Administration Withdraws Proposal on Its Arms Sale to Jordan

The Ford Administration withdrew today its letter to Congress announcing a proposed sale of a $350 million air defense system to Jordan just hours before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was to vote on whether to object to the sale. The House International Relations Committee voted Thursday to reject the deal.

The Administration’s decision was announced by Sen. Clifford P. Case (R.NJ), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who had conducted negotiations with the State Department in an attempt to cut the number of “Hawk” surface-to-air missiles being sold to Jordan from 14 batteries to six. Case in a statement to reporters, said he believed the Administration’s decision was “wise.” He noted that both the Senate and House committees had “developed evidence that such a sale (of Hawks) was excessive.”

“I hope that any new notice sent to Congress after the August recess will reflect what I see as the overwhelming concern in Congress that the proposed sale to Jordan was larger than her requirements for purely defensive purposes,” Case said. “This is in accord with the unanimous views of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This should serve as an informed guideline both for the State Department and for Jordan as well.”

The Administration announced the proposed sale, which also includes eight batteries of “Vulcan” anti-aircraft guns, to Congress on July 11 under a new law which requires the Administration to inform Congress of any proposed arms sale of $25 million or more. Congress then had 20 days in which it could disallow the sale.

Case and other Congressional critics objected that the sale was too large and would upset the military balance in the Middle East. They also objected to the proposed sale of 300 “Redeye” shoulder-fired missiles because of fear they could fall into the hands of terrorists.

JOINT CHIEFS HAD RECOMMENDED LESS

The Administration, which maintained the sale was needed to keep Jordan moderate and friendly to the United States, at first reportedly agreed to reduce the “Hawk” batteries to six. But it then called for the full sale after King Hussein of Jordan rejected any cut in the arms he had been promised.

However, last week Gen. George S. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Sen- ate committee that the Chiefs had unanimously recommended that only six “Hawk” batteries be sold to Jordan. Brown said the Joint Chiefs had decided there were only six sites in Jordan that needed the “Hawks” and that six batteries, with six launchers to a battery, were sufficient for Jordan’s needs. The Administration had asserted that 14 batteries were the minimum for a Jordanian air-defense system.