Senate Opposes Full Withdrawal

WASHINGTON--Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (D-Mont.) lost a test vote on Monday on his amendment to force an unconditional withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Vietnam.

The 49-44 vote blocked Mansfield's move to change from August 31 to October 1 the date for a pullout of American troops in South Vietnam regardless of whether prisoners of war have been released.

The vote was actually a revision of Senator Howard W. Cannon's (D-Nev.) amendment to Mansfield's proposal Cannon proposed an amendment to withdraw troops from South Vietnam 90 days after passage of the legislation provided Hanoi agreed to the release of American POW's and an accounting of those missing in action.

The Senate then passed Mansfield's proposed revision, which had the effect of wording Cannon's amendment the way Mansfield had originally intended--an unconditional pullout by October 1. The amendment was defeated 49-44.