By William C. Mann
Associated Press Writer
Monday, Oct. 4, 1999; 11:22 a.m. EDT

WASHINGTON –– Facing almost insurmountable odds, the Clinton administration is trying to round up Senate votes to ratify the global treaty signed three years ago to ban nuclear tests.

"I acknowledge we have a lot of work to do," White House press secretary Joe Lockhart told reporters today.

President Clinton will lobby senators in person and on the telephone this week, Lockhart said. Clinton was beginning with a strategy session today with members of his national security team.

The White House will likely reach out to national security officials from previous Republican administrations as well.

"You won't find a substantive argument against the treaty, except in some dark places in the Senate," Lockhart said.

On Sunday, White House chief of staff John Podesta said the treaty is an opportunity for the United States to demonstrate leadership on an important issue.

"We're going to fight very hard for it. It's the right thing for America, and it's the right thing for the world," he said. "I think the United States has a chance to lead here to begin to put this regime into place."

By ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, Podesta said on CNN's "Late Edition," "We'll inhibit the modernization programs that can go on and prevent nuclear weapons from being developed by rogue states."

National Security Council spokesman David Leavy said ratification would "give us more tools to verify, and it will constrain others from testing," partly because of the political pressure that more than 150 signatories bring.

But a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said Lott believes that "to unilaterally disarm at a time when North Korea is making strides in its nuclear program, and China, through ill-gotten means, also is making progress in its program, now is not the time to ratify this ill-conceived treaty."

"If this administration chooses not to test, that is a decision they will make," said Lott spokesman John Czwartacki said. "But why would we want to handcuff future administrations?"

Lott surprised the administration last week by setting a Senate vote on the treaty for Oct. 12 . He said Democrats had been campaigning for a vote, and so he decided to let them have one. A two-thirds majority is needed for ratification.

The administration's pro-treaty drive, announced Saturday by national security adviser Sandy Berger, faces daunting odds. Even if all 45 Democratic senators approve the treaty, 22 Republicans would have to join them to provide the needed margin should all 100 senators vote.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, President Bush signed a limited nine-month testing moratorium to take effect Oct. 1, 1992. President Clinton continued the moratorium – the country's last test was in September 1992 – then signed the worldwide treaty in 1996. So far 154 countries have signed it, but only 47 have ratified.

The treaty went to the Senate in 1997 for ratification, which the administration considers necessary to bring other countries on board. It languished in the Senate until Lott set the vote last week.

One major flaw that Republicans find in the treaty is the CIA's inability to verify low-level underground nuclear explosions in other countries. The administration contends the CIA's monitoring shortcomings give reason to ratify, but Republicans disagree.

Twice last month, U.S. intelligence saw signs of activity in Russia that could have indicated secret testing. The CIA was unable to say with certainty exactly what was happening, but NSC spokesman Leavy said, "We have no data to indicate a nuclear explosion has taken place in Russia."

"This is really an argument for the treaty" because of the increased monitoring it would bring, including possible on-site monitoring of cheaters, Podesta said.