Senate Approves $163 Million for New Nerve Gas

The Senate voted Wednesday night in favor of spending $163 million to begin production of binary nerve gas during fiscal 1986 to replace outdated stockpiles of other chemical weapons.

By a 50-46 vote, the Senate rejected a bipartisan proposal to strip the nerve gas money from a bill authorizing the Defense Department to spend $302 billion in fiscal 1986.

Opponents of nerve gas production argued that the start-up would harm current negotiations with the Soviet Union on chemical weapons reductions. But supporters of the measure said that present U.S. chemical stockpiles are virtually worthless or too dangerous to transport and that the new gas is much safer to handle.

California’s two senators split on the nerve gas issue. Republican Pete Wilson voted to begin production, and Democrat Alan Cranston voted against it.

The vote preceded a long-awaited Senate debate on a proposal by Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) to limit to 40 the number of MX missiles that President Reagan can deploy in the future. Nunn refused earlier in the day to agree to Reagan’s request to agree to a “pause” instead of a complete halt in deployment. “I’m not willing to give up on that,” he said.

Sen. David L. Boren (D-Okla.) observed: “Sen. Nunn’s got his back up on this.”

As a result, negotiations on a compromise between Nunn and the White House appeared to be at an impasse Wednesday night as the Senate prepared to debate the matter. Without a compromise, the Senate was expected to adopt the Nunn proposal as an amendment to a bill authorizing the Defense Department to spend $302 billion during fiscal 1986.

However, White House officials continued to press for a compromise. National security adviser Robert C. McFarlane declared that “a compromise is within reach” because Nunn already had agreed to raise the ceiling from 40 to 50 as part of an overall agreement.

Republicans acknowledged that adoption of the Nunn proposal would be an embarrassing defeat for the President. “If they want a political victory, and if they want to say they defeated the President, they can do it,” Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) conceded.

Dole said the President believes that adoption of the Nunn proposal would be particularly damaging this week, just as former Sen. John Tower and other arms control negotiators are scheduled to return to talks with the Soviet Union in Geneva.

“They don’t want a brawl over it now because Tower and those guys are supposed to go back on Saturday,” he said.

Nunn’s proposal as offered in the Senate on Wednesday would limit deployment of MX missiles to 40, instead of the 100 originally sought by the President. It also would allow 12 missiles to be produced in fiscal 1986.

Offer for ‘Pause’

In an effort to obtain a compromise, Reagan offered to agree to a “pause” in deployment at 50 missiles. He also asked for Senate approval to produce 21 missiles in fiscal 1986 instead of 12.

On Wednesday, Dole and McFarlane said, Nunn agreed to raise the deployment level to 50 as part of a compromise but refused to accept the idea of a pause and rejected the Administration’s contention that it needs to produce 21 missiles in 1986.

Congress previously has approved funding for the production of 42 MX missiles. Although there is no current congressionally mandated ceiling on deployment, none of the missiles is yet ready to be deployed. The President’s original proposal called for producing 223 missiles and deploying 100.

Nunn, in an impassioned speech on the Senate floor, forcefully rejected the Administration’s argument that the Soviets would view his proposal as a unilateral concession in arms control talks. He said it is up to the President to determine how the world should view it.

‘Positive’ Effect

“They can say that this is a clear expression of Congress that the MX has run its course and we are looking more vigorously at the Midgetman missile,” he said. “If it is stated that way, I believe the effect on Geneva will be positive. It depends on how they play it. It’s in the White House’s hands.”

Nunn added that Reagan himself had engineered the defeat of the MX missile when he decided during his 1980 presidential campaign to campaign against a mobile basing system for the MX. Reagan subsequently chose to deploy the missiles in existing Minuteman missile silos, which many critics contend are vulnerable to Soviet attack.

Even if the amendment is adopted, Nunn said, the Administration can still revive the MX program by agreeing to reconsider a mobile basing plan that would be less vulnerable than the Minuteman silos.

“If, on the other hand, the Administration says this kills the program, then in effect the Administration is saying we’re still stuck on a 1980 campaign position,” he said. “Any damage that may be done in Geneva will be because of their own locked-in position, and their words will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Nunn, who emphasized that he has never before voted against the MX program, said he believes that because his proposal will keep a “warm production line” open for the missile, this will demonstrate U.S. resolve to the Soviet Union.

Budget Restraints

The senator, citing budget restraints, said it is important for the Administration to begin to phase out the MX so that it can afford to spend more money on two weapons systems that he believes are more important: the Stealth bomber and the advance cruise missile.

“I rate these two programs not just more important than MX, but much, much more important than MX,” he said.

If the Senate adopts Nunn’s proposal, the House is expected to follow suit. Rep. Nicholas Mavroulas (D-Mass.) already has indicated that he will offer an amendment in the House to limit MX deployment at 40 missiles.

To make more time for the MX issue, senators on both sides of the aisle agreed to delay until June 5 a renewed debate over aid to the Nicaraguan rebels in 1986.