Anti-Reagan Effort Shelved by State Senate

Liberal Democrats in the state Senate ventured into the admittedly unfamiliar web of foreign affairs Tuesday to take a “political shot” at President Reagan because of the Iran arms scandal, but they abruptly retreated in the face of opposition by conservative Democrats and Republicans.

One Democrat who broke ranks with liberals, Sen. Joseph Montoya of Whittier, deplored the anti-Reagan effort as “clearly a political kick in the butt to . . . a very popular sitting President.”

The liberals sought to put the Senate on record as expressing “disapproval and profound disappointment” that Reagan knew of “secretly arranged” arms shipments to Iran, a “known terrorist government,” and that profits from the sale were secretly funneled to anti-Communist rebel forces in Nicaragua.

The President has insisted that he had no advance knowledge of profits going to the contras .

Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) defended the liberals’ action as a legitimate exercise because Democrats are frequently depicted by Republicans as being “less than patriotic” whenever they oppose Reagan.

“We are sick and tired of the (Republican) castigation. . . . We want you to know we can dish it out too.”

“Yeah, this is a political shot,” he declared. “The Republicans have negotiated for ransom. The Republicans have acted in a way other than they talk.”

Throughout the debate on a resolution by Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles), some proponents and opponents alike agreed that the California Senate lacks competence in global affairs and has no business injecting itself into the Reagan Administration’s foreign policy crisis. Likewise, they conceded that even if approved, such a resolution would quickly find its way into White House and congressional trash cans.

Organizational Session

On the second day of a two-day organizational session for 1987-88, state senators, with little major business to conduct, spent more than an hour debating the foreign policy as if they were members of the U.S. Senate.

“Is this what the hell we all went through the elections for? To come back and spend two hours on this trivia?” complained Sen. Leroy Greene (D-Carmichael).

On two preliminary votes, it became clear that Republicans, along with a handful of conservative Democrats who last year split away from Roberti on certain liberal vs. conservative issues, had the votes to tie up Rosenthal’s resolution in an even more prolonged fight.

Gleeful Response

Consequently, Roberti abruptly proposed that, in the interests of obtaining more up-to-date information about the crisis and to achieve bipartisan harmony, the issue be shelved until the Legislature meets again Jan. 5. Rosenthal agreed.

The retreat was gleefully hailed by Senate GOP leader James W. Nielsen of Rohnert Park as a first demonstration since the Nov. 4 elections of a “more moderate, conservative Senate.” The Democrats lost two seats last month--one to Republican Don Rogers of Bakersfield and another to Sen. Quentin Kopp of San Francisco, a Democrat-turned-independent.

Opposed Proposal

Kopp voted with the GOP-conservative Democratic coalition against the anti-Reagan proposal.

At the polls, Democratic strength in the Senate fell from 26 members to 24, and Republicans gained one seat for a new total of 15. The GOP has hopes of picking up an additional seat when a special election is held next year to replace Sen. Paul Carpenter (D-Norwalk), who was elected to the state Board of Equalization. Republican registration has been rising in recent years in the district, which covers parts of southeastern Los Angeles County and northern Orange County.

‘Flexing of Muscle’

“I definitely believe we are going to see a more deliberative, moderate, conservative point of view in the Senate,” Nielsen said. “The raw flexing of (liberal Democratic) muscle is not going to be as effective now.”

After the debate, Roberti conceded that with Democratic ranks diminished, “there will be a more conservative bent to the house.” As for Democrats prevailing over Republicans on philosophical issues, he said he would “have to hold (Democrats) together better.”

Senate Democratic floor leader Barry Keene of Benicia dismissed Nielsen’s claim of a more conservative Senate as “his public relations effort. He’s been wrong before.”