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OCR Page 1 of 14This Copy For
PRESIDENT RICHARD M. NIXON'S NEWS CONFERENCE #4
Held in the East Room
At The White House
Washington, D. C.
March 14, 1969
At 12:00 Noon EST (Friday)
Official White House Transcript
THE PRESIDENT: Ladies and gentlemen, today I am announcing
a decision which I believe is vital for the security and defense
of the United States, and also in the interest of peace through-
out the world.
Last year a program, the SENTINEL antiballistic missile
program, was adopted. That program, as all listeners on tele-
vision and radio and readers of newspapers: know, has been the
subject of very strong debate and controversy over the past
few months.
After long study of all of the options available, I have
concluded that the SENTINEL program previously adopted should
be substantially modified. The new program that I have recom-
mended this morning to the Leaders, and that I announce today,
is one that perhaps best can be described as a safeguard program.
It is a safeguard against any attack by the Chinese Com-
munists that we can foresee over the next 10 years.
It is a safeguard of our deterrent system, which is in-
creasingly vulnerable due to the advances that have been made
by the Soviet Union since the year 1967 when the SENTINEL pro-
gram was first laid out.
It is a safeguard also against any irrational or accidental
attack that might occur of less than massive magnitude which
might be launched from the Soviet Union.
The program also does not do some things which should be
clearly understood.