<--PREV Doc #22  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #24 Document #23; February 5,1957, To John Foster Dulles, Charles Erwin Wilson, and Lewis Lichtenstein Strauss Series: EM, AWF, Administration Series: Atomic Energy Commission ; Category: Secret The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XVIII - The Presidency: Keeping the Peace Part I: A New Beginning, Old Problems; January 1957 to May 1957 Chapter 1: The Mideast and the Eisenhower Doctrine   Memorandum for the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission:1 I have determined that the recent amendments to the agreements for cooperation with Canada and the United Kingdom which authorize exchange of Restricted Data on military propulsion reactors with those countries constitute binding obligations on our Government and that it is in the best interest of the United States to go forward under them.2 Accordingly, I hereby direct: (a) That implementation be initiated of the amendment to the Agreement for Cooperation with the United Kingdom which authorizes the exchange of Restricted Data with respect to reactors for the propulsion of naval vessels, aircraft or land vehicles for military purposes. (b) That, upon exchange of notes necessary to make effective the amendment to the Canadian Agreement, implementation be initiated of the amendment to the Agreement for Cooperation with Canada which authorizes the exchange of Restricted Data with respect to reactors for the propulsion of naval vessels, aircraft or land vehicles for military purposes. (c) That, at present, no additional agreements for cooperation with any other nation be negotiated insofar as the exchange of such information is concerned until the position of Congress in this regard has clarified.3 1 For background on Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Strauss see Galambos and van Ee, The Middle Way, no. 295. Secretary of State Dulles recommended that a copy of this memorandum be sent to Attorney General Herbert Brownell, Jr. 2 On the exchange of atomic information with the United Kingdom see ibid., nos. 1640 and 2026; see also State, Foreign Relations, 1955 - 1957, vol. XX, Regulation of Armaments; Atomic Energy, p. 371. In June 1956 Eisenhower had approved amendments to agreements with the United Kingdom and Canada, providing that "classified information on development, design, construction, operation, and use of military package power reactors and reactors for the propulsion of naval vessels, aircraft, or land vehicles, for military purposes shall be exchanged to the extent and by such means as may be agreed" (Memorandum to the President, [Jan. 29, 1957], AWF/A: AEC; see also U.S. Department of State Bulletin 35, no. 889 [July 9, 1956], 84; and ibid., no. 893 [August 6, 1956], 250). In July, however, the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy (JCAE) had recommended the suspension of any portion of the agreements with the United Kingdom and Canada that allowed for the exchange of this kind of restricted data. Although the agreements had been authorized by a "valid, strict, and legal interpretation" of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, the committee was opposed to the exchanges and believed that Congress had not envisioned these agreements when the act was adopted. The JCAE feared that data on nuclear-powered guided missiles, aircraft, and submarines would be released to these two allies (Anderson to Eisenhower, July 27, 1956, AWF/A: AEC; Memorandum to the President, [Jan. 29, 1957]; and Strauss to Eisenhower, July 31, 1956, both in AWF/A: AEC). An ad hoc committee, composed of Secretaries Dulles and Wilson, Attorney General Brownell, and AEC Chairman Strauss, had studied the issues raised by the report and recommended the action outlined in the President's memorandum. Although the JCAE was considering amendments to the relevant portions of the Atomic Energy Act, Dulles told Eisenhower, "We do not believe that fulfillment of our existing agreement with Canada and the United Kingdom should be further delayed pending conclusion of the Committee study" (Jan. 29, 1957, AWF/D-H). With the draft of this directive, Dulles enclosed the draft of a letter explaining the decision to Carl T. Durham, Chairman of the JCAE (see Eisenhower to Durham, Feb. 5, 1957, AWF/A: AEC). 3 For developments see no. 628. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. Secret To John Foster Dulles, Charles Erwin Wilson, and Lewis Lichtenstein Strauss, 5,1957 February . In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 23. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/second-term/documents/23.cfm <--PREV Doc #22  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #24

Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission 1629 K Street, NW Suite 801 Washington DC 20006 Phone: 202.296.0004    Fax: 202.296.6464