Administration Opposes Senators’ Demand on Pact

The Reagan Administration told senators Friday that it is opposed to an effort by Foreign Relations Committee Democrats to require Senate approval of any change in the interpretation of the new U.S.-Soviet intermediate-range nuclear weapons treaty.

The proposal, offered by Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), is the latest chapter in a see-saw contest between Capitol Hill and the Administration over the legal interpretation of treaty language, and it is expected to be one of the focal points of debate as the Foreign Relations Committee completes action on the pact next week.

Under Biden’s proposal, the treaty’s ratification would be conditioned on three principles designed to pin down its official interpretation. The most sweeping of them is a requirement that the Senate give its approval before adoption of any interpretation different from that offered during the ratification process.

Provision ‘Seriously Flawed’

Although the treaty has nearly unanimous support of Senate Democrats and appears headed for approval by an overwhelming margin, the interpretation issue has persisted since the agreement was signed by President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev last December.

In a letter to Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) Friday, White House counsel A. B. Culvahouse called the Biden provision “seriously flawed.”

It would, he said, “change the legal rules of treaty interpretation” and “impose an unconstitutional mechanism for the alteration of treaty interpretation.”

Culvahouse said the opinion had the concurrence of the State Department, Defense Department, Justice Department, the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and the National Security Council.

The interpretation feud between the White House and Democrats erupted when the Administration adopted a “broad” new interpretation of the 1972 U.S.-Soviet Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty to proceed with tests of its “Star Wars” missile defense system.

Throughout the debate over the new intermediate-range arms treaty, banning ground-based missiles with ranges from 300 to 3,400 miles, senators have tried to pin the Administration down on what is to be regarded as the legally binding interpretation of the agreement.

Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, has led the effort to tie the Administration down to a single, authoritative interpretation of every provision in the treaty. Nunn said Friday that he generally agrees with the condition proposed by Biden.

Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.) and Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) have been principally involved in gathering support attaching the provision to the treaty.

None of the three could be reached Friday afternoon. Biden is recovering from recent surgery for an aneurysm. Cranston was en route to California.