Soviets Cheated on ’72 Pact, U.S. Says : Byrd Predicts Delay in Vote on New Treaty

The Democratic-controlled Senate will not be rushed into ratifying the new U.S.-Soviet treaty on intermediate-range nuclear missiles, not even by a “razzle-dazzle selling job” from President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev, Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) declared Wednesday.

In a floor speech setting a tone for the impending Senate deliberations, Byrd dashed the hopes of many liberal Democrats and some Administration officials who are pressing for speedy consideration of the treaty in the expectation that it will open the way for another pact reducing the superpower arsenals of long-range, strategic arms.

On Floor in April

Byrd said that the treaty will not be reported to the Senate floor before early April and predicted only that the final vote would occur “before summertime.”

In addition, Byrd cautioned that the President should not sign the treaty in haste just to do it while Gorbachev is in Washington next week for the summit. Administration officials acknowledged Wednesday that they had just received some important data pertaining to the treaty from the Soviet Union.

“I encourage the Administration not to rush the conclusion of the negotiations, but to close all possible loopholes, to secure the very best arrangements possible and not to be rushed by the impending summit schedule,” he said. “Summits can come and go, but we will have to live with a treaty far beyond the time when the memories of the Reagan-Gorbachev summit or even of the Reagan presidency have faded.”

Liberals led by Senate Majority Whip Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) have been pressing for prompt Senate consideration of the treaty, which is scheduled to be signed by Gorbachev and Reagan on Tuesday.

Cranston, who is working closely with top Administration officials to win Senate ratification of the accord, has argued that the Soviets cannot be expected to make concessions on a strategic weapons treaty until they are certain that the treaty has been ratified.

Media Blitz

But Byrd insisted that the ratification process will not be hastened by the liberals, by the Administration or by a highly persuasive media blitz from Reagan and Gorbachev.

“Mr. Reagan and Mr. Gorbachev both have a personal stake in a successful outcome of the Senate debate on the INF treaty,” he said. “They are both skilled at communications. The country is likely to get a razzle-dazzle selling job from this unlikely political duet, but we should keep in mind that it is not the song that matters, but the black-and-white text of the document to which these leaders put their signatures.”

The treaty will be reviewed by three separate Senate committees--Foreign Relations, Armed Services and Intelligence--before being reported to the floor, where a two-thirds vote is necessary for ratification. Although it is expected to be ratified, supporters fear that the Senate also will adopt unwanted amendments, forcing Reagan to renegotiate parts of the treaty.

Byrd said that the Senate committees will pay particularly close attention to the treaty’s dramatic new verification procedures because these provisions are expected to set a precedent for a future U.S.-Soviet treaty governing strategic weapons.

“If they (verification provisions) are sloppy, even if the treaty squeaks through on a close vote, the future prospects for more important treaties in the strategic weapons area could be fatally damaged,” he said. “The treaty could very well be either the beginning or the end of arms control--a first or a last step.”

Byrd said that the Senate also will study carefully what impact this treaty will have on the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The Armed Services Committee hearings will focus primarily on the issue of Soviet superiority in conventional, non-nuclear weapons in Europe.

Byrd defended the slow ratification process as necessary to avoid rejection. He noted that the Senate has failed to ratify the last three arms control treaties negotiated with the Soviet Union--most notably the 1979 strategic arms limitation treaty.

In addition, he said the treaty and Gorbachev’s smooth media image should not be permitted to obscure other important issues in U.S.-Soviet relations, including the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and the slow pace of emigration from the Soviet Union.

“I cannot overstate the need for realism in evaluating a Soviet ‘great communicator,’ ” Byrd said. “The television tube can be a beguiling, entrancing hypnotist. An impressive and pleasing style is commendable, but when the security of our society and that of our allies is at stake, results are all that count.”