Nitze Warns Congress on SALT II Bill

Arms control adviser Paul Nitze today warned Congress that proposed legislation to force President Reagan to adhere to SALT II treaty limits would harm U.S. interests.

But key lawmakers, digging in their heels for what could be an extremely bitter White House-Capitol Hill confrontation, said they planned to press for passage of the bill anyway if Reagan did not voluntarily reverse his decision to exceed the SALT II limits later this year.

“For Congress to seek through legislation to determine the negotiating policy and tactics this nation pursues . . . would be a serious mistake,” Nitze told a House Armed Services Committee panel on arms control.

Peril to Security Seen

“It would put in jeopardy the very arms control and security goals which are shared by us all,” he said.

Reagan last week announced that the United States would remain in technical observance of SALT II for some months but would likely breach it later this year because the Soviet Union has repeatedly violated the pact.

“The President did not arrive at his decision precipitously or happily but only reluctantly after several years of unilateral restraint,” Nitze said.

Rep. George E. Brown Jr., a member of the House Intelligence Committee, conceded at a news conference called by Reagan’s critics that “there are Soviet violations in some cases of the SALT II and the ABM (Anti-Ballistic Missile) treaties.”

Violations Inconsequential

But he insisted that “in every case it’s the position of the intelligence experts that they (violations) do not pose a danger to the security of the United States.”

The California Democrat said there is a mechanism--the Standing Consultative Committee--to resolve treaty disputes, but he charged “there has been a deliberate conspiracy by the Administration to refuse to discuss compliance with the Soviets” in an effort to “build a case” to abrogate the treaty.

At a separate news conference, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., sponsor of the bill that would force Reagan to remain within key SALT II limits, charged that U.S. arms control policy “has fallen into a small group of right-wing advisers who have tried for years to pull down arms control.”

He said that under the treaty, Moscow over the next 18 months would have to dismantle 10 launchers for every one U.S. launcher and said it was a “most extraordinary moment” for Reagan to announce his decision.