INF Treaty Goes to Senate on 17-2 Committee Vote

The historic INF treaty, the first of the nuclear age to order the destruction of a class of superpower missiles, was sent to the Senate today on a 17-2 vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Two conservative Republicans were the only senators to vote against the treaty.

Floor debate on the treaty--containing precedent-setting inspection methods and Soviet agreement to eliminate more weapons than the United States will--is not scheduled until mid-April.

The Senate is expected to recommend ratification of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed in Washington on Dec. 8 by President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev, before Reagan goes to Moscow for his fourth summit with Gorbachev on May 29-June 2.

“Prospects are very good for passage of the INF treaty,” Assistant Senate Democratic leader Alan Cranston of California said. “It’s very important that we approve ratification before the President goes to Moscow.”

Going to the summit without treaty ratification “would be an embarrassment to the President and a hindrance to progress in improving our relationship,” Cranston said.

Two-Thirds Vote Needed

A two-thirds vote is necessary for the Senate’s endorsement, but only a majority vote is necessary to change the pact, and the only amendment adopted in committee--on treaty interpretation--may spark extensive partisan debate.

At least two moderate Republicans said that addition, which must be reaffirmed on the floor, could cause them to oppose the agreement.

The treaty calls for the destruction over a three-year period of 867 U.S. and 1,752 Soviet missiles, mostly based in Europe, and bans ground-launched cruise or ballistic missiles with ranges between 300 and 3,400 miles.

U.S. and Soviet inspectors will be able to witness missile destruction and monitor production facilities, and the accord contains provisions for short-notice satellite fly-overs to monitor suspect sites.

The treaty takes about 4% of the world’s nuclear warheads off missiles.