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7339393
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Text of an Address by the President to the Ordinary Session of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization [Ford Speech or Statement]
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7339393
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Text of an Address by the President to the Ordinary Session of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization [Ford Speech or Statement]
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White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)
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1975-05-29
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1975
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Digitized from Box 11 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 29, 1975
Office of the White House Press Secretary
(Brussels, Belgium)
THE WHITE HOUSE
TEXT OF AN
ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO THE ORDINARY SESSION
OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION
Mr. Secretary General, Members of the Council.
President Truman, in 1949, transmitted the test of the North Atlantic Treaty
to the Congress of the United States with his assessment of its importance.
"Events of this century, " he wrote, "have taught us that we cannot achieve
peace independently. The world has grown too small. The security and
welfare of each member of this community depends on the security and welfare
of all. None of us alone can achieve economic prosperity or military security.
None of us alone can assure the continuance of freedom. " So spoke President
Truman. These words, describing the interdependence of the North Atlantic
Nations, are as accurate today as they were a quarter century ago.
On the twenty-fifth anniversary of the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty,
leaders of the NATO nations met here in Brussels to reaffirm the Declaration
on Atlantic Relations the fundamental purposes of an Alliance that had fulfilled
its promises by providing for the security, promoting the welfare and
maintaining the freedom of its members.
We meet here today to renew our commitment to the Alliance. We meet to
remind our citizens in the fifteen member nations, by our presence, of the
strength and stability of the transatlantic ties that unite us, and to restate
our pledge to collective self-defense. We are assembled to address the
serious problems we face and to review the steps we must take to deal with
them.
Renewal of our commitment to the Alliance is the most important of these
purposes. The United States of America, unconditio ally and unequivocally,
remains true to the commitments undertaken when we signed the North
Atlantic Treaty, including the obligation in Article 5 to come to the assistance
of any NATO nation subjected to armed attack. As treaties are the supreme
law of my land, these commitments are juridically binding in the United
States. These commitments are strategically sound, politically essential
and morally justifiable and therefore command broad support in the United
States. They remain the firm foundation, as they have for twenty-six years,
on which our relationship rests. This foundation has well served the purposes
for which it was created. It will go on serving these purposes, even in the
face of new difficulties, as long as we continue our common resolve.
In the treaty we signed twenty-six years ago, and from which we drew
confidence and courage, we pledged:
To live in peace with all peoples and all governments.
To safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilization of our
peoples founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty
and the rule of law.
To promote stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area.
To settle by peaceful means any international dispute in which any
one of us may be involved.
-3-
To eliminate conflict in internatinal economic policies and encourage
economic collaboration.
To maintain and develop our individual and collective capacity to
resist armed attack, by means of continuous and effective self-help and
mutual aid.
To consult together when any one of us is threatened.
To consider an armed attack against one as an armed attack against all.
There is no need to day to improve on that statement of principles and
purposes. It remains as clear, as resolute, and as valid today as when
first adopted. But it is worth reminding ourselves of these pledges as
we turn our attention and energies to the problems we now face both outside
and within the Alliance -- problems very different from those we confronted
26 years ago. As NATC heads of governments and friends, we have a duty
to be frank and realistic with one another. Therefore, I must cite the
following matters of concern to the United States and of importance to the
Alliance:
In Indochina, the events of recent months have resulted in enormous
human suffering for the people of Cambodia and Viet-Nam, an ordeal that
touches all human hearts. Because of the United States' long involvement
in Indochina, these evnnts have led some to question our strength and
reliability. I believe that our strength speaks for itself our military
power remains, and will continue to remain, second to none -- of this let
there be no doubt our economy remains fundamentally sound and produc-
tive; and our political system has emerged from the shocks of the pas year
stronger for the way in which it met a severe internal test. Cur actions
will continue to confirm the durability of our commitments.
There have been strains and difficulties within the Alliance during the
past year. Serious disagreements have marred relations among some
members. The unity of the Alliance and our common resolve have come
into question.
There are some problems that relate directly to our defense capabilities.
I refer to increasing pressures to reduce the level of military commitments
to NATC despite the fact that the forces of our potential enemies have grown
stronger. We also face basic problems of military effectivenss. A generation
after it S creation, the Alliance wastes vast sums each year, sacrificing
military effectiveness. We have simply not done enough to standardize our
weapons. We must correct this. We must also agree among ourselves on
a sensible division of weapons development programs and production responsi-
bilities. And we must do more to enhance our mutual capacity to support
each other both in battle and logistically. The pressures on defense budgets
throughout the Alliance should by now have convinced each of us that we
simply must rationalize our collective defense.
-- In the field of energy, we are still not immune from the political pressures
that result from a heavy dependence on external sources of energy. Indeed,
we are becoming more vulnerable each month. We have made joint
progress in offsetting the effect of the action taken last year by the major
oil producing countries. But we have far more to do.
