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Mr. Cutler then briefed the Council on the first of the
above three topics, and called on Governor Hoegh to explain the
FCDA position.
(A copy of Mr. Cutler's briefing note is filed in
the mfnutes of the meeting, and another is attached to this memo-
randun.)
Governor Hoegh stated that FCDA concurred in the Gaither
Panel recommendations and favored initiation of a nation-wide faliout shelter program for a variety of reasons:
(1) Fallout shelters would add to our deterrent capabil-
ity by convincing the enemy that we could survive a nuclear attack
and would therefore be ready to employ nuclear retaliation if necessary. Such an increase in our deterrent capability would bolster
our allies’ determination to resist aggression. In the light of the
on billion spent annually for military protection, the spending of
22.5 billion for sheltering the civil population should be regarded
; as a sound investment.
(2)
Fallout shelters would be a weapon for peace because
bore
our diplomats would be strengthened at the conference table by the
additional deterrent to war that such shelters would create. CIA
had reported that the USSR had taken steps toward sheltering the
civil population. The United States, not the USSR, should seize
the initiative in achieving this increased deterrent.
(3) Shelters would be a contribution to the active military defense of the United States. A shelter program would reduce
casualties 35 to 45 percent and might save 50 million people; and
could thus be the determining factor in sustaining the United States
es a free nation.
(4)
If fallout shelter is an unsound concept, then some
(5)
Shelters would strengthen the morale of the people,
other programs must also be unsound. For example, we must have survivors after a nuclear exchange if our stockpiles are to be used.
who, as they come into possession of more accurate information on
the character of nuclear war, will increasingly demand that protection be provided by governmental initiative. Popular confidence in
the Government and in its leaders would be increased by such governmental initiative.
(6) Fallout shelters are an integral and essential part
of a civil defense program. There is no practical alternative to
shelters, no other way to afford full protection. ‘The only way to
protect a person against gamma rays is to put sufficient shielding
material between the person and the rays.
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