57 Senators Urge Reagan to Return to Limits of SALT II : Call Violations an Invitation for Soviet Breach

More than half the Senate urged President Reagan today to put the United States back under the limits of the SALT II nuclear arms control treaty that the United States breached last month.

A letter signed by 57 of the 100 senators said the U.S. action was an “open invitation to the Soviets” to violate several of the numerical limits in the treaty.

“We could probably have gotten more than 57, but a lot of them are overseas and a lot are out of pocket,” said Sen. Dale Bumpers (D-Ark.), who originated the letter. It was signed by 47 Democrats and 10 Republicans.

It was the latest expression of congressional unhappiness with the Administration’s Nov. 28 action when the latest B-52 bomber equipped to carry nuclear-tipped cruise missiles became operational.

That was the 131st B-52 to be converted and put the United States above the numerical limits in the unratified 1979 treaty because the Pentagon did not eliminate any existing weapons from the U.S. arsenal. Retirement of current weapons would put the United States back under treaty limits.

House Democrats last week approved a resolution criticizing Reagan’s action and pledged to try to get the Democratic-controlled chamber to reverse the decision when Congress convenes next month.

Bumpers, asked if he would seek similar legislation in the Senate, said, “I don’t want to talk about that now because I hope it won’t be necessary.”

But he conceded that such legislation will probably be introduced if Reagan doesn’t change his mind. Bumpers said he would support it, as did Sens. John H. Chafee (R-R.I.) and Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), who attended the news conference.

Chafee said the U.S. decision gives the Soviets “quite a propaganda advantage” that they are trying to exploit.

Leahy said: “Time is running out. Opportunities have been lost, and they’re opportunities that don’t come again.”

Because SALT II was never ratified by the Senate, it has never been binding on the United States, but both superpowers agreed to abide by its terms. The treaty covers a wide range of strategic weapons issues, including limits on various types of weapons, such as bombers, submarine-launched missiles and land-based missiles.

Reagan criticized the pact as “fatally flawed” during the 1980 presidential campaign. But once in office, he pledged to live up to its limits as long as the Soviets did likewise.