Reagan Takes Fight Over Bork to Nation’s Heartland

President Reagan, seeking to put the Iran- contra scandal behind him, carried his fight to win Senate confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork to the nation’s heartland today.

“No other issue could be more pressing” than getting the federal appeals court judge seated before the court convenes Oct. 5, Reagan said in a speech to Nebraska civic and community leaders at a ranch near this Western Nebraska rail center.

“The American people want to see a full complement of nine justices on the bench when the Supreme Court reconvenes,” Reagan said.

The President later flew from Nebraska to California for a 25-day stay in Los Angeles and at his ranch north of Santa Barbara.

At the home of Nebraska rancher Ted Long, Reagan repeated his appeal for his economic proposals, which include a balanced-budget constitutional amendment and the authority for Presidents to veto items in spending bills. The measures are needed, he said, to restrain future administrations from increasing taxes and government spending.

“Let’s never let government again take away our freedom to prosper,” he said in the speech to a crowd of about 300 at a Western-style lunch.

The President’s most urgent pitch, however, was for quick Senate action on Bork, whom he proposes to elevate from the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington to the Supreme Court, replacing former Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr.

“You know, when he retired, Justice Powell said that it wasn’t fair to the Supreme Court, or the parties with cases before it, for the court to operate at less than full strength,” Reagan said. “Well, since last June, that’s just what’s happened. The approval process for Judge Bork’s nomination is already the longest in 25 years.”

In remarks later at a public gathering at the Buffalo Bill Wild West Arena, the original site of William F. Cody’s fabled Wild West shows, Reagan touched briefly on his televised report Wednesday night on the Iran- contra scandal.

Saying he had “waited until Congress finished its work before speaking out,” he added, “But now, it’s time to get down to the real business at hand--to move forward with America.”

Outside the arena, members of Nebraskans for Peace held up banners saying, “Our Silos Are for Grain, Not Missiles” and “Farms Not Arms.”