ABSTRACT
The normative concern for democratic decision-making has been coupled with the pragmatic belief that the Senate might be more likely to approve an arms control treaty which it had a hand in developing. Congressional involvement in the area of arms control has been advanced as a means for keeping the issue at the forefront of executive branch attention. This chapter explores the validity of the arguments both favoring and opposing Senate involvement in arms control and looks at the historical record of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) process. The SALT I agreement actually consisted of two parts: the treaty restricting the deployment of anti-ballistic missile systems and an agreement imposing certain limits on offensive weapons. The primary congressional concern in the area of offensive weapons was the widespread belief that a restriction or ban on multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles should be sought.
