[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 50 (Monday, December 17, 2001)]
[Pages 1783-1784]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Announcing the United States Withdrawal From the Anti-Ballistic 
Missile Treaty

December 13, 2001

    Good morning. I've just concluded a meeting of my National Security 
Council. We reviewed what I discussed with my friend, President Vladimir 
Putin, over the course of many meetings, many months. And that is the 
need for America to move beyond the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
    Today I have given formal notice to Russia, in accordance with the 
treaty, that the United States of America is withdrawing from this 
almost 30-year-old treaty. I have concluded the ABM Treaty hinders our 
Government's ability to develop ways to protect our people from future 
terrorist or rogue state missile attacks.
    The 1972 ABM Treaty was signed by the United States and the Soviet 
Union at a much different time, in a vastly different world. One of the 
signatories, the Soviet Union, no longer exists, and neither does the

[[Page 1784]]

hostility that once led both our countries to keep thousands of nuclear 
weapons on hair trigger alert, pointed at each other. The grim theory 
was that neither side would launch a nuclear attack because it knew the 
other would respond, thereby destroying both.
    Today, as the events of September the 11th made all too clear, the 
greatest threats to both our countries come not from each other or other 
big powers in the world but from terrorists who strike without warning 
or rogue states who seek weapons of mass destruction.
    We know that the terrorists and some of those who support them seek 
the ability to deliver death and destruction to our doorstep via 
missile. And we must have the freedom and the flexibility to develop 
effective defenses against those attacks. Defending the American people 
is my highest priority as Commander in Chief, and I cannot and will not 
allow the United States to remain in a treaty that prevents us from 
developing effective defenses.
    At the same time, the United States and Russia have developed a new, 
much more hopeful and constructive relationship. We are moving to 
replace mutually assured destruction with mutual cooperation. Beginning 
in Ljubljana and continuing in meetings in Genoa, Shanghai, Washington, 
and Crawford, President Putin and I developed common ground for a new 
strategic relationship. Russia is in the midst of a transition to free 
markets and democracy. We are committed to forging strong economic ties 
between Russia and the United States and new bonds between Russia and 
our partners in NATO. NATO has made clear its desire to identify and 
pursue opportunities for joint action at 20.
    I look forward to visiting Moscow to continue our discussions as we 
seek a formal way to express a new strategic relationship that will last 
long beyond our individual administrations, providing a foundation for 
peace for the years to come.
    We're already working closely together as the world rallies in the 
war against terrorism. I appreciate so much President Putin's important 
advice and cooperation as we fight to dismantle the Al Qaida network in 
Afghanistan. I appreciate his commitment to reduce Russia's offensive 
nuclear weapons. I reiterate our pledge to reduce our own nuclear 
arsenal between 1,700 and 2,200 operationally deployed strategic nuclear 
weapons. President Putin and I have also agreed that my decision to 
withdraw from the treaty will not, in any way, undermine our new 
relationship or Russian security.
    As President Putin said in Crawford, we are on the path to a 
fundamentally different relationship. The cold war is long gone. Today 
we leave behind one of its last vestiges. But this is not a day for 
looking back. This is a day for looking forward with hope and 
anticipation of greater prosperity and peace for Russians, for 
Americans, and for the entire world.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 9:58 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to President Vladimir Putin of 
Russia.