Arms Control Developments

Interplay between the public, the press, Congress, and the executive branch helps shape American arms control policy. Presidential initiatives set the stage for the negotiating process; the senator cites President Kennedy's 1963 speech at American University, and President Reagan's April 1983 decisions to end the ban on long-term grain sale agreement with the Soviet Union, and to withhold charging the Soviet Union with violations of the SALT Treaty. Such signals may imply a readiness to reach accommodation and may induce a reciprocal signal. Moreover, the senator advocates an early summit of the superpowers. For President Reagan, who in 1984 will be a candidate for either reelection or retirement, 1983 will be the most productive time. A Senate resolution urging a prompt summit was reintroduced by the senator in April 1983. Finally, discussions between individual senators and top officials can affect the direction, tone, and pace of arms control efforts; the senator describes his own discussions with the president and National Security Adviser Clark on the nomination of Kenneth Adelman to head the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and on the MX missile.