(Sanitized) NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01554R003300210043-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 6, 2004
• Sequence Number: 43
• Content Type: MF

25X1 Approved For Release 2005/01/13 : CIA-RDP80BO1554R003300210043-0
Approved For Release 2005/01/13 : CIA-RDP80BO1554R003300210043-0
 Approved For Re case 2005/01/13 : CIA-RDP80BO1554R003300210043-0
L- : (-L APPEARED
0,-,-
: , PAGE __,
THE WASHINGTON POST
3 October 1979
Carter's Speech May Have: Cost
SALT Some Ground 1n the Senate ~{
By Robert G. Kaiser
WasitiaYton PVSL Staff. Writer
On the day after his speech;.to theme
nation on Soviet troops in Cuba, Press
ident Carter appeared- to have lost
some ground among the swing, sena-
tors who will determine the fate of
his SALT accord. One:. of thenr called
Carter "a gullible pacifist." _
Though White House-'officials took
heart from some early senatorial com-
ment on Monday night's speech. and
welcomed the prospect-- that t:he- full
Senate-might soon debate-the strategic
arms limitation treaty; they also said
the speech could not- be expected to
ignite any new enthusiasm for SALT
II.
Senate supporters of the- treaty said
they thought Carter had.. revived the
debate on the accord'-6a its own mer-
its. But some uncommitted senators
-.were critical._
Sen. Henry L. Beflmon (R-Oklaj?, a
respected "moderate, all but declared
outright opposition-to SALT II Yester-
day after accusing Carter of ;adopting
"the position of a-gullible-pacifist in
his speech.
Sen- S.I. Hayakawa (R-Calif.)? whom
administration lobbyists have counted
as a potential - SALT-. supporter, ac-
cused Carter of accepting the Cuban
status quo the,' president.; previously
had called., unacceptable -and recom-
mended that-"alt: discussion of SALT
II should be suspended until the So-
viet Union has -withdrawn all combat.
troops- from Cubs "
Minority Leader Ho"rd H: Baker
Jr. (Tenn.) also lashed -out- at Carter
yesterday," accusing the president of
doing "nothing at _all",to alter the, sit-
uation. in Cuba
The White House got one crucial bit
of good news from Sem Frank Church
(D?Idaho),?' who- reiterated more spe-
cifically yesterday. hit . willingness to
let the Foreign: Relations Committee
begin marking up__SALT_ II laterthis:
month-
But Church: also predicted' more ex-
pticitly than. previously-- that SALT'
would'.-be approved:'6nlxl;5sith?;'some
sort of condition or- reservation. re?
quiririg.Carter: to,-"certify that Siviet
combat troops were no longer in Cuba,.
before-: the treaty-:`couitk P1RY& t
Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) to whom a
number of uncommitted senators now
look for a lead on SALT: II, said
firmly .yesterday that he would. vote-
"no" on the treaty if it is.brought,up =
for final approval before he has had a
chancee_ tae; study the 4driunistratioa'a-'
fiscal 198& defense. budget' and its re-
vised five-year defense plamri
Normally those documents would-
not.be published until January. Nionn:
said yesterday, t'the -administration,.
could produce them sooner- if it
wanted:toa He- added:'that:.'the docu-
ments? would' have ? to- :show ' a deter-
mined U.S. effort to increase military
preparedness in the 1980s " .- -
Nunn-.said. the issue of the Soviet :
brigade in. Cuba" "got. blown out of, all
proportion," but added that he saw a
serious problem for the United States
in the evolving Soviet-Cuban military
alliance and the Soviet conventional
buildup on Cuba.
