The Impasse Ends: The Summit : Meeting May Defuse Defense Cut Support

Republicans as well as some Democrats predicted Tuesday that the surprise announcement of the U S.-Soviet meeting in Iceland will undermine congressional support for deep defense spending cuts as well as a House-passed measure that would require President Reagan to halt nuclear testing.

But most lawmakers rejected the Administration’s contention that Congress should sustain the President’s veto of sanctions against South Africa because of the upcoming session between Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

“It would be farfetched to suggest that the President would be discussing South Africa with Gorbachev,” said Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “South Africa has never been on the agenda, and I think it will be seen as farfetched by my colleagues as it seems to me.”

The surprise announcement of the meeting comes at a time when Reagan is facing serious challenges from Congress on a wide range of national security issues including the South African sanctions, a nuclear test ban and deep cuts in spending on major defense programs, including the President’s so-called “Star Wars” space-based missile defense system.

Shortly after the announcement, Administration officials and Republican congressional leaders sought to use it to their advantage--arguing that Congress should not undercut the President as he enters into serious talks with Gorbachev.

“When President Reagan sits down across the table from Gorbachev--when the two men look each other in the eye--I want Gorbachev to see a President who has the clear and strong support of the Congress and the people and who has the unquestioned mandate to speak for us all on national security questions,” Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) said.

“I would strongly urge every member of this body to give special consideration over the next few days to their votes on the defense and foreign policy issues that we will be confronting in rapid-fire order.”

Secretary of State George P. Shultz used the same argument in a meeting designed to persuade GOP senators to uphold the President’s veto of the South African sanctions bill. But Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said after the meeting with Shultz, “I don’t think he found too much of a sympathetic ear.”

But there was a growing consensus that the scheduled summit could undermine congressional attacks on Reagan’s arms control posture and those weapons systems such as the “Star Wars” program that figure in the arms control negotiations. The House has approved bills that would require the President to abide by the unratified 1979 strategic arms limitation treaty and call for a moratorium on nuclear testing.

Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said that “it (the pre-summit meeting) probably strengthens the President’s hand in dealing with the Congress on these issues.” Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), a strong arms control advocate, agreed to that assessment.

‘A Severe Disadvantage’

“We’re definitely at a severe disadvantage--that’s obvious,” said a top House Democratic aide who declined to be identified by name. “Clearly, we are not going to want to cave in on all the arms control stuff, but that’s what they want.”

Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a key figure in current House-Senate negotiations on a defense spending measure for fiscal 1987, which begins today, added, “It sends a strong signal to Congress that it should not in any way tie the President’s hands when he meets with Gorbachev.”

Although House-Senate negotiators failed to reach agreement on any of the key arms control issues during their meeting Tuesday, they did agree tentatively that the overall figure for defense spending during fiscal 1987 would be nearly $291.1 billion. This figure resulted from simply splitting the difference between the House and Senate versions of the bill and it came as no surprise to members of the Congress or to the Administration.

The negotiators also agreed to eliminate all funding for the B-1B bomber--officially shutting down the production line after completion of 100 bombers.

In addition to cuts in “Star Wars” funding, the House members were still insisting on a continued ban on testing of anti-satellite weapons, a ban on production of a new binary chemical weapon known as the Big-Eye Bomb, and House-passed provisions calling on the President to abide by the 1979 strategic arms limitation treaty and to declare a moratorium on testing of all nuclear weapons if the Soviets agree to on-site verification of their existing ban.

Today, according to sources, Senate negotiators are expected to announce a compromise proposal that would allow only a certain number of nuclear tests each year. But this proposal already has been rejected by House Democrats.