Word: mx
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...George Bush and Weinberger. The President warned against turning the imminent Dec. 7 vote into another Pearl Harbor. Still, his enthusiasm for Dense Pack was far from contagious. He called it "the option with the least warts." Weinberger worked the telephones hard, pressing Congressmen to support all of the MX funding. He called one Representative three times, finally getting an impatient reply: "I'm a no vote. If I changemy mind, I'll call...
...President's men insisted that the issue was not Dense Pack but "modernization" of the land leg of the nation's nuclear triad. At the least, they argued, MX production should proceed as a bargaining chip in the START talks. But even Alabama Republican Jack Edwards, who directed pro-MX forces, conceded that the missile "is too expensive to use simply as a chip." The strongest argument for Reagan's position was offered by Michel, who sought to sow doubts about the ability of Congressmen to assess such technical matters. "In every age there are always well...
...roll call was anticlimactic. The packed galleries rang with cheers when Speaker Tip O'Neill announced the results: 245 to 176 in favor of deleting the $988 million for MX production. Fifty Republicans had opposed Reagan. Only 38 Democrats had taken his side...
...MX production battle moved to the Senate, Weinberger and Joint Chiefs Chairman John W Vessey Jr. ran into a cold reception from the Senate Armed Services Committee. Most of the Senators reaffirmed their support of the MX but badgered the Pentagon witnesses about all of the zigzags on basing the missile. Scolded Washington Democrat Henry Jackson: "The public's got the idea that this is a boondoggle, a Rube Goldberg." Georgia Democrat Sam Nunn, one of the Senate's most influential defense experts, warned: "I don't think you realize the trouble the MX basing model...
...week's end Reagan finally bowed to congressional realities. He announced that he was willing to delay indefinitely any final decision on how to deploy the MX. Meanwhile, he argued, the Senate should approve production funds for the MX, and the House should reconsider its rejection of those funds so that no time is lost in the missile's possible deployment. Said he: "I welcome a vigorous debate on the best way to base the missile...