Sen. Byrd Says White House Is ‘Crying Wolf’

House Speaker Jim Wright today called a Reagan Administration decision to send troops to Honduras unjustified, while Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd said the White House is “crying wolf” to startle Congress into restoring aid to the Contras.

Other Democratic lawmakers and at least one Republican expressed skepticism about whether a reported Nicaraguan military incursion is as large or as threatening as the White House claims.

“I know nothing that justifies sending troops,” Wright (D-Tex.) said, adding that the move is “potentially dangerous.” He said he hopes that the troops will be kept well away from any fighting.

‘Overreaction’ Seen

Byrd (D-W.Va.) called President Reagan’s decision to send 3,200 U.S. troops to Honduras an “overreaction,” and a number of other legislators said they are still waiting for hard evidence from the White House to back up its claims.

“We’ve heard the Administration cry, ‘Wolf, wolf,’ before,” Byrd told reporters. “I don’t know when they’re crying wolf.” Byrd said that even by mid-morning today, he had neither been briefed nor contacted by the Administration about the troop movement.

“I hope it does not prove to be counterproductive (and) does not derail the peace process,” Byrd said.

“It’s an overreaction,” he said. “The Sandinistas have crossed over the border before and gone back.”

Republican Skeptical

Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) said: “The White House has been playing politics with American aid, they have been playing politics with the Contras, and now they are playing politics with American boys.”

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), generally a supporter of the Administration’s Central America policies, said he is skeptical about the need for sending troops.

He said the Sandinista incursion into Honduras represents “a cynical abandonment of the peace process” but he added that it does not pose any serious threat to the United States, and therefore did not clearly call for the sending of military forces.

“I think it’s a move the President may come to regret because the spectacle of American troops moving into Central America in convoy, flying down there, I think is going to remind the American people of why they don’t want this,” said Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).