SALT SURVIVES TOUGH TEST, PICKS UP SUPPORT OF BYRD

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01315R000400350035-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 10, 2004
• Sequence Number: 35
• Publication Date: October 26, 1979
• Content Type: NSPR

I T? LE APPr.tt,R H WAS 0~ STAR (GREEN LINE)
roved For :CIA -RDP88-01315R00040035003'- -T-
ON PAGE
By Vernon ,& Guidry Jr....' generation of intercontinental mis
Washington Star Staff Writer sile called MX.
1' red' B rd predicted a treaty vote this
The SALT 11 treaty has c ea y
what may prove to be its last major year, after the Senate finishes
obstacle in..theisenate; Foreign Rela:. energy legislation. "My present
Lions Committee; -without any sig- ,inclination is to go with the treaty
" he
or lose
i
nificant changes oil the controver-
sial issue of treaty verification.
The treaty also pckid.-up'the
strong endorsement of Senate Demo-.
craticleader Robert Byrd, of ';West;
Virginia:
The committee yesterday rejected
proposed changes by. Sea.:. John
Glenn, D-Ohio;-which some Observ-
ers thought might qualify as "godfa-
ther amendments," as well, as what
the Carter administrationcalls`
"killer amendments."
In the jargon spawned by;treatyy
.consideration, a godfather amend -
meat is one that is:so politically at
tractive that it presents an offer too:
good to be refused. A killeramend
anent is one that would doom the
treaty to lengthy, perhaps.. fruitless'
renegotiation with the Soviet Union.
Glenn's proposals were aimed at
building both the capability. and
confidence of the United States in.,
verifying. Soviet compliance with;
the treaty.
1
While Byrd's.outr ght support had
long been expected, treaty support-
ers were glad to see him finally.,
"strapping on his fighting gear'to
quote one supporter., . ~x
Byrd said his final concerns.re-.
garding. the treaty and U.S.. strategic-
Posture ' had been resolved when. he z
received written assurances from.:'
President Carter- that the president
intended to press. ahead with new;
:;a, ne v
cruise: missiles,=.;:and"-with
,
n
(bring it to a vote) w
said,,adding that it.~ might prove
impossibleto predict. the outcome
because some senators will not de-
clare themselves until they vote.
'~'Intthe:meantime, he_said he was
.seriously concerned_tlaat the stand
taken by Republican presidential
,candidates against SALT was result-
ing in a partisan treatment of issues
thatshould.be decidedon grounds
-
of national security.
It appeared to be a reference to
Sen'. Howard Baker of Tennessee,,
Senate Republican leader and an
opponent of SALT II.
. Glenn's ra osals were voted on
in a committee session e in strict.
secret because veri. ice ion in-
volves some of the most secret . .
ante i ence met o s an evices.
One proposal would have required
that the. Soviet Union agree. not to
impede U.S. monitoring of the infor-
mation radioed back from Russian
test rockets to ground stations. It lost
The second proposal would have
required that the Soviet Union agree
to.notify the United States before it
conducts intercontinental' missile
tests.within its .own borders. It. lost
10.5
After. th~.secret session; Glenn
said-that he was disappointed at the
loss,but encouraged, by the:over-all
course of treaty examination. He re-
peated his earlier position .that his
own: vote.depended.on'wlether lost:
U.S verification capability could be.
rebuiltN` ;Jw
"I'm .hopefuh we'll be ana favora-
ble situation when it. comes time to
vote on this," he said,.adding it was
possible improvements could be
made in. time to allow him- to for
the treaty this year
Sen. Frank Church of Idaho, For
11 eign Relations chairman, said yes-
terday he expected the committee to
complete line-by-line consideration
of the bill by the end of next week,
despite reports: circulating in the
Senate that opponents were consid-
ering a last-minute rash of amend-.
ments to keep the treaty in commit-,
tee.
The committee actions taken so
far have been tentative. Committee
members. will have a last chance to
propose changes and conditions in
any, part. of the. treaty package dur-
ing final. consideration next week. If
the markup is completed by next
week, the treaty, could be reported to
the Senate as early as Nov.15.
The only major issue still'to be
tackled, by the committee involves
proposals to limit the Soviet Backfire
bomber beyond those already added
to the treaty:
one committee source said yester-
day that Church has developed a
working majority of "eight unshak-
able votes" for the treaty that should
forestall any "killer" Backfire
amendment. The meant Glenn's
proposals were probably the last dif-
ficult ones with which the commit-
tee will have to deal.
Even supporters of the treaty ac-;
knowledge it is still in serious trou-
ble on the floor, where its chances of
ratification are .`.''too close to call" asyI
one Senate source put it last night...
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