ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, December 13, 1995           TAG: 9512130057
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL   PAGE: A-3  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press| 

SENATE COMMITTEE BREAKS IMPASSE

Breaking an impasse with barely a word of discussion, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee cleared the way Tuesday for approval of ambassadors, an arms treaty and the reorganization of the State Department.

Voting quickly and unanimously, the panel approved 18 ambassadors, including former Tennessee Sen. Jim Sasser as ambassador to China.

The panel also approved the long-stalled ratification of the START II treaty calling for continued strategic arms reductions by the United States and Russia.

The START I and II treaties call for a two-thirds reduction of the strategic nuclear warhead stockpile from peak Cold War levels. Russia's parliament has yet to ratify START II.

Also approved by the committee was a NATO participation bill, encouraging expansion of the alliance to take in former Soviet bloc nations in central Europe.

Under a previous Senate agreement, the ambassadorial appointments will become official once the Senate passes the reorganization bill, expected before the end of the week.

The list approved by the committee includes appointees for postings in Sri Lanka, Oman, Thailand, Lebanon and Cambodia. J. Stapleton Roy, the former ambassador to China - the post is now vacant - will be ambassador to Indonesia. Career diplomat Thomas W. Simons, who coordinates aid to the republics of the former Soviet Union, will be ambassador to Pakistan.

But the State Department bill still must be reconciled with a differing House version that cuts the three agencies.

The committee also approved bills urging President Clinton to endorse a new agreement for military base rights with Panama that would permit U.S. forces to remain beyond Dec. 31, 1999. And it recommended passage of a resolution expressing concern about rights abuses in China.

Meanwhile, House and Senate negotiators on Tuesday agreed on a way to skirt an abortion issue that has held up passage of a $12.1 billion bill to fund foreign operations in fiscal 1996.

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