NICARAGUA/CONTRAS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01070R000201210009-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 21, 2008
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: May 24, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2008/08/21 : CIA-RDP88-0107OR000201210009-5
PBS MACNEIL/LEHRF.R NEWSHOUR
24 May 1984
NICARGUA/ MACNEIL: In the House of Representatives, the new
CONTRAS willingness to support El Salvador and its new president.
Jose Napoleon Duarte, did not extend to covert aid for the
contras in Nicaragua. That produced another spirited
debate.
REP.\ROBERT\MICHEL (R-Ill., House minority leader): If we
abandon the contras today, whose turn will it be tomorrow?
Korea, Israel or any number of others we could name? It
is geostrategically wrong. The Moscow-Havana-Managua axis
wants nothing more than to see the Sandinistas gain a
victory by default. This will only whet their, appetite
for more adventurism. And it's diplomatically wrong.
We'll lose whatever leverage we have with the Sandinistas
if we turn away from the contras. And finally, and most
important, it's morally wrong to cut off funds. What kind
of moral foreign policy is it that suddenly cuts off aid
to those we have urged to fight tyranny?
REP.\MICHAEL\BARNES (D-Md.): There are ways to do it that
are lawful. There are ways to do it that are overt.
There are ways to do it that are consistent with the
values of our nation. We are a signatory to the Rio
treaty. We are a member of the Organization of American
States. They provide mechanisms for the international
community to deal with this kind of problem. It is not
the answer for the United States unilaterally to hire a
lot of guerrillas and send them off to invade another
country.
REP.\WILLIAM\BROOMFIELD (R-Mich.): Throughout history, of
this House, there have been moments that not only decide
issues but that define the character of this body, then
this is the one. We stand before history and the American
people and, yes, the world. And what we decide will say
as much about us as it does about the contras. We don't
let down our friends. That's a basic truth of the
American character. Are we going to forget that truth?
REP.\JIM\WRIGHT (D-Texas, House majority leader): Do we
have any right to invade and violate the territorial
integrity of the.government of Nicaragua? Do we have a
right to dictate to them? I think this is a test of what
our role is in this hemisphere. And throughout the
hemisphere, friends are looking. Do we regard ourselves
as the good neighbor, or do we regard ourselves as the
hemispheric bully, with the right to dictate to others
under pain of our financing someone else in a subterranean
way to shed their blood to bring down their government if
they don't agree with us?
MACNEIL: After that debate, the House went on to vote
against the $21 million covert aid package by 2441 votes to
177. The bill will now go back to the
Republican-controlled Senate, which will have to decide
whether to insist on the aid to the contras or go along
with the House.
Approved For Release 2008/08/21: CIA-RDP88-0107OR000201210009-5