SOVIET ARMS PACT GETS THE SUPPORT OF SENATOR BYRD

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01315R000400350034-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 10, 2004
• Sequence Number: 34
• Publication Date: October 26, 1979
• Content Type: NSPR

NEW YORK TIMES (, s ?G.~
ARTICLE ' , - ? Approved FoI Relssse, 2 : CIA-RDP88-01315R000400350034-6_._.,- a
enato ,
Further Changes by critics
Defeated in Committee
By CHARLES MOHR ?
WASHINGTON, Oct 25' = The Senate
majority leader,, Robert C. Byrd of West
Virginia; endorsed the-'strategic arms
treaty with the. Soviet. Union ::today . and
.said,he had obtained a promise from
;President Carter: that , the .United States
would proceed with the MX mobile inter-
continental missile::: . . ~,
been viewed as politically attractive but
Senator Byrd and others conceded that
its ultimate fate was still in doubt, but
today's developments seemed. to. give
Davits Sees Pact `in Strong Shape'
-,SenatorJacob K. Javits,'Republicanof
New York,. called the committee votes
""highlydesirable" steps and said, "so far
the treaty is emerging iristrong'shape
But a Senate staff member associated
with the opposition said supporters were
considerably.?short.of?putting together.thei
two-thirds. majority needed forrapproval
The-Foreign Relations Committee mety
in closed session to vote on,''proposals that.,
'Soviet. Union to cheaionthe treat terms..':
Officials of. the. Carter Administratiod
ged by polls or elections but,in the
' ,.. ~ .:I
cold, .clear light of history, ",the the state-
One a~theprr was a i under
ment concluded.
standing} Soviet assei ,: that
would have barred in erference with: Senator Byrd said the treaty was in the
national interest and should be approved
the transmission of signals contain
with understandings and reservations al-
ing missile.flight-tes ta. Experts say
ready adopted by the Foreign Relations
that such data, eede.r treatyverifica-
Committee that would not require rene-
tion;.. could be' denitk by anumber of
gotiation or risk rejection by the Soviet
methods; such as' ' dropping tape r& ord
Union..'' .
the we
ings from missiles or reduciii
In dealing with most objections to the
of the signals.
The understanding, . offered enato
John Glenn, Democra of Ohio, .was voted
down by'9 to 8. - e tbmm th ittee`'also de=
feated an atn eat atiwould haveI-
lowed ea li.past to collect data:on. th.
othetparty,. and an under
territory-%12_11
standing d have required prio
notificatei of fl missile launchings.
At a `sews conference this ;afternoon
Senatat,Byrd not. only?announced` suppo .
of'the treaty, as elease 2005/01/12 CIA-RDP88-01315R000400350034-6
ts a eiise
fared a detailed statern
in,
He,saiident.Carter hactgivtt'
written assurance that he intended to pro-
ceed with the controversial MX and with
ground-launched and sea-launched cruise
missiles when a treaty protocol that tem-
porarily forbids their deployment expires
Dec. 31, 1981. This assurance may swing
some wavering Senate votes in favor of
the treaty, but it may also alienate liberal
,Senators who oppose the MX.
Senator Byrd apparently felt that clar-
ity on the MX was politically desirable.
Many figures have expressed the. opinion
that it will never be built and will be bar-
gained away in negotiations on a future
arms treaty to replace the present pact
when it expires.
The Foreign Relations Committee will
require at least one more week to finish
debating and voting on documents associ-
treaty, Senator Byrd said that the cone-j
quences of rejection would increase pos-
sible hazards to United States security by
erasing any limitations on the Soviet
Union's freedom of action.
Senator Frank Church of Idaho, the
chairman, publicly announced the results
of the votes taken today by the Foreign
Relations Committee in closed session.
He said the treaty amendment, by Sena-
a
soo ea corm a n defeated
Me I
b a vote of to 6. Senator etin s un< er-
stading requi g prior notification of j
missile launchings was beaten. by the
same margin.
The committee approved by unani-
mous votes much more Innocuous_ver-
sion of - these proposals,.exhorting tue;'
United States to regard interference with
flight-test signals as . a- cause for com-
plaint and to seek a launching-
notifica-tion -clause in a future treaty. Senator
Lugar called these understandings,
which need not even be communicated to
the Soviet Union, toothless.
f "A
!ated with the treaty. It will be mid-
November before the text can be sent to
the Senate. But, with Its actions today,
the majority in favor of the treaty has
beaten back virtually all of the so-called
killer amendments in committee.
These victories had been expected, per-
haps by even larger margins; and will
Still to be voted on next week in the
committee is a proposal by Senator Glenn
that would more firmly assure that the
Soviet Union will not increase the inter-
continental-, capability of the TU-22M
bomber, known as Backfire In the West.
The proposal is expected to be defeated.
Senator Byrd, in his news conference in
an ornate anteroom of the Senate wing of
the Capitol,: expressed the opinion that
the Senate could finish other legislative
business.. and take up the treaty just be-
fore or just after Thanksgiving.
In the past he said the he would prob-
ably not call up the treaty' if it seemed
likely to be defeated-Today he said so'
many senators were keeping their inten-
tions_secret until the final roll=callthat it
might be impossible to get a count before
the vote. For that reason, he said, he is
now inclined to "go win or lose."
Senator Byrd read parts of a 5,000-word
statement . analyzing::the main treaty
provisions `and the opposition- arguments
against them-;. ?
"What we do here and now will not be