Reagan Tries Again to Win MX Support

President Reagan renewed his pitch for congressional approval of MX missile funds today, with House Appropriations Committee Democrats differing on his outlook for success.

“I predict a narrow victory,” said Rep. Norman D. Dicks (D-Wash.), an MX supporter, after a meeting with the President and other Administration officials at the White House.

But Rep. Joseph P. Addabbo (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee on defense, said he thought there is “a very good chance” that Congress will deny funds for the missile system.

Addabbo said Reagan attempted to “show how important it is to carry on with massive defense spending in order to show our resolve, but I think we can show our resolve without continuing massive defense spending.”

Rep. Jamie L. Whitten (D-Miss.), chairman of the full committee, said Reagan “discussed all of the things he advocated; he didn’t back up on any of them.”

Rep. Robert J. Mrazek (D-N.Y.) said, “The President attempted to make a very strong case for the fact that the MX is needed, as are all the other components of his defense budget, in order to potentially extract concessions from the Soviet Union so that there can be a dramatic reduction in nuclear weapons in the future.

“This view was questioned by a number of people. The mood is very clear in the House, certainly on the Democratic side, that if there are not going to be substantial cuts in the defense budget, then the kinds of cuts (Budget Director David A.) Stockman is looking for in . . . Amtrak and mass transit and farm programs aren’t going to be there.”

Reagan met with both Democratic and Republican members of the appropriations panel, but the Republican lawmakers left the White House without talking to reporters.

Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger, Secretary of State George P. Shultz and national security adviser Robert C. McFarlane addressed the group before Reagan arrived, White House spokesman Larry Speakes said.

Dicks, one of the architects of a compromise that resulted in partial funding of the MX last year, said he expressed disagreement in the meeting with Reagan’s view that his proposal for a space-based defense against nuclear weapons would be a stabilizing influence for peace.

“I am very concerned that ‘Star Wars,’ as it has been labeled, could provoke the Soviets both into a defensive and offensive arms race,” he said.