State of the Union AddressesKennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald)
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State of the Union Addresses
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald)
Presidents -- United States -- Messages; United States -- Politics and government -- Sources
Finally, while our attention is centered on the development of the non-
communist world, we must never forget our hopes for the ultimate freedom
and welfare of the Eastern European peoples. In order to be prepared to
help re-establish historic ties of friendship, I am asking the Congress
for increased discretion to use economic tools in this area whenever
this is found to be clearly in the national interest. This will require
amendment of the Mutual Defense Assistance Control Act along the lines I
proposed as a member of the Senate, and upon which the Senate voted last
summer. Meanwhile, I hope to explore with the Polish government the
possibility of using our frozen Polish funds on projects of peace that
will demonstrate our abiding friendship for and interest in the people
of Poland.
Third, we must sharpen our political and diplomatic tools--the means of
cooperation and agreement on which an enforceable world order must
ultimately rest.
I have already taken steps to coordinate and expand our disarmament
effort--to increase our programs of research and study--and to make arms
control a central goal of our national policy under my direction. The
deadly arms race, and the huge resources it absorbs, have too long
overshadowed all else we must do. We must prevent that arms race from
spreading to new nations, to new nuclear powers and to the reaches of outer
space. We must make certain that our negotiators are better informed and
better prepared--to formulate workable proposals of our own and to make
sound judgments about the proposals of others.
I have asked the other governments concerned to agree to a reasonable delay
in the talks on a nuclear test ban--and it is our intention to resume
negotiations prepared to reach a final agreement with any nation that is
equally willing to agree to an effective and enforceable treaty.
We must increase our support of the United Nations as an instrument to end
the Cold War instead of an arena in which to fight it. In recognition of
its increasing importance and the doubling of its membership
--we are enlarging and strengthening our own mission to the U.N.
--we shall help insure that it is properly financed.
--we shall work to see that the integrity of the office of the
Secretary-General is maintained.
--And I would address a special plea to the smaller nations of the
world--to join with us in strengthening this organization, which is far
more essential to their security than it is to ours--the only body in the
world where no nation need be powerful to be secure, where every nation has
an equal voice, and where any nation can exert influence not according to
the strength of its armies but according to the strength of its ideas. It
deserves the support of all.
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