SENATE UNIT BARS NEW FUNDS TO AID NICARAGUA REBELS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404440102-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 29, 2010
• Sequence Number: 102
• Publication Date: March 9, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/29: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404440102-4
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE___, _
SENATE UNIT BARS
I were ~reth*" of State
SETBACK TV REAGAN SEEN 1latea request to provide $93 million in S
emergencymilitsrv niA fn >; i cai?oA..- ~iCUe P.Shultz and William J. Casey