Message to the Congress Transmitting First Annual Report of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.

To the Congress of the United States:

I have the honor to transmit the first annual report of the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.

The Agency was established by the Act of September 26, 1961, and has thus been in existence for only four months. This report, submitted pursuant to law, describes not only its own initial activities, but also the work of predecessor agencies which it is continuing.

The existence of this new Agency is a source of strength to me, in the performance of my responsibility to pursue a new type of world security which will increase our own prospects of living in peace and freedom. I know that this goal is the desire of the Congress and the American people to leave no stone unturned in their search for a peaceful world.

This report of activities indicates that the new Agency is moving surely toward the achievement of greater effectiveness and flexibility in disarmament negotiations. The development of this kind of skill and responsibility is essential to the serious pursuit of security through disarmament.

On March 14, our representatives will meet with the representatives of 17 other nations in a forum established by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly to seek to negotiate a comprehensive disarmament treaty program. When I appeared before the United Nations last September, I submitted a program for general and complete disarmament in a peaceful world. It is my hope and expectation that the forthcoming conference will make significant progress toward the achievement of the goal of disarmament with effective methods of insuring compliance.

Never before in the history of man has the importance of arms control and disarmament been so great. For this reason, I urge your support of this Agency in the great and difficult tasks which it will face in the future.

JOHN F. KENNEDY