§ 601.5 - Mission.

(a) Through the Act, Congress and the President determined that the formulation and implementation of United States arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament policy in a manner which will promote the national security could best be insured by a central organization charged by statute with primary responsibility for this field.

(b) Under the Act, the Agency is charged with providing the President, the Secretary of State, other officials of the executive branch, and the Congress with recommendations concerning United States arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament policy, and assessing the effect of these recommendations upon our foreign policies, our national security policies, and our economy.

(c) The Agency also has the capacity for providing the essential scientific, economic, political, military, psychological, and technological information on which realistic arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament policy must be based, and has the authority, under the direction of the President and the Secretary of State, to carry out the following primary functions:

(1) The preparation for and management of United States participation in international negotiations and implementation fora in the arms control and disarmament field.

(2) When directed by the President, the preparation for, and management of, United States participation in international negotiations and implementation fora in the nonproliferation field.

(3) The conduct, support, and coordination of research for arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament policy formulation.

(4) The preparation for, operation of, or, as appropriate, direction of United States participation in such control systems as may become part of United States arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament activities.

(5) The dissemination and coordination of public information concerning arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament.

(d) The Agency works at the highest level of the United States Government and, under the direction of the Secretary of State, conducts United States participation in international arms control and disarmament negotiations. It does not normally hand down decisions or engage in regulatory activities affecting the general public, since its functions are principally in the advisory or diplomatic areas. Copies of publications resulting from the Agency's activities, such as its Annual Report, may be ordered from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, or requested directly from the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, Office of Public Affairs, 320 21st Street NW., Washington, DC 20451.