Word: salt
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Administration, and on the political future of Jimmy Carter. Nothing the President manages to work out short of outright capitulation by the Soviets is likely to mollify the hard-nosed critics of the Soviets who are demanding a firm stand. At immediate risk is the fate of the SALT II treaty; if the Senate turns it down, the defeat could seriously damage Washington-Moscow relations. Carter's handling of this sensitive matter, moreover, will be viewed as yet another severe test of his much criticized leadership ability...
...conservatives in his home state, the normally dovish Church has taken a tough line on the Kremlin since he revealed the presence of the troops. As chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Church had been counted on by the Administration to direct the drive for the two-thirds vote SALT II needs for Senate approval. But Church now threatens to hold up the treaty until the issue of the Soviet troops has been settled. Protested one pro-SALT Senator: "The s.o.b. has sold us out for his own private purpose." Said another: "Whatever credibility Church had as chairman is gone...
Meanwhile, to the great dismay of the Administration-and not a few Senators-the SALT II accord had become a hostage to the Soviet troops controversy. Complained a top White House official: "It's this horrible hulk that threatens SALT II. It's demoralizing." Not only has the dispute given SALT's opponents a chance to depict the Kremlin as an untrustworthy treaty partner, but the controversy has seriously damaged the effectiveness of one of SALT's most important backers, Senator Frank Church...
Though Church could impede SALT's progress, he cannot prevent a majority of his committee's members from sending the treaty to the Senate floor for a vote. This could turn out to be the Administration's strategy. Said Senate Democratic Leader Robert Byrd of West Virginia: "My timetable for SALT is not in the slightest changed by all this shaking and trembling" about Cuba. He insists that the Senate will consider and vote on the treaty by Thanksgiving. Byrd also has met separately with at least two dozen fellow Senators, pleading with them to consider SALT...
Opponents of SALT II got some strong support from former President Gerald Ford. In Vladivostok in 1974 he had begun the negotiating process that led to the proposal now before the Senate. Ford said he could not back the treaty without the assurance that the U.S. would increase its military spending. Said he: "To use SALT as an answer to our defense needs is the most dangerous kind of wishful thinking...