Byrd to Lead 8-Man Senate Delegation to Meet Gorbachev
Senate Democratic leader Robert C. Byrd said today that he will lead a bipartisan delegation of senators to the Soviet Union for a meeting with Mikhail S. Gorbachev early next month--two months before President Reagan is to hold a summit with the Soviet leader.
“I feel I can be helpful in helping to pave the way for the President,” Byrd said. The West Virginia Democrat said President Reagan is enthusiastic about the meeting and has asked him to deliver a letter to Gorbachev, whom he will meet in Geneva, Switzerland, in November.
The eight-member delegation will meet with Gorbachev and other high Soviet officials Sept. 2-3. Byrd plans to report to Reagan when he returns.
The other members of the delegation will be Sens. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.), Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.), Paul S. Sarbanes (D-Md.), John W. Warner (R-Va.) and George J. Mitchell (D-Me).
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