The Word from Washington
THE WORD FROM WASHINGTON The halls of Congress echo an eerie silence. Gone are the gnome-like Congressional aides toting stacks of important-looking file folders through the corridors. Gone are...
...Nothing," murmured one staff aide, "absolutely nothing...
...Gone are the members of Congress, rushing to catch the last thirty seconds of a roll call vote...
...The brown-bag quick lunch with soggy tuna fish sandwich and harried cups of coffee has been replaced by long, relaxing luncheons...
...One official said the agreement was intended to solve a purely "technical" problem involving yield estimates, and to preventing "mistakes" from being regarded as violations...
...The Threshold Test Ban treaty, which banned all testing with an explosive force exceeding 150 kilotons, was not sent to the Senate for ratification, pending completion of a parallel treaty that applied to the testing of nuclear devices for "peaceful" purposes...
...But judging from their absence's impact on the Capital—with little discernible ill effect on the nation—it can be argued that Congress should be encouraged to travel more...
...It seems that members rang up a $1.7 million tab at the taxpayers' expense, as The Post put it, "to gaze upon the Pyramids and commune with the Sphinx...
...The "working" day ends at 5:00 —or even earlier—for those fortunate enough to have been excused from attending the extravaganzas in New York and Kansas City...
...Potomacus...
...In May, the Administration finally got around to concluding such an accord with the Russians, and it announced, with considerable fanfare, that the twin treaties would amount to a significant step toward limiting all nuclear testing...
...In July, it seemed as if the entire city had recessed and moved to New York...
...Despite their absence, we suspect, the nation would somehow manage to muddle through...
...The understanding is a source of considerable controversy within the Ford Administration...
...The ink was barely dry on the signatures when the criticism began...
...Conservatives argued that the accords would inhibit testing programs which the United States requires in order to match Soviet weapons development...
...Even in New York, enthusiasm over "the event" was only slightly less muted than in Washington...
...Skeptics within the Administration, however, have a different interpretation: They say the understanding is an intentional loophole that will enable both nations to "accidentally" violate the generous ceilings set by the treaties...
...For this is the season of tranquillity in Washington: Congress is in recess for the political conventions...
...No one needed a reservation at Sans Souci, Jean Pierre, or any of the posh restaurants at which journalists and politicians gossip and dine and gossip some more...
...elicits first an ear-to-ear grin, then a contented sigh...
...Every now and then a befuddled tourist is seen ogling the Eighteenth Century murals and marble staircases, unaware that he has chosen the wrong time to visit the august chambers...
...The treaties, it now appears, are even more of a sham than the arms control experts imagined...
...Isn't it wonderful...
...In fact, a grateful citizenry might provide the members with Carte Blanche cards, unlimited travel expenses, and instructions to get out of town early and often...
...The United States and the Soviet Union have agreed to permit both nations to conduct a specified number of underground nuclear tests—sources say two a year—that would exceed the 150-kiloton ceiling...
...Back in the early Pleistocene, the United States and the Soviet Union signed a treaty purporting to limit underground testing of nuclear weapons...
...All that might be required would be a 500-word essay on what they have seen and learned in their travels abroad— written in their own hand...
...tennis courts were filled...
...in Washington, citizens chose Robin Hood over Robert Strauss...
...Just before Washington adjourned for New York, The Washington Post disclosed a mini-scandal about Congressional junketing...
...Cloakrooms were empty...
...Arms control experts, on the other hand, warned that the treaties do not go far enough—that the 150-kiloton ceiling is far too high to prevent testing and could impede progress toward a total test ban treaty...
...And, as everyone knows, accidents will happen...
...The reporter's standard inquiry, "Say, what's going on in your shop...
...An independent station's showing of the movie Casablanca, with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, outdrew viewers of the convention...
...Committee staff employes amble up to the Hill at 10 a.m., dressed in plaid shirts and corduroy jeans...
...There was no need to schedule the pro forma breakfast meetings to prove the requisite seriousness toward one's work...
Vol. 40 • September 1976 • No. 9
