Panel Recommends Powell, 20-0, to Head Joint Chiefs

Gen. Colin L. Powell, 52, won unanimous approval from the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with both Republicans and Democrats hailing him as an outstanding choice.

The Senate panel voted 20 to 0 to recommend Powell’s nomination to the full Senate. If confirmed, Powell, who would be the youngest officer to head the Joint Chiefs, would replace Adm. William J. Crowe Jr. on Oct. 1.

The committee action came after several hours of a confirmation hearing at which Powell told the panel that he has “some level of confidence” that reforms might succeed in the Soviet Union.

Such reforms, he said, would give the United States “opportunities to reshape our defense programs, our national security policies and our armed forces. . . .”

But he warned that changes in Soviet military capabilities, not budget restraints, should prompt the scale-back and called for continued modernization of long-range nuclear weapons.

“It’s very premature to start basing any of our plans and programs and actions” on assumptions of Gorbachev’s success, said Powell. “But I think it is not premature to begin thinking about it.”

His comments came as senior Bush Administration officials offered increasingly gloomy assessments of Gorbachev’s prospects for success. On the eve of a key meeting between Secretary of State James A. Baker III and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze, several U.S. officials have backed away from earlier expressions of active U.S. support for the Soviet leader’s reform efforts.

Expects ‘Backward Steps’

Reflecting the rising skepticism, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) told Powell: “We certainly, I think, have to be prepared for backward steps to occur in the Soviet Union. Almost inevitably, we’ll have disruptions and changes, perhaps with suddenness, perhaps at times with violence.”

In choosing the 31-year veteran to lead the nation’s 2 million troops, President Bush skipped over several more senior military officers.

“It’s an easier decision simply to go down a few numbers, as we say, and pick the next senior officer,” said Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), the Senate panel’s ranking minority member. “But here, a deep selection was made, which conveys to me that the President and his principal advisers thought carefully and long about this particular selection, and I think it was a wise one.”

Echoing praise for Powell, who would be the first black to head the nation’s military services, Sen. Albert Gore Jr. (D-Tenn.) called Powell’s appointment “one of the finest appointments that our President has made.” Nunn said that Powell offered “tremendous . . . talent, insight, and experience.”

Powell now serves as commander of the U.S. Forces Command, which oversees all U.S.-based troops. Those include the active and reserve forces that are slated to play a major role in the drug war.

Responding to lawmaker’s concerns, Powell said that he would make the military’s role in the drug war one of his top priorities.

“I have no reservations and I know that none of my colleagues have any reservations,” said Powell. “The American people have spoken clearly on this one. We ought to be concerned about this cancer that is in our midst, and I think we do have capabilities to bring to this war,” he added.

Cooperation Over Border

“In Forces Command, I have got people jumping through their butts right now trying to see which forces that are available . . . (that) can be diverted from other missions, other training activities, to work with the Border Patrol and see if we can do a better job of sealing the border between the United States and Mexico,” said Powell.

Powell told lawmakers that as the President’s principal military adviser in a time of shrinking budgets, he would “rather have (a force) that is smaller, as long as it’s always ready to perform, as advertised, and when called upon.”