AGENCY RESPONSE CONCERNING DEPARTMENT OF STATE DRAFT REPORT ON H.R. 5577

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP87B00858R000200220026-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 17, 2011
• Sequence Number: 26
• Publication Date: September 11, 1984
• Content Type: MEMO

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OLL 84-2987/1
11 September 1984
Chief, Legislation Division
Office of Legislative Liaison
SUBJECT: Agency Response Concerning Department of State
Draft Report on H.R. 5577
1. The Office of Management and Budget has requested the
views of the Agency on a Department of State (DOS) draft report
on H.R. 5577, a bill "to provide for direct consultation
between the United States Government and the participants in
the Contadora process in order to develop a common policy for
promoting peace in Central America, and to provide for a
temporary suspension of United States support or participation
in military and paramilitary activities in Central America in
order to provide a fair climate for the Contadora process."
You will recall that you recently viewed a Department of
Defense (DOD) report on this same bill, and agreed with DOD's
opposition to this piece of legislation. DOS in the attached
report notes its reluctance to support a resolution requiring
the United States to enter into formal negotiations with the
participants in the Contadora process, and similarly opposes
the bill's call for an end to U.S. support of paramilitary
activities in Central America.
2. I would appreciate receiving any comments you may have
on the attached report by COB Wednesday 19 September 1984.
STAT
STAT
STAT
Attachment
Distribution:
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1 - DD/OLL
1 - OLL Chrono
1 - LEG Subjec
1 - SWH Signer
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STAT
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EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
M A 4 dGYON. D.C. ~
August 27, 1984
LEGISLATIVE REFERRAL MEMORANDUM
TO: Legislative Liaison Officer-
National Security Council
D partment of Defense
Central Intelligence Agency
State draft report on H.R. 5577, a bill calling
for direct consultations between the United States
and the Contadora participants.
The Office of Management and Budget requests the views of your
agency on the above subject before advising on its relationship to
the program of the President, in accordance with OMB Circular A-19.
A response to this request for.your views is needed no later than
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1984.
Questions should be referred to Tracey Lawler ( 395-4710)
the legislative analyst in this office.
NALD K. PETERSON FOR
Assistant Director for
Legislative Reference
I
Enclosures
cc: John Eisenhour
Arnie Donahue
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Uniteu States Department of State
Wbshington, D.C. 20520
This is in reply to your request for the Department's views
and recommendations on H. R. 5577. This bill provides for
direct consultations between the United States Government and
the participants in the Contadora process and for a temporary
suspension of United States support for or participation in
military or paramilitary activities in Central America in order
to provide a favorable climate for the Contadora process.
The United States Government supports the Contadora process
and was pleased by the passage of H. Con. Res. 261, approved by
the Congress on June 7, 1984. A copy of that resolution was,
under instructions from the Department, given to the government
of each country participating in the Contadora process.
Given passage of that resolution, the Department assumes
that H.R. 5577 is no longer under active consideration. Let me
note, in any event, that the Department of State would have no
difficulty supporting a resolution calling for consultations
with the Contadora participants, an activity in which we are
continually engaged through our diplomatic missions and the
President's Special Envoy for Central )erica, Ambassador Harry
W. Shlaudeman.
We would be reluctant to support, however, a resolution
specifying that the United States enter into formal negotia-
tions with the participants in the Contadora process, an
all-Latin American diplomatic effort whose participants have
not sought or desired our direct involvement. I would also
note that, since H.R. 5577 was introduced, the United States
has initiated, at the request of the Contadora Group, bilateral
discussions with the Government of Nicaragua that are intended
to support and strengthen the Contadora process. Ambassador
Shlaudeman, who has conducted those discussions for the United
States, is consulting closely and directly with the Contadora
participants on the Nicaraguan talks.
The Honorable
Melvin Price,
Chairman,
Committee on Armed Services,
House of Representatives.
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The Department of State could not support a call for an end
to those security component parts of U.S. policy designed to
bolster the efforts of friendly governments and forces in the
region. These elements of U.S. policy are an integral part of
our overall policy, which is designed to support the achieve-
ment of a comprehensive, regional agreement in keeping with
the Contadora Document of Objectives. In the absence of these
elements, prospects for a successful outcome in the Contadora
process would be, in our view, signficantly diminished.
The Office of Management and Budget advises that from
the standpoint of the Administration's program there is not
objection to the submission of this report.
Sincerely,
W. Tapley Bennett, Jr.
Assistant Secretary
Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs
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