Nation: Launching the Great Debate

The Senators try to make up their minds on the SALT II treaty Beneath the crystal chandeliers of the Senate's majestic main Caucus Room, some of the most important congressional activities in the nation's history have taken place. Teapot Dome's sordid realities were revealed there, and Watergate's. Last week the room was once again jammed to capacity as the nine Democrats and six Republicans of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee called the first witnesses in the great debate on SALT II. The issue could well become the most critical foreign policy confrontation between the White House and the Senate...