.
This meeting should be followed by
others, so that high-level consulta-
tions become a. regujer and normal
component of U.S.-Soviet relations.
Our challenge is peaceful. It will
bring out the best in us. It also calls
for the best in the Soviet Union. We do
not threaten the Soviet Union, Free-
dom posTes- no threat; it is the lan-
guage of progress.
We proved this 35 years ago, when
we had a monopoly on nuclear weap-'
ons and could have tried to dominate
the world, but we didn't. Instead, we,
used our power to write a nevi chapter" ,
in the history of mankind.
We helped rebuild war-ravaged
economies in Europe and the Far
East, including those of nations who
had been our enemies. Indeed, those
former enemies are now among our
staunchest friends,
We can't predict how the Soviet
leaders will respond to our challenge.
But the people of our two countries
share with all mankind the dream of
eliminating the risk of nuclear war.'
It's not an impossible dream, because
eliminating these risks is so clearly a
vital interest for all of us.
Our two countries have never
fought each other. There's no reason
why we ever should. Indeed, we
fought common enemies in World
War II. Today, our common enetriles
are poverty, disease and, above'all,
war.
What Concerns People
More than 20 years ago, President
Kennedy defined an approach that is
as valid today as when he announced
it. "So let us not be blind to our differ-
ences," he said, "but let us also direct
attention to our common interests
and to the means by which those dif-
ferences can be resolved." ,
Well, those differences are differ-
ences in Government structure and
philosophy. The common interests
have to do with the things of everyday
life for people everywhere.
Just suppose with me for a momept
that an Ivan and an Anya could find ?
themselves, oh, say, in a waiting
room or sharing a shelter train the,
rain or a storm with a Jim and Sally.
And there was no language barrier to
keep them from getting acquainted.
Would they then debate the differ-
ences between their respective Gov-
ernments? Or would they find them-
selves comparing notes about their
children and what each other did for a
living? Before they parted company,
they would probably have touched on
ambitions and hobbies and what they
wanted for the children and problems
of making ends meet.
And as they went their separate ,
ways, maybe Alva would be saying to
Ivan: "Wasn't she nice. She also
teaches Music." And Jim would be
htealvlineg. dec
. a1lyjded
wthhaety Iwvaenredia,idiogoir dr,igidnt'ot
like about his boss. They Might even
get together for dinner some e'vening
Above all they would have proYen
wantt at to s ed e' maker children w r IP ve 00 pol de
withiut fear and without war. They '
want to have some of the good things
over and above bare subsistence that ?
make life worth living. They want to '
work at some craft, trade or prof6s-
sion that gives them satisfaction and '-
a sense of worth. Their common in-
terests cross all borders, ,
If the Seviet GoVerninent Wants
peace, then' there will be peace. To-
gether we can strengthen peace,re-
duce the level of arms and kno* in
that doing, so at we have helped, fulfill
the hopes and dreams of those we rep-
resent and, indeed, of people every-
- whLeerteus., be, gill now:
(
Spurious 'Veterans' of 1945
Cost Indonesia $120 Million
JAKARTA, Indonesia; Jan 16 (Rm. ,
ters) Tetia of thousands of people ,
falsely claiming to have taken part in'
Indonesia's struggle for independence
have cheated the Government of $120
million in pensions, a Government offi-
cial said today. -,
Maj. Gen. Kanter, head of the Gov-
ernment's anticorruption force, said he
ordered a halt to pension payments to
40,000 independence fighters after find-
ing out they had were fakes.
General Kanter said some 10,000
More would be dropped from the list of
pension recipients in the near future.
When Indonesia declared independ-
ence from the Netherlands in 1,945,
many people claiming to have taken
part in the independence struggle
registered with the new Indonesian
Army and became eligible for pensions
from the Government.
RO4g.Hon Glo.b.01,77.1(7.N0i41*
By WILLIAM E. FARRELL
Specfal to The New York Times
WASHINGTON,' Jan. 18? President
Reagan's speech on United States-
Soviet relations today was beamed by
satellite to American embassies
abroad, the latest example of the
United States Information Agency
reaching journalists in fOreign coun-
tries with the Administration's mes-
sage as it is being delivered.
. Mr. Reagan's speech went to what
the U.S.I.A. calls Euronet, a satellite
system that provides a direct relay to
embassies in Western European capi-
tals, The Euronet system, part of a
global communications effort called
Worldnet, now reaches London, Bonn,
Rome, The Hague, Paris, Geneva,
Stockholm and Brussels.
According to Al Snyder, the informa-
tion agency's director of television and
film, the operation will be expanded
next month to include the embassies in
Vienna, Madrid, Copenhagen and Oslo.
Each embassy receiving the relay
cart invite local reporters to attend the
telecast and, in some cases sect as two
last week, they are allowed to question
the speaker directly. ,
Shultz Used the New System
On Thursday, Secretary of State
George P. Shultz used the system to
discuss his forthcoming meeting in
Stockholm with Foreign Minister AA-
drei A. Gromyko of the Soviet Union.
The day before, the agency used the
system to televise a news conference
held by Henry A. Kissinger on the re-
port of his Central American cemmis-
sion.
U.S.I.A. also used a new Latin
American component of the system
relay the Kissinger news conference.
The Latin American network now
reaches the embassies in Boenes
Aires; Rio de Janeiro; Caracas, Vene-
zuela, and San ,Tose, Costa Rica.
For Mr. Kissinger's news confett there was simultaneous interpre-
tation into Spanish and, for the trans-
mission to Brazil, into Portuguese.
Questions train Latin American jour-
nalists were translated into English so
that Mr. Kissinger could respond to
them. The Spanish interpreters worked
in Washington; the Portuguese inter-
preter worked at the embassy in Rio.
According to Mr. Snyder, the- tele-
casts to most of the embassies in West-
ern Europe are in English. An excep-
tion is Rome, where the embassy han-
dles interpretation into Italian.
The transmission of Mr. geagan's
speech did not include a question-and-
answer session. ,
Idea of Present Director
The relay system was the idea of the
agency's present director, Charles Z.
Wick, Mr. Snyder said. The European
part went into operation on Nov. 3, with
the transmission of a speech by Jeane
J. Kirkpatrick, the United Nations
delegate.
The agency decides which ecents are
to be transmitted to embassies, Mr.
Snyder said. The tiatismi ions are
Made available to n stations
abroad directly from the satellite, he,
said, and the television stations may
also send crews to embassies, particu-
larly when their reporters are question-
ing an American official. '.
Events beamed to .,Eiu-Onet arel
generally scheduled for the morning in
the United States so that they can reach
Europe in the afternoon in time for the
evening news or for the morning edi-
tions of newspapers. Mr; Reagan's
speech, at 10 A.M. Washington time,,
was at 4 P.M. in Western Europe.
The world communications network.
has an annual budget of $1.7 mnilliOxl
and makes use of existing transmission
systems. In addition to the, European
and Latin American components, it has
a Middle Eastern arm that now,
reaches the embassies in !unman, Jor-
dan, and Tel Aviv. Next month it is tcl
be expanded to cover Cairo; Kuwait;
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates,
Two -other cornficinents that are still
in the planning stage will cover the
, western Pacific mid the Indian subcon-
tinent. The Pacific network, to start up
in April, will reach Tokyo* _Canberra,
Australia; Manila ; Peloni; Bangkok,
Thailand; Singapore, and Jakarta,
Indonesia. The other, tebegin in July, -
will tie in the embassies in New Delhi;
Islamabad, Pakistan; Dhaka, Bangla-
desh, and Colombo, Sri
Approved For Release 2010/09/13: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505370063-4