-- In the Middle East, there remains a possibility of a new war that not only
could involve the countries in the area but also sow discord beyond the
Middle East itself, perhaps within our Alliance.
This is a formidable array of problems. However, we have faced formidable
problems before. Let us master these new challenges with all the courage,
conviction and cohesion of this great Alliance. Let us proceed. It is time
for concerted action.
(MCRE)
-2a.0
At this important stage in the history of the Alliance, we must pledge our-
selves to six primary tasks:
-- First, we must maintain a strong and credible defense. This must
remain the foremost objective of the Alliance. If we fail in this task,
the others will be irrevelant. A society that does not have the
(MOR E)
- 3 -
vigor and dedication to defend itself cannot survive. Neither can an
Alliance. For our part, our commitment not to engage in any unilateral
reduction of US forces committed to NATO remains valid. But that is
not enough. We must make more effective use of our defense resources.
We need to achieve our long-standing goals of common procedures and
+quipment. Our research and development efforts must be more than
the sum of individual parts. Let us become truly one in our allocation
of defense tasks, support and production.
--Second, we must preserve the quality and integrity of this Alliance on
th e basis of unqualified participation, not on the basis of partial member-
ship or special arrangements. The commitment to collective defense must
be complete if it is to be credible. It must be unqualified if it is to be
reliable.
--Third, let us improve the process of political consultation. We have
made consiberable progress in recent months but there is -- as each of
us knows -- room for improvement by all parties if we are to maintain
our solidarity. This is of particular importance if we are to move
forward together in our efforts to reduce the tensions that have existed
with the Warsaw Pact nations for more than a quarter of a century. We
should further cultivate tha habit of discussing our approaches to those
matters which touch the interests of all so that we can develop common
policies to deal with common problesm.
--Fourth, let us cooperate in developing a productive and realistic agenda
for detente -- an agenda that serves our interests and not the inter ests
of others who do not share our values. I envision an agenda that antici-
pates and precludes the exploitation of our perceived weaknesses. One
item on that agenda must be to assure that the promises made in the
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe are translated into action
to advance freedom and human dignity for all Europeans. Only by such
realistic steps can we keep CSCE in perspective, whatever euphoric or
inflated emphasis the Soviet Union or other participants may try to give it.
Another agenda item should be the negotiations on mutual and balanced force
reductions in Europe. We in NATO should be prepared to take appropriate
initiatives in these negotiations if they will help ut to meet our objectives.
But the Soviet Union and its allies should also be prepated to respond in
good faith on the common objectives both sides should be working toward --
undiminished security for all but at a lower level of forces.
--Fifth, let us look to the future of the West itself. We must strengthen
our own democratic institutions and encourage the growth of truly demo-
cratic processes everywhere. Let us also look beyond our Alliance as it
stands today.
As an important topic on this agenda, we should begin now to consider
how to relate Spain with Western defense. Spain has already made, and
continues to make, an. important contribution to Western military security
as a result of its bilateral relationship with the United States.
--Sixth, we should rededicate ourselves to the Alliance as a great joint
enterprise, as a commitment to follow common approaches to shared as-
pirations. We must build on the contribution our Alliance already makes
through the Committee onthe Challenges of Modern Society in coping with
the environmental problems of insustrialized societies. We must address
the issues of population, food and raw materials. We must find ways to
strengthen the world trading and monetary system, and to meet the imperatives
of energy development and conservation. With the wealth and technoligical
skills which are the products of our free systems, we can make progress
toward a better standard of life in all of our countries if we work together.
(MORE)
- 4 -
These six primary tasks of the Alliance illustrate the breadth
and depth of our responsibilities and opportunities. They re-
flect how very complex the world has become and how much more
difficult it is to manage the Alliance today than a generation
ago. Then, our problems were relatively simple to define. It
was easier to agree on common solutions. Today the problem of
definition seems more complicated. In many of our countries
there has been a fragmentation of public and parliamentary
opinion which has made it more difficult for governments to
mobilize support for courses of action of importance to the
Alliance.
But there are constants as well, and they are--in the final
analysis--more important than the complexities. Together we
continue to be the greatest reservoir of economic, military
and moral strength in the world. We must use that strength to
safeguard our freedom and to address the grave problems that
confront us.
I am proud of America's role in NATO and I am confident of the
future of our Alliance.
As President of the United States--but also as one who has been
a participant and close observer of the American political scene
for close to thirty years--I assure you that my country will
continue to be a strong partner. On occasion, in the public debate
of our free society America may seem to stray somewhat off course.
But the fact is that we have the willpower, the technical capa-
bility, the spiritual drive and the steadiness of purpose that
will be needed. Today we in the United States face our NATO
commitments with new vision, new vigor, new courage, and renewed
dedication.
America's emphasis is on cooperation--cooperation within NATO
and throughout the world. From diversity, we can forge a new
unity. Together, let us build to face the challenges of the
future.
###