Office of the Historian

218. Letter From the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (Nutter) to Senator J. William Fulbright1 2

Washington, March 19, 1971

Dear Mr. Chairman:

I am concerned over the misunderstanding that apparently developed in connection with the rescheduling of my appearance in the hearings of your Committee on the Geneva Protocol. I should therefore like to clarify the circumstances of the rescheduling.

Approximately one hour before my scheduled appearance on Thursday at 10:30 a.m., I was informed for the first time that the Committee would meet only in morning session and that two other witnesses were to precede me. As a result of discussions between members of our respective staffs, it seemed most likely that there would not be sufficient time remaining for me to complete my testimony that day. It was then mutually agreed to be preferable for my appearance to be rescheduled for a later day in a session that would provide more adequate time for my testimony. There was no suggestion that this arrangement would inconvenience the Committee.

The fact that the testimony of the other two witnesses lasted until about 12:30 p.m., Thursday, reinforces the belief that there would not have been sufficient time remaining for me to be heard that day.

This is the sole reason for the rescheduling. In particular, I wish to have dispel any impression that I would have considered a luncheon engagement more important than my appearance.

Because of the interest of a number of individual members of the Committee in this unfortunate misunderstanding, I am taking the liberty of sending each of them a copy of this letter

Sincerely,

G. Warren Nutter
  1. Source: Washington National Records Center, OSD Files: FRC 330–76–197, 370.64 CBR (Feb–Mar). No classification marking. Written at the bottom is, “Dick, “Capen has talked to Sen. Sparkman and Sen Aiken. They were not upset in the first place. This is a ‘non-issue’ contrived by Sen. Fulbright’s staff. REP [Robert E. Pursley].” A stamped notation on the memorandum indicated the Secretary of Defense saw it March 22.↩
  2. Nutter explained the rescheduling of his appearance before Senator Fulbright’s Foreign Relations Committee to testify on the Geneva Protocol.↩