Distinguished Senate Oratory

Senate speeches are often not worth the cost of printing them in the Congressional Record. Designed to please some particular group of constituents, they impart to the proceedings in that chamber an unrivalled tedium. Last Friday's session, therefore, was most unusual, as two senators delivered addresses appropriate to the distinguished platform of the Senate, and well worth the attention of the nation.

In a witty speech that showed both political courage and keen perception, Sen. William Fulbright of Arkansas clearly exposed the emptiness of the New Conservatism preached by Sen. Barry Goldwater of Arizona. Extending to its illogical extreme Goldwater's argument for a "bold" and "courageous" foreign policy that excluded peaceful co-existence, Fulbright concluded that Goldwater must really be advocating a "'determined' policy of 'co-annihilation.'" He also observed an interesting parallelism between the views of the Arizona Junior Senator and the Chinese Communists on nuclear war, the test ban treaty, and other similar topics.

While most of Fulbright's remarks were in the form of playful chidings, his thesis emerged sharply: the conservatives, while quick to use a dictionary-full of patriotic words, have yet to present a concrete proposal for any of the significant questions facing the country.

Later that afternoon, Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota thoughtfully questioned the wisdom of continued expansion of our enormous reserves of nuclear weapons. The senator noted that all authorities agree the United States currently possesses a staggering overkill capacity for any conceivable enemy. He asked the Senate if annual appropriations of billions of dollars to improve our more than adequate stockpile was militarily, economically, or morally justified.

McGovern's speech was scholarly and far-ranging; it should serve to remind the people that disarmament involves more than successful negotiations with the Soviet Union. For in addition to calling for a cut of $5 billion in this year's military budget, McGovern stressed the importance of planning now for the conversion of factories from arms to peace time production. Particularly interesting was his suggestions for the inclusion of conversion study projects in all major defense contracts and the appointment by the President of an Economic Conversion Commission.

Hopefully McGovern's speech will encourage a detailed and critical review of the proposed defense budget. If Defense Secretary McNamara's statements about the super-abundance of nuclear weapons possessed by this country are correct, the Defense department will have to present some highly compelling arguments for additional bomb purchases. McGovern approached his subject with a rich storehouse of knowledge, and his remarks displayed a careful study of the present military and economic structure of the United States. His conclusions cannot be easily dismissed.