47. Editorial Note
President Johnson sent a message to the Eighteen-Nation Disarmament Committee when it recessed on September 17, 1964. The President’s message expounded on the importance of international cooperation in controlling the spread and use of nuclear weapons, indicated U.S. previous arms control initiatives and past achievements in arms control, and urged the participating nations to resolve upon reconvening “to take additional steps toward peace.” Text is in Documents on Disarmament, 1964, pages 433-435.
A draft of this message, September 8, was sent under cover of a memorandum from Fisher to the Committee of Principals, September 8. (Department of State, S/S-RD Files: Lot 68 D 452, Committee of Principals, August-December 1964) A later draft incorporating changes suggested by the Department of Defense, Department of State, and Atomic Energy Commission, September 15, was sent under cover of a September 15 memorandum from Fisher to Secretary Rusk and McGeorge Bundy. (Ibid.) The September 15 draft is identical to the September 17 message.