Senate Tackles Issue of Pact Interpretation

The Senate, driving toward pre-summit approval of the superpower treaty eliminating medium-range nuclear missiles, tried today to work out an agreement on the thorny legal question of how much power the White House has to interpret the treaty.

The dispute was the subject of closed-door talks among Republicans, Democrats and White House officials.

“I’m very optimistic about finishing this matter,” said Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole of Kansas. “I’m confident that everybody is going in the same direction.”

Dole and other senators indicated that the treaty interpretation issue is not likely to delay Friday’s expected ratification of the intermediate-range nuclear forces treaty.

Both supporters and critics agree that Senate approval is assured because 90 or more senators support the pact and only 67 are needed for ratification.

Could Be Rushed to Moscow

The Senate vote would permit the treaty ratification documents to be rushed to Moscow before the opening Sunday of summit talks between President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

The treaty, signed Dec. 8 by Reagan and Gorbachev at their Washington summit, requires the elimination within three years of all medium-range nuclear missiles.

The pact will be first ratified by the Senate since the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. It will also be the first treaty to actually require the destruction of weapons, rather than simply slowing the buildup, and its far-reaching verification provisions include the first on-site inspections allowed by either superpower.

The Senate voted 96 to 0 today to approve an amendment that incorporates into the treaty agreements reached two weeks ago by Secretary of State George P. Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze, dealing with weapons using “futuristic” technology and clarifying on-site verification rules.