Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D.W.Va.) said yesterday that the Carter Administration will not formally notify Congress of its intention to sell warplanes to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt until the Senate completes action on the Panama Canal treaties. He said he thought the Senate would take up the second treaty in early April. The first of the two treaties was approved last Thursday.
Byrd said he advised Secretary of State Cyrus Vance to postpone formal notification and Vance agreed. He said he told the Secretary that the Senate could not properly consider the sale of the warplanes while it is still discussing the canal treaties. Congress has 30 days after it receives notification to pass a resolution that would block the sale. A steady wave of Congressional opposition has been mounting since the package deal was first announced.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
