ABSTRACT
On september 26, 1979, former president Gerald ford delivered an address detailing his view on the SALT II Treaty and US defense policies. Mr. Ford criticizes the SALT II limits on new types of ICBMs. SALT is a critical issue—too critical to become embroiled in partisan politics, Republican or Democratic. SALT should be decided on its merits. The basic problem is the improving Soviet capability to destroy our silo-based missiles. The outcome injects much-needed predictability and rules into the strategic competition and establishes a solid foundation for the building of future, more comprehensive agreements. President Ford is a strong supporter of the SALT process. Besides being unnecessarily expensive, a new arms race in the absence of SALT would mean less stability and more uncertainty about the direction of Soviet strategic planning. The Carter administration has emphasized defense improvements through discriminate spending increases.
