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p Lee Dlugin— Political Bureau member, Central Committee secretary, Communist Party U.S.A.

p THE conclusion of the INF Treaty is an historic first step in the breaking of the whole nuclear arms cycle. It is extremely important because, among other things, it gives people the confidence that we can move on to the next steps. There is now a general feeling that we have moved the whole process of saving humanity from nuclear destruction onto a higher level. People are now aware that the worldwide peace momentum does produce results; thanks to the peace policies and initiatives of the Soviet Union and the other socialist countries it is possible to come to agreements even in difficult times.

p The other thing that is very important for the United States is that there is now more confidence in our ability to isolate the ultra-right forces. The resignation of Caspar Weinberger was more than symbolic. It represented the failure of the policy to block arms control negotiations. That is significant in relation to the fight for the ratification of the INF Treaty in the Senate.

The American people are part of the worldwide majority that has launched the peace offensive. For many years there has been a movement

12 in the United States advocating a freeze and reductions of nuclear weapons. According to opinion polls, most Americans support negotiated treaties with the Soviet Union. We all know that people in the United States were looking forward with great expectation and desire to the visit of Comrade Gorbachev. At this point I think it would be interesting to think back to George Schultz’s visit to Moscow in October 1987. It looked for a few days like there might not be a summit. The general perception at that time was that there was some going back on understandings about the ABM Treaty, causing the possible cancellation of the summit. There was great disappointment, but there was also determination that the ABM Treaty had to be strictly enforced so that a summit could take place.

p The American people welcomed Comrade Gorbachev’s visit to the United States. People’s faces lit up with joy and happiness when he got out of the car in Washington to greet and chat with Americans. His visit symbolized the thawing of relations and a step back from the brink of nuclear war. His television appearances made a great impression. We the Communists say that if American politicians want to be popular, all they need to do is go onto a peace offensive the way Mikhail Gorbachev has been on.

p One of the things that characterize the United States today is a very sharp decline of anti-communism. Everything that has to do with the Soviet Union and other socialist countries is greeted with growing interest in the U.S. The summit has made a tremendous impact. The few days of the summit proved more useful to our people than what it sometimes took years to accomplish: people could learn the truth about socialism. Americans saw the Soviet leader with their own eyes, and it is now very difficult to go back to the Cold War rhetoric. That is why it is possible to talk about the further isolation and breaking-up of the influence and propaganda of the ultra-right.

p The key question today is the soonest possible ratification of the INF Treaty. We know how the ultra-right can mobilize their forces in the United States. They did block the ratification of the SALT II Treaty. However, things are very different now. The peace movement has gained strength, and the Americans have, on the whole, changed their attitude to disarmament. There is a very deep desire for the treaty to be ratified as rapidly as possible so that we can move on to the next step, the 50 per cent cut in strategic offensive armaments with the strictest enforcement of the ABM Treaty. That would pave the way to nuclear disarmament by the year 2000.

p One can expect the Senate to ratify the-treaty because, among other things, Senators know that if they want to be re-elected, they have to work for the ratification. Besides key members of the administration—Reagan, Bush, Shultz and Carlucci—advocate ratification, and that will have an impact on many Senators. We do not think that the ultra-right will be able to shelve the treaty by’proposing all kinds of amendments to it.

p Our party regards the prohibition of nuclear testing as another major aspect of the peace movement today. An agreement to ban nuclear tests will also obstruct the development of space weapons, and many Americans believe that a test ban will help avert the insanity of ’star wars’.

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p Another item on today’s agenda is the reconversion of the economy, reconversion to a peacetime economy. No orje doubts it any longer that the military budget and economic policy are deeply tied together. The success will depend on how forcefully the trade union movement will come to the forefront of the fight for reconversion. The arms race does not create jobs but reduces employment in the civilian industries.

p The Communist Party U.S.A. is intensifying the fight of the masses for jobs, against capitalist exploitation, for peace and disarmament. We are striving for the unity of all peace forces, for discussion and dialogue so as to act jointly to save humanity from nuclear destruction. This priority problem has been covered extensively in our press—the People’s Daily World and our journal Political Affairs.

We will continue to expose the aggressive policies of U.S. imperialism and to mobilize the people against the arms race and the nuclear threat. In these efforts, the American Communists are inspired by the overall success of the worldwide peace momentum—the beginning of genuine nuclear disarmament brought about by the INF Treaty.