Reagan Urges Public to Back Defense Buildup

President Reagan appealed to the American people Wednesday night to help him overcome growing congressional resistance to higher defense spending and sustain the defense buildup he called “the most persuasive argument we have to convince our adversaries to negotiate seriously.”

In a nationally televised address from the Oval Office, Reagan said that continued high levels of defense spending are essential if he is to forestall the Soviet threat around the world and win concessions from Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev in their second summit meeting later this year.

“Just as we are sitting down at the bargaining table with the Soviet Union, let’s not throw America’s trump card away,” said Reagan, who promised: “I will never ask for what isn’t needed.”

Assails Lawmakers

The President assailed “some members of Congress” for voting to ban U.S. tests of an anti-satellite system, contending that the action “protected a Soviet monopoly” and “unilaterally granted the Soviets a concession they could not win at the bargaining table.”

Reagan used exceptionally strong language to condemn congressional attempts to rein in defense spending, calling further reductions “backsliding of the most irresponsible kind.”

White House officials said Reagan is determined to head off a repeat of last year’s experience when he agreed to freeze defense spending for one year and was forced to accept a 5% cut instead.

“The overarching theme of the President’s speech is that we didn’t spend the last five years making our military more competitive and America secure again only to have it undone in the second term,” said a senior Administration official who briefed reporters.

Wednesday night’s speech was the opening salvo in a concerted campaign to build public support for Reagan’s $311.6-billion defense budget and to put pressure on congressmen who press for cuts. White House officials have been concerned for some time that the public has been lulled into thinking the country can slow its defense buildup.

“If we don’t keep explaining what the threat is, what the gap is that was caused by a decade of neglect, people don’t see the need for it,” the senior official said.

Democratic Response

In the official Democratic Party response to Reagan’s message, House Majority Leader Jim Wright (D-Tex.) said Democrats share Reagan’s concerns about national security and the fostering of democracy around the globe but that they seriously disagree with his spending priorities.

“We think the deficits themselves pose danger to our national security,” Wright said.

The rate of military spending has been doubled over the last five years and such “force-feeding” has resulted in waste, he said, insisting that Reagan cannot continue such a military buildup and still lower deficits without raising taxes.

In his speech, Reagan alluded to a private GOP opinion survey that shows an overwhelming majority, 66% to 22%, believes the United States is superior to the Soviet Union in military strength. The poll helped jolt White House officials into action on the eve of what promises to be a divisive congressional debate over spending priorities.

Using charts and graphs, Reagan painted an alarming picture of Soviet arsenals. Between 1970 and 1985, he said, the Soviets invested $500 billion more than did the United States in defense--and built nearly three times as many strategic missiles.

“Those who speak so often about the so-called arms race ignore a central fact,” he said. “In the decade before 1981, the Soviets were the only ones racing.”

The consequence of U.S. inattention, he said, is “major military imbalances” between the superpowers, principally in conventional weapons. Demonstrating the gap with a bar graph, Reagan said the Soviets have deployed one-and-a-half times as many combat aircraft as this nation, more than two-and-a-half times as many submarines, more than five times as many tanks and more than 11 times as many artillery pieces.

He said that “any slackening now” in defense spending “could fatally compromise our negotiating position.”

Which Is Superior?

When asked which is the superior military power, the senior official who briefed reporters before the speech said: “It’s a close call.” He explained that the Soviets have the advantage in strategic systems and they have a larger navy but that the United States is ahead in major aircraft carriers.

Reagan appears to be counting on his popularity with the American people to forge their support for his attempt to boost defense spending by 8% in fiscal 1987 at the same time he is sharply cutting domestic programs.

Using his knack for the folksy quip, Reagan quoted the late humorist Will Rogers to answer “those who think strength provokes conflict.” According to Reagan, Rogers said of the world heavyweight champion of his day: “I’ve never seen anyone insult Jack Dempsey.”

The President used a map to show a number of strategic countries that moved toward the Communist column during the 1970s. They included Laos, Cambodia, South Vietnam, Afghanistan, South Yemen, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Angola, Grenada and Nicaragua.

Reversing the Tide

“In these last five years, not one square inch of territory has been lost--and Grenada has been set free,” he said, crediting his defense buildup with reversing the tide.

Calling the defense problems he inherited five years ago “immense,” he said that “even my predecessor in this office recognized that and projected sizable increases in defense spending.”

In his speech Wednesday night, Reagan made a pitch for his Strategic Defense Initiative, commonly known as “Star Wars.” He called it “pure folly” not to press forward with the research program into space-based missile defenses when the Soviets are heavily invested in similar research, despite their protestations to the contrary.

But the heart of Reagan’s appeal was aimed at funding for more conventional weaponry that could be used effectively “against the giant Red Army.”

An Anti-Tank Weapon

Referring to unspecified U.S. technology that supposedly makes it possible to destroy a tank column up to 120 miles away, Reagan said: “When we fail to equip our troops with these modernized systems, we only increase the risk that we may one day have to resort to nuclear weapons.”

Sensitive to charges of Pentagon abuse in purchasing such standard items as hammers and toilet seats, Reagan explained that “getting control of the defense bureaucracy is no small task” and claimed that most of the outrages were uncovered by Administration officials.

“Secretary Weinberger should be praised, not pilloried, for cleaning the skeletons out of the closet,” he said, referring to Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger.

‘Horror Stories’

Reagan also pledged to implement the recommendations of a blue-ribbon defense commission headed by former Deputy Defense Secretary David Packard that will report Friday on the Pentagon “horror stories.”

Times staff writers Robert C. Toth and Bob Secter contributed to this story.