197. Editorial Note
On May 28, 1976, President Gerald R. Ford signed the U.S.-Soviet Treaty and Protocol on Underground Nuclear Explosions for Peaceful Purposes at a 10 a.m. ceremony in the East Room at the White House. Before signing the treaty, the President offered brief remarks:
“The treaty we are signing today is an historic milestone in the history of arms control agreements. For the first time it provides for extensive cooperative arrangements for onsite inspection and observation in monitoring underground nuclear explosions.
“This means that the Soviet Union will allow American observers to witness certain larger tests on their territory, and if we should have such a test, we would reciprocate and allow Soviet observers here in order to verify at firsthand that our control agreements are being adhered to.
“This accomplishment in agreeing to onsite observation demonstrates that our two countries can soberly negotiate responsible and beneficial agreements despite the difficulties of the challenge. The negotiations culminating in this treaty raised very unique problems. The [Page 629] discussions were long and complex. But the result: Real progress has been made in the field of arms control. A significant step has been taken toward a more stable, peaceful world and a more constructive relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.
“The new treaty, together with the Threshold Test Ban Treaty, will govern the conduct of every underground nuclear explosion for military or peaceful purposes for both parties. The two treaties impose the same limit of 150 kilotons on all individual underground nuclear explosions.
“The ultimate purpose of the network of arms control agreements we have already negotiated and which are currently being negotiated, is to bring about a more peaceful world. Pushing back the shadow of nuclear war must be our constant concern. That, indeed, is the underlying purpose of all of the numerous agreements for constructive cooperation which our two countries have concluded in recent years.
“I welcome the accomplishments we mark here today. And I hope it will lead to further achievements in building a stable and a just peace for our two peoples and for all mankind.
“I will send these two treaties to the Senate for the earliest possible consideration and urge that the Senate grant its advice and consent to their ratification.”
Ford then signed the treaty, noting that it and the Threshold Test Ban Treaty “will contribute significantly” to peace and improved relations amongst all nations. Simultaneously, in Moscow Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev signed the treaty on behalf of the Soviet Union. (Public Papers: Ford, 1976–77, Book II, p. 1763) The White House subsequently transmitted both the Threshold Test Ban Treaty and the Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaty to the Senate for ratification on July 29. In his message to the Senate transmitting the treaties, the President noted:
“The TTB Treaty and the PNE Treaty, taken together as integrated and complementary components of this important limitation on nuclear explosions, provide that very large yield nuclear explosions will no longer be carried out by the Parties. This is one more useful step in our continuing efforts to develop comprehensive and balanced limitations on nuclear weapons. We will continue our efforts to reach an adequately verifiable agreement banning all nuclear weapon testing, but in so doing we must ensure that controls on peaceful nuclear explosions are consistent with such a ban. These Treaties are in the national interest, and I respectfully recommend that the Senate give its advice and consent to ratification.” (Ibid., Book III, p. 2104)
The PNE Treaty and Protocol and the agreed statement are printed in the Department of State Bulletin, June 28, 1976; pp. 802–812.