Office of the Historian

67. Letter From the Acting Secretary of State to the Deputy Representative on the United Nations Disarmament Commission (Stassen)1

Washington, September 9, 1955.

Dear Harold: This is in reference to our recent conversation2 on the matter of the views of the Department of State and the Department of Defense on the proposal for a Technical Exchange Panel, which was the subject of the Secretary’s letter of September 1, 1955.3

We have now consulted with the Department of Defense on this matter and it is agreed that the following express our combined views:

1.
The United States should propose in the Disarmament Subcommittee that there be established a study group composed of technically and scientifically qualified individuals from each of the countries represented on the Subcommittee. This group would study inspection methods and report back within a specified period of time to the Subcommittee, such a group might be called a “Study Group on Inspection and Reporting Techniques”.
2.
No proposal should be made at this time for a Technical Panel which involves exchange of visits and field testing of inspection methods at actual installations.

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In connection with the problem of providing the delegation with concerted guidance, and to avoid your getting conflicting views during the Subcommittee meetings, let me suggest that the Department of State should coordinate with the other interested agencies in order that you may receive cleared government positions.

Sincerely yours,

Herbert Hoover, Jr.
  1. Source: Department of State, Disarmament Files: Lot 58 D 133, Inspection—Task Force. Confidential.↩
  2. No record of this conversation has been found in Department of State files.↩
  3. Supra.↩