GOP CHALLENGES MISSILE POLICY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP70B00338R000300090113-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 9, 2006
• Sequence Number: 113
• Publication Date: January 9, 1967
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved Far Relase--2006/0113AL ,Qt-RDP U0338
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hullo:]." Laird said the Joint
"Unless we go ahead with the ?' Chefs asked for $SO billion.
development of our own full- Current Defense spending . Is
r
ant!-missile running at SGS.5 billion a year.
tcm; our country" will 'ne a ripe; `Last. year the administration pro-
targct for Russian nuclear black-; posed a S3S,7 billion budget for
.'mail within a few years. . t e Defense Department. Con-
"'Don't let anyone kid you that: gross voted $5 billion; including
rile Russians are?.nol deployhh 8110 million to start an anti-
,.a modern system," warned ballistic missile system.
? Laird. "They have been working' Up to now this money has
on full-scale missle defense' gone unspent due to White House
s~'cten7 sin C ? the_Cal hi' "nCs,". orders. ...
On the basis of
adhered at White :Iount budget
briefings and Defense D .part-
anent sessions, Laird eapl,'1_incd
he is convinced that the Pr esi-
dent's decision was predicated' or,
two premises , now determining .
relations with tht Kreralin, as
follows:
0 "Russia would not attack
the U. S. directly because of
our overwhelming nuclear-missile
striking power.
0 "A power alliance between
the U. S. and Russia will even- "
tuatly be worked . out."
Contending that both of these
premises are unsound and?n :-
realistic, Representative Laird
stated that Republican , strate,;y
will be to dramonstrate that, the
'
7II3 22
'vo ... o f 1 ?? o
administration
s course is grav-
" l,Y cndangcrll'ry the safely of. the
nation.
This GOP stand hv:il be docu-
nnented, Laird stressed, with sup-
portiing data from authoritative
and other sources.
republican congressional le'd?
err have decided to use the cool.,-
debate over an ? F, llisl c
sale system to challenge ad-
m:rustrauon L licy toward Rue.
si
nis strategy waS agreed on
by GOi Leaders a ter learning
that President Johnson intends to
authorize . the deployment . of a
"thin" ABM screen to protect
the U. S. against Red Ch?
"first generation" missiles - but
not from the Soviet's far more
ao ;inisacated late model missiles.
That is the back-stage report
given Republican freshmen con-
gressmei by Representative psi--
Jt? LLDL R-1~, chairman of
t'rc party's Policy Catrhmittce and
ranking Republican' on the De-
fense Appropriations Subcommit-
too.
At a closed-door seminar to
outline GOP strategy in advance.
of tomorrow's opening of the VOth
Congress, Laird disclosed:
C President Johnson vetoed de-
velopment of a Mull-scale anti.
missile system as proposed by
l ,e Joint Chiefs of Staff and
strongly favored by Republican
leaders.
c' Johnson's badkstage decision
to limit the anti-missile defense
system to the Chinese threat was
based on a policy or seeking now
accommodations with the Soviet
rather that. on the higher cost
of a tut-scale system.
O Administration officials now
consider Red China rather than
Russia the greatest threat to
U. S. sccutity.
In roavcaling Republican strat-
e :y to vigorously challenge the
"esidcnt'.1 still-unannounced de
cision, Representative Laird
warned his colleagues against
being taken in by it.
"The 'thin' 'defense screen is
nothing ..;ore than a Pacific
-Coast g,lard to protect that part
of the country against an attack
by Red Chinese missiles during
the '?0s," he declared. "A limited
salt-missile system will leave
.,host of. the U. S .nude open
to a sneak Russian attack. We
wilt be naked to Soviet missiles
and s, tellites with their newly-
'
Also, the Republicans contem-
plate strongly challenging the
tral intelligence reports " on So-
viet nuclear-missile develop meats ?
The GOP have. complied a
large amount of information from
highly reliab'.t sources and pur.-
Tuor-I
The first year cost of a lull-
scale anti-missile missile defense
systcon, as proposed by the, Joint
Uilk s, of Staff, would be between
$l billion and $3 billion.
he veteran GOP legislator
also expressed the belief that the
pose to forcefully press the ad-
rministraton art it.
Representative Laird ' told his
Republican? c lleagues that Pion
idcnt Johnson will ask Congress
for some $3,^,,7 million to start
construction of the ' thin" and-
. missile defense system. 71118
money would" include the pl~ocure-
anent of Nike-X anti-missile mis-
riles
radar
hi
t-s
eed
,
,
g
p
comput-
dcvelo -?d
multi-warheads.
Approved For Release 2006/01/30 : CIA-RDP70B00338R000300090113-1
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From: ? Foreign Report, 5 January. 1967 '-a,-,-:---
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