By Helen Dewar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 13, 1999; 12:16 p.m. EDT

Treaty supporters are far short of the two-thirds majority needed to ratify a treaty, and Republican conservatives have balked at terms of a proposed agreement, backed by the Democrats with tacit support from the White House, to put off the vote indefinitely.

If rejected, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty would be the first major arms control accord to be formally turned down by the Senate since the Treaty of Versailles after World War I.

Daschle told reporters neither President Clinton nor Senate Democrats are prepared to make further concessions demanded by Republican conservatives, even if it means that the treaty is defeated – an embarrassing eventuality that the White House and Democrats have been struggling to avert.

"We've made our best offer and we're prepared for a vote," Daschle said, noting that Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) could still delay the vote. Lott was still talking this morning with Republican hold-outs but an aide said there had been little if any movement toward an agreement.