‘I’m Licked,’ Helms Says as He Negotiates INF Pact : Byrd Sees Passage by Weekend

The chief Senate opponent of the superpower medium-range nuclear missile treaty said today, “I’m licked” in efforts to amend the agreement, apparently clearing the way for approval before President Reagan begins his Moscow summit meeting.

“I’m licked in terms of doing anything on the treaty,” said Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) as he sat down at a meeting with Senate leaders to work out a procedural tangle that has stalled action on the treaty for more than a week.

The move raised hopes among INF treaty supporters that the pact could be approved for ratification as soon as Friday, and sent to Reagan by the time the summit begins Sunday to give him a stronger position in the talks with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

“I’m fairly confident we will be able to finish the treaty Friday or Saturday,” Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) said.

Procedural Accord Sought

Ratification of the intermediate-range nuclear forces pact requires 67 votes and is assured because 90 or more senators support the treaty, according to supporters and critics of the pact.

Helms, the treaty’s chief critic, conceded that he has failed in his attempt to modify the accord, which Reagan and Gorbachev signed Dec. 8 in Washington.

Helms, Byrd and other Senate leaders were meeting behind closed doors to work out an agreement to end the procedural snarl that has blocked definitive action on the pact since it reached the floor last week.

Helms and other critics, using Senate rules designed to protect the rights of the minority, have stalled action, filing a series of amendments that were rejected overwhelmingly.

In response, Byrd and Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) filed a cloture motion to halt debate. That motion is set for a vote Thursday. Approval of the motion requires 60 votes and is assured, meaning that the debate would be limited to 30 hours. That would set up a final vote Friday.

Would Set Aside Cloture Vote

The backstage talks were aimed at setting aside the cloture vote, which also would mean that the Senate could avoid the all-night session that will be required if cloture is invoked.

Helms said that after the cloture motion was filed, he realized that “the ballgame was over.” But he said he is still seeking approval of some amendments that could be attached as conditions to the resolution of ratification.

Dole urged the Senate to “do our part” and approve the INF pact, which he noted is “the first ever to reduce existing nuclear stockpiles and eliminate whole classes of nuclear weapons.”

The treaty requires elimination within three years of all U.S. and Soviet nuclear missiles with a range of 300 miles to 3,400 miles. It would result in the elimination of 867 U.S. missiles in Europe and elimination of 1,752 Soviet missiles.

Interpretation Question

One unresolved issue in the Senate is the fate of a Democratic-backed proposal that would require Senate approval before any future President could change how the treaty is interpreted.

That amendment, added by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, arises from a long-running fight over the 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty.

Reagan asserts that the White House can unilaterally change the interpretation of a treaty, a view disputed by congressional Democrats.

Many Senate Republicans oppose that amendment, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) noted today.

“This issue of treaty interpretation is one that will have far-reaching consequences,” Specter told his colleagues.

Byrd said Democrats still haven’t decided the specific language of that amendment.