Carter administration officials yes-
terday, insisted that.. the president's
speech had at least ended the steady
erosion of support for- SALT that
seemed to be set off by-the revelation
of Soviet combat troops inaCuba. They
expressed optimism that a Senate
floor debate on. the treaty,would prod-
uce 67 votes for it,.. the number needed
for approval. s::.,:.,-:. lot J
SALT supporter, said the president'az
speech. had restored-- percent.
maybe-. 901 percent'.':=..oC the `support:;
SALT enjoyed-.before .the,revelation-
of the troops.. By: Hart's- own count,
trouble,' because it never had 'any ex
Another SALT supporter, Sen.
Cranston ?;(D-Calif.) said.; it'' was:--time
"to', put aside - childish, things and
childish ways, and it is time to recog-
nize that. we are a grown-up, mature.
_-~ ,?, ,
"Letux stop trembling and shaking
at everything the Soviet Union does
the Senate floor.
. At the opposite. extreme, Se= Jesse
Helms (R-N.C.) declared that "the fail
ure to change the status quo in Cuba-
is tantamount to ? an admission that:'
the Soviets now hold strategic superi-
ority- so great that the United States
cannot resist the Soviet will."
Majority Leader Robert, C_. Byrd
(IV-Va.) quickly responded that his col
league-seemed to be proposing a nu-
clear confrontation. "Talk is cheap?'
the Cuba flap: "in? proper, perspective"
in his speech.
In the halls of the Capitol yester-
day, the fate of SALT- I1-again became
a prime- topic of conversation.-,But-
prophets on both: sides ? of the- issue=
seemed reluctant to. make new predic
tions? given the unpredictable___
._.
of the-debate so far.
Some of the discussion must be ea-
sentially procedural.' Though the For-.
eign Relations Committee could;.re- I
port the--treaty to -the full Senate by
on seeing next year's defense budget
before he votes -on- SALT could-.pre-
:1 vent-a- quick debate-in -Novembeerr?-----
Baker,yesterday _said he-favored a
bates as soon as possible. Byrd hinted
h might , reconsidering. his ears e
Thei'I eated rhetoric employed
that the Senate is still far'from attain--
that .-SALT:,. backers think would Lie-
most conducive to the treaty.
~
ally strong,,,,The.minority Ieader, of,-
0M _. unceut probable, candidate
n
h
for pre dent,`said there was Yoti a
ban issue-"to do,nothing. at all-"
y ,.
at. all," Baker added.` In thwcase;we
stood toe to toe with;- the Soviet-Limon
blinked.,, ' ::i h ?,.....~'".-_.
or Release 2005/01/13 : CIA-RDP80B01554R003300210043-0
 25X1 Approved For Release 2005/01/13 : CIA-RDP80BO1554R003300210043-0
Approved For Release 2005/01/13 : CIA-RDP80BO1554R003300210043-0
 2
Approved For Release 2005101113 : CIA-RDP80B01554R 03300210043-0
. Baker said Carter , could' ,have
threatened to withdraw SALT II if
the Soviets refused to withdraw their''
troops from Cuba, to suspend negotia-
tions on most-favored?nation trade sta-
tus for the Soviets or to restrict sales
on high technology items such as. com-
puters. Or Carter might have declared
void the 1962 Soviet-American agree-
ment on Cuba on the grounds the So-
viets had violated it; Baker said.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.),
a likely challenger to_ President' Car-
ter for _ the presidential., nomination
next year, said he _'hoped.' Carter's
speech "would put this matter- (of: So-
viet troops in Cubaj,to rest. and per-
mit the Senate to go forward with the
important task of ratifying the SALT
agreement:',.,;..
