An even more valuable national asset is our reservoir of dedicated men and women—­not only on our college campuses but in every age group—­who have indicated their desire to contribute their skills, their efforts, and a part of their lives to the fight for world order.  We can mobilize this talent through the formation of a National Peace Corps, enlisting the services of all those with the desire and capacity to help foreign lands meet their urgent needs for trained personnel.

Finally, while our attention is centered on the development of the non-communist world, we must never forget our hopes for the ultimate freedom and welfare of the Eastern European peoples.  In order to be prepared to help re-establish historic ties of friendship, I am asking the Congress for increased discretion to use economic tools in this area whenever this is found to be clearly in the national interest.  This will require amendment of the Mutual Defense Assistance Control Act along the lines I proposed as a member of the Senate, and upon which the Senate voted last summer.  Meanwhile, I hope to explore with the Polish government the possibility of using our frozen Polish funds on projects of peace that will demonstrate our abiding friendship for and interest in the people of Poland.

Third, we must sharpen our political and diplomatic tools—­the means of cooperation and agreement on which an enforceable world order must ultimately rest.

I have already taken steps to coordinate and expand our disarmament effort—­to increase our programs of research and study—­and to make arms control a central goal of our national policy under my direction.  The deadly arms race, and the huge resources it absorbs, have too long overshadowed all else we must do.  We must prevent that arms race from spreading to new nations, to new nuclear powers and to the reaches of outer space.  We must make certain that our negotiators are better informed and better prepared—­to formulate workable proposals of our own and to make sound judgments about the proposals of others.

I have asked the other governments concerned to agree to a reasonable delay in the talks on a nuclear test ban—­and it is our intention to resume negotiations prepared to reach a final agreement with any nation that is equally willing to agree to an effective and enforceable treaty.

We must increase our support of the United Nations as an instrument to end the Cold War instead of an arena in which to fight it.  In recognition of its increasing importance and the doubling of its membership

—­we are enlarging and strengthening our own mission to the U.N.

—­we shall help insure that it is properly financed.

—­we shall work to see that the integrity of the office of the Secretary-General is maintained.

—­And I would address a special plea to the smaller nations of the world—­to join with us in strengthening this organization, which is far more essential to their security than it is to ours—­the only body in the world where no nation need be powerful to be secure, where every nation has an equal voice, and where any nation can exert influence not according to the strength of its armies but according to the strength of its ideas.  It deserves the support of all.