Cheney Courts Support as Nomination Hearings Begin

President Bush’s second defense secretary-designate, Republican Rep. Dick Cheney of Wyoming, moved quickly Tuesday to rally support for his confirmation, promising to make tough budget choices and to consult closely with lawmakers on the controversial issue of nuclear missile modernization.

But in his first day of confirmation hearings, Cheney, 48, cautioned against reducing U.S. military forces before the Soviet Union has made good on its promises to scale back Soviet forces.

“There’s a real danger in the West that the perception of change (in the Soviet Union) will outstrip the reality of change,” Cheney warned. The United States, he added, must not “fall into the trap here of responding to the proposal of the week” in devising its arms control negotiating positions and in seeking savings in defense spending.

Hailed by home-state Republican Sen. Alan K. Simpson as “steady and unflappable,” Cheney faced friendly questioning by the Democrat-controlled Senate Armed Services Committee, whose rejection of Bush’s first choice, former Sen. John Tower (R-Tex.), led to Tower’s defeat last Thursday on the Senate floor.

In the wake of the Senate’s close scrutiny of Tower’s personal life, Cheney took pains to allay fears that his heart condition would impose restrictions on his service.

In a letter delivered Tuesday to committee Chairman Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), Washington-based cardiologist Allan M. Ross said that Cheney, who has had three heart attacks since 1977, has been cleared “to pursue unrestricted professional and recreational objectives.”

He wrote that Cheney’s high cholesterol levels have been reversed with drugs, but added that “Cheney’s pharmacological regimen is free of any side effects that would affect his judgment or behavior.”

Ross’ letter was one of several documents, including tax filings and extensive financial disclosure forms, that the Senate panel has received on Cheney since the Wyoming legislator was chosen last Friday.

Nunn promised that the committee will deal with Cheney’s nomination speedily and some lawmakers said they hope he can be confirmed later this week. But Nunn, who engineered Tower’s 53-47 Senate defeat last week, would not give a timetable, warning that no final action will be taken before the White House provides further documents, including a full background check by the FBI.

“We will not be taking any shortcuts,” Nunn said.

At the White House, Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater was asked when the FBI checks on Cheney will be finished. “They’re trying to move those as rapidly as possible. . . . I don’t have a specific date,” he said.

Cheney also sought to assure committee members that his lack of military service was not the result of any effort to avoid the draft. Cheney volunteered an explanation for his failure to serve in the military. When he became eligible for the draft in 1959, Cheney said, older men were being drafted. He added that he was in school pursuing graduate degrees between 1963 and 1968, when he would likely have been drafted, and that he was given a parental deferment after 1966, when his first daughter was born.

“Obviously, I would have been happy to serve had I been called,” Cheney said.

Cheney’s comments on defense policy, an area in which his legislative experience has been limited, were greeted favorably by committee members who praised his reputation for competence.

Cheney said he had not made a decision on one of the most controversial issues facing him. He said that in the past he has backed development of a rail-based scheme for the MX missile as well as a small mobile missile widely known as Midgetman.

But he acknowledged that he will have to make a decision soon. “Obviously we’re in a situation where for budgetary reasons we have to make tough choices” between the two options, Cheney said. “Under ideal circumstances, we would be able to proceed with both,” he added.

He did, however, dismiss one of the principal criticisms lodged against the cheaper rail-based scheme for MX--that it would be vulnerable to a surprise Soviet nuclear strike.

“As a general proposition, I believe we do have adequate early warning capabilities,” said Cheney, who has been a member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence for five years. “I personally think that the odds of a bolt-from-the-blue attack are extremely remote.”

Cheney also told the committee that the Bush Administration’s decision to freeze the defense budget this year and permit only modest growth in the next may force many unpopular decisions, including possible reductions in “Star Wars” missile defenses and troop cuts.

“The bottom line is, we can’t buy everything we want to buy with the money we have today,” Cheney said. “I see that as a mandate.”