Don’t ‘Embarrass’ Reagan on INF, Dole Cautions GOP : Opponents Told ‘Ball in Our Court’

Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole warned fellow Republicans today “it would be an embarrassment” to President Reagan if the Senate fails to approve the medium-range missile treaty by the time Reagan meets Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev in Moscow next weekend.

The Kansas senator told his colleagues, “the ball is in our court, the Republicans’ court” as the Democratic-controlled chamber began a second week of work on the intermediate-range nuclear forces treaty.

Conservative Republicans opposed to the treaty have blocked action by the full Senate, delaying the ratification that even critics say is assured. Ratification requires a two-thirds majority voting in favor.

Dole has urged Republicans to drop their efforts to delay a vote and he renewed that request today.

“I’m still convinced it would be an embarrassment to the President of the United States to sit down with Mr. Gorbachev later this week without the Senate have taken action to consent to ratification of the treaty,” Dole said.

However, he added, “we have some serious issues that, in some cases, may take several hours or days.”

Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), leader of the small band of dissidents trying to delay and cripple the accord, submitted another “killer” amendment today that would effectively scuttle the pact.

Cites Intelligence Estimates

Helms, repeating claims made in treaty hearings, reviewed differing intelligence agency estimates about the number of triple-warhead SS-20s Moscow has, saying the Kremlin could hide a covert force of missiles.

The Senate cannot move to the all-important resolution of ratification accompanying the pact until it finishes with amendments to the treaty text.

One of the serious amendments referred to by Dole is one, backed by the Democratic majority, which would require Senate approval before any future Administration could change how the United States interprets the INF pact.

That amendment is the result of a fight between Reagan and Democrats over the U.S. interpretation of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile pact.

Reagan asserts that his Administration unilaterally can change how the treaty is interpreted, a view disputed by congressional Democrats. The amendment banning any INF reinterpretation was added by the Foreign Relations Committee over the opposition of Republicans.

Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) said today the treaty “should be nailed in. It shouldn’t be subject to reinterpretation.”

He said, “I’m certainly not interested in any erosion of the Senate’s constitutional role in treaty making. . . . I don’t propose to give the store away.”

Treaty Provisions Told

The treaty, signed Dec. 8 by Reagan and Gorbachev, requires destruction within three years of all atomic missiles with ranges between 300 miles and 3,400 miles.

Sen. William S. Cohen (R-Me.), ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the Senate may approve the pact during Reagan’s May 29-June 3 visit to the Soviet Union.

But questions by conservative critics “will take a good part of this week to conclude,” Cohen said on the CBS-TV “This Morning” program.

Senate approval is “unlikely . . . before the President leaves for Moscow” on Wednesday, Cohen said, but “I think it’s still possible that the treaty could be ratified while he’s there.”

Cohen said failure to ratify the treaty would be a serious mistake.

“I think that the treaty is verifiable,” he said. “It’s in our interest to proceed, and to reject the treaty, I think, would jeopardize not only our relationship with our allies but undermine the President’s ability to continue to serve as a spokesman for this country.”