216. Summary Record of NSC Standing Group Meeting No. 11, July 301
Under Secretary Harriman reported on his negotiations in Moscow along the lines of his reporting telegrams.
There was a general discussion of the various problems involved in obtaining Senate ratification of the limited test ban treaty. All agreed on the importance of providing to the Senate committees military views of the treaty. It was decided that in view of General Taylor’s absence from Washington no effort should be made to obtain military views in advance of the formal JCS paper, which is scheduled to be delivered to the President August 14th. This paper will summarize the Chiefs’ views in the light of certain information which they have requested from the State Department and from the government scientific community.
Dr. Seaborg suggested a poll of Nobel Prize winners in the belief that there would be a heavy majority supporting the test ban treaty. Other suggestions were made as to how to make public the views of scientists favoring the treaty. This effort is called for because of the prominence of Dr. Teller whose reservations about the treaty have received wide public attention.
- Harriman report, Senate ratification issues, Teller reservations, and public affairs issues. Secret. 1 p. Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Meetings and Memoranda Series, Standing Group Meeting, Box 315, 7/30/63.↩