SENATE APPROVES ANTISATELLITE TESTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100070005-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 20, 2012
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: May 25, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

ST Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/20 :CIA-RDP90
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WASHINGTON POST
25 May 1985
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Amendment by warner ins Instead of Proposed Bdn
By Tim Ahern
Associated Press
The Sehate voted, 74 to 9, yes-
terday to approve final tests of an
Air Force weapon designed to de-
stroy satellites.
The vote was on a proposal by
Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) to
allow three final-stage tests next
year as long as President Reagan
tells Congress that the tests will not
disrupt negotiations aimed at ban-
ning the weapons.
The Senate rejected, 51 to 35, a
testing ban proposed by Sen. John
Kerry (D-Mass.), who said it was "a
signal of our good faith and willing-
ness to restrain the arms race and
keep it out of space."
Warner opposed the limit as "a
unilateral concession which would
erode the U.S. position" at the Ge-
neva talks with the Soviet Union on
'--trying- to limit a wide range of
weapons.
The debate centered on antisat-
ellite weapons, or ASATs, designed
to destroy orbiting satellites used
by both superpowers for spying,
communications and early warning
of attack.
The U.S. ASAT is a small war-
head atop a rocket carried to the
edge of space by an F15 jet, then
released to pursue its target.
The U.S. weapon has been tested
in stages but not fired against a tar-
get in space. That final round of
testing is scheduled to start within
a few months.
The three-test plan was attached
to a bill authorizing a record De-
fense Department budget of $302
billion for fiscal 1986. The Repub-
lican-controlled Senate has trimmed
Reagan's defense buildup as part of
the bill and has halved his proposed
MX nuclear-missile program.
After considering dozens of
amendments to the bill, the Senate
adjourned for a holiday recess with
plans to return June 3. Still pending
are. amendments on research into
Reagan's proposed Strategic De-
fense Initiative and on aid to Ni-
caraguan rebels.
The Democratic-controlled
House is considering a smaller de-
fense budget, and the chambers'
differences would be resolved in a
conference committee.
ASATs are among space weap-
ons that are part of negotiations in
Geneva that also cover long-range
and medium-range nuclear weap-
ons. The Soviets seek a halt to
ASAT tests, while the Reagan ad-
ministration has said it is open to
such a proposal but has refused to
halt ASAT testing as a condition to
talks.
Last year, Congress banned final
tests of the U.S. system in hopes
.that the pause might help negoti-
ations, which had not then started.
Earlier, the Senate gave voice-
vote approval to an amendment re-
quiring aman story ~ e sentence m
prison or t ose conv~cte o espi-
onage mvo vmg t e oviet mon or
other communist nations m cases
w ere no eat sentence ~s ~m-
op sed?
The amendment was offered by
Minority Leader Robert yrd
(D-W.Va.), who said a person con-
victed of espionage but given cap-
ita purrs ment cou a given pro-
ation or paro a un er Curren aw.
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/20 :CIA-RDP90-009658000100070005-2