Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, National Security Affairs, Volume II, Part 2

Disarmament files, lot 58 D 133, Folder 2.D.12.

Paper Approved by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense (Lovett), and the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (Dean)¹

restricted

[Washington,] 8 March 1952.

Terms of Reference of the Executive Committee on Regulation of Armaments (RAC)²

1. The Executive Committee on Regulation of Armaments (RAC) shall consist of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission with designated alternates. The United States Representative at the Seat of the United Nations may be represented at any or all meetings of the Committee.

2. The Executive Committee shall be responsible for:

a. The formulation of plans and policies respecting the regulation, limitation and balanced reduction of all armed forces and all armaments.

b. The development and approval of detailed plans within established policies, in the field of its competence.

3. The Committee shall have an Executive Secretary, designated by the Department of State representative with the concurrence of the remaining members, and its own Secretariat. There shall be a Committee Staff composed of designated representatives of the Department of State, the Department of Defense (including a representative from each military department) and the United States Atomic Energy Commission, when appropriate, to prepare material for the Committee’s consideration. The United States Representative at the Seat of the United Nations may provide a representative at any or all meetings of the Committee Staff.

4. In fulfillment of its responsibilities as set forth in 2, the Committee may (1) employ consultants, (2) assign work to personnel and staffs already available within the Governmental agencies represented, and (3) establish special groups or sub-committees.

5. The Committee Staff will submit recommendations on matters of major policy within its jurisdiction to the Secretaries of State and Defense, and where appropriate to the Chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission for their approval.

6. Actions of the Executive Committee will be forwarded to the Executive Secretary of the National Security Council for appropriate action by the National Security Council if the Secretary of State or the Secretary of Defense or the Chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission should so desire.

7. The Department of State representative on the Executive Committee shall be responsible for the transmission to the United States Mission to the United Nations of necessary instructions, policy guidance and information. The Department of Defense shall arrange for the transmission through the Joint Chiefs of Staff of appropriate parallel instructions and information to the United States Representatives on the Military Staff Committee of the United Nations.

1. A typed notation on the source text reads: “Effective 8 March 1952.”
2. The Executive Committee on Regulation of Armaments, which functioned from 1947 to 1950, was reactivated in order to facilitate interdepartmental policy formulation. Correspondence between the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the Atomic Energy Commission in early 1952 resulting in the reactivation of RAC is in Disarmament files, lot 58 D 133, “RAC (New Series)”.