July 24, 1973
Page 25606
NOTICE OF HEARINGS ON MUTUAL FORCE REDUCTIONS IN EUROPE
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, on Wednesday, July 25, and Friday, July 27, the Subcommittee on Arms Control, International Law and Organization of the Foreign Relations Committee will hold hearings on "Mutual Force Reductions in Europe."
The hearings will be held in room 4221 of the Dirksen Office Building and will begin at 10 a.m.
Witnesses Wednesday will be Senator MIKE MANSFIELD, the distinguished majority leader and a long-standing advocate within the Senate of reducing the American military presence in Europe, and the Deputy Secretary of State Kenneth Rush. Witnesses Friday will be Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for NATO Affairs Frederick Wyle, and Harvard professor, Stanley Hoffmann.
In the post-Vietnam era, a key element in our foreign affairs will be our relations – political, economic, and military – with our European allies. At present, we have more than 300,000 troops deployed in Europe and our total NATO commitment costs this country more than $17 billion a year. In light of the current detente with the Soviet Union, Europe's increasing strength and prosperity, and our own economic difficulties, Congress has a responsibility to examine the question of what constitutes an appropriate level of U.S. forces in Europe at this time. It is my hope that these hearings will enable the American people to understand better some of the considerations associated with the troops question as well as the nature of the upcoming NATO-Warsaw Pact negotiations on mutual reductions of forces in Europe.