a262  1758  13 Nov 89
AM-US-East Germany,0382
Caution Marks U.S. Policy; Democrats Call for Dramatic Moves
By BARRY SCHWEID
AP Diplomatic Writer
    WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration held out the prospect of
stepped-up trade and diplomatic ties with East Germany on Monday,
while top Democrats in Congress called for far more dramatic steps to
signal support for the stunning reform developments in the Communist
world.
    Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell urged President Bush to
travel to the Berlin Wall, convene a meeting of the Western allies
and suspend trade barriers against the Soviet Union.
    ''To acknowledge the tremendous significance of the symbolic
destruction of the Berlin Wall and to give voice to the exhilaration
felt by all Americans, I urge President Bush to travel to West
Berlin,'' said Mitchell, D-Maine.
    Busily preparing for Bush's saltwater summit Dec. 2-3 with Soviet
President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, one administration official flashed
two less dramatic signals. He said the administration might boost
trade with East Germany, which totaled $220 million in 1988, and hold
more frequent meetings with East German diplomats.
    White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater hailed the ''glorious''
traffic of more than 1 million East Germans streaming into West
Berlin to catch a glimpse of freedom, but said, concerning the
possibility that Bush might rush to the wall, ''We can't foresee any
set of circumstances at this moment that would induce him to go.''
    Vice President Dan Quayle, meanwhile, said German reunification was
inevitable.
    ''East Germany is East Germany because of the Communist system,''
Quayle told the Republican Governors Association at Hilton Head
Island, S.C. ''Do away with the Communist system and it's Germany.''
    But the caution shown by Bush and Secretary of State James A. Baker
III amid last week's burst of new freedom in what was once a rigid
Stalinist state still permeated public and private statements by U.S.
policy makers.
    The U.S. government is not likely to take significant action ''until
there are elections,'' said one official. ''You'd have to see
something like that happen before we would do something serious other
than to send friendly signals to the East Germans,'' he said,
speaking on condition of anonymity.
    ''If you are talking about assistance like we're giving to Poland
and Hungary, that's inappropriate,'' the official said.
    
 
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a278  2008  13 Nov 89
AM-US-East Germany, SUB,a262,0100
WASH: SUBS graf 4, ''Busily preparing,'' with two grafs with Bush
considering NATO summit
    Administration officials who declined to be identified said Bush was
considering the convocation of a NATO summit in Brussels, after his
saltwater summit meeting on Dec. 2-3 with Soviet President Mikhail S.
Gorbachev, to discuss new political and military strategy for the
West.
    One administration official flashed two less dramatic signals. He
said the administration might boost trade with East Germany, which
totaled $220 million in 1988, and hold more frequent meetings with
East German diplomats.
    White House, 5th graf
    
 
AP-NY-11-13-89 2306EST
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