Approved For Release 2005/01/13 : CIA-RDP80B01554R003300210043-0
 25X1 Approved For Release 2005/01/13 : CIA-RDP80BO1554R003300210043-0
Approved For Release 2005/01/13 : CIA-RDP80BO1554R003300210043-0
 ARTICLE APP;
OiF.l
proved For RJa~6CTOBER O/ 1979
SENATE DEEPLY spLIT':
OVER CARTER SPEECH
But He Feels Stand on Soviet Unit
Breaks Logjam on:Arms Pact .'.4
bY
By CHUMS MOHR
WASHINGTON`?'Oct. a,. ;.President
Carter's words and auctions, the issue of
Soviet.- troops . In, Cuba, left- tbs.- Senate
deeply divided today over.Wbats it; should
and would. do about: the strategic arms
limitation treaty with the Soviet Union. '
Despite a mixed reaction in the. Senate,
the President told visitors to the White
House that he felt?encouraged by what he
described as a mild Soviet reaction to his
television speech yesterday on the troop
issue.. He said be was confident that. his
own measures and reported- assurances
from the Soviet Union had broken the log-
jam over Senator approval of' the arms
pact. [PageA14.1-r`
Senator- Howard Baker Jr.,, of Ten.'
nessee, the- minority leader, said he op-
posed delay on the pact, as other Republi-
cans had ringed: But he called for drastic
amendments and said that, unless they
were adopted, the treaty "' vlll not get 80
open the way for the commi t;tee to act and
to send t e'treaty to the Senate floor for
troop. issue, but they do want greater
cae-Sente would nor approve the treatyf
until the issue was resolved. f
There were several flashes of temper ,
and of acrimony on the Senate floor
Senator Jesse A. Helms of North Caroli.4
among Republicans, said Mr. Carter bad
failed to show leadership, had made the
made what was -tantamount. to an ad-1
mission that Sovietsuupeeriority is so great
Senator Byrd; angered, rose to say that
Senator Helms''-was implying that "we.
should have a nuclear exchange with the
Soviet Union.." When Senator Helms tried
to protest that he had made no such 1mpli-
cation; Senator ' Byrd became' upset bey
symbolicactions on the troop issue. Sena-
tor'_ Baker called . the. actions 4 "inade-
quate?'. said, "In a toe-to-toe confron-
tation, we blinked.".
Several Democrats were lukewarm or
hostile. to the President's handling of the
troop. Issue, but most liberal Democrats, ,
together with Senator Byrd, supported
the. argument= that the arms treaty was.
more important than the problem of the
-
Soviet troops."." `7-t,-,
During an exchange on the Senate floor
today, Senator Baker told the Democrats
that the Republicans had been "remark-
ably restrained"' 'spectators and bad not
made the Soviet troop question a major
issue in the debate over the arms-Iimita-
tion treaty. It was Senator Church, Sena-
tor Baker said, who reported that there
was a Soviet combat unit in Cuba and that
tthar, in the third;person as required by
Senate rules. i
Senator 'Alan Cranston of California,
the Senate whip, rose, to argue that, the
Soviet troops did not threaten the United
States and added- ."It's time to put aside
childish thingsand childish ways."., ~ : u .
. That,. remark'4trigger d 5enratori
Baker's statement that it was the.Presi.,
dent. and the Democrats-who:. had madee-
described by President Carter, the re-.
ported brigade was not in Cuba on a train
ing mission and had "never engaged in'
votes." If all 100 senators vote, 87 votes
will be needed for approval.
Republicans One Compromise
SenatorBaker and other Republicans
also Indicated that they would not be.,
satisfied by a suggested compromise in'
which the Senate might adopt a resolu-
tion stating the treaty could not go into ef-
fect until President Carter: certified In,.
writing that a reported Soviet combat-
unit had somehow been made harml
Senator- Frank church,' Democrat: of
Idaho and. chairman of the Foreign Rela-
tions Committee, which is handliag..the:.
arms treaty,. Indicated yesterday that he:
would put.forth-sucba reservation.-Today,
he said that Senate approval of the treaty
would require ?'a clear statement by the
President that Soviet combat forties are
no longer deployed in Cuba.' `..
By agreement with the Senate majority
leader, Robert C. Byrd of tWest Virginia
and with: the. _White, Sopse;~ Senator,.
Approved For Release 2005/01/13 : CIA-RDP80B01554R003300210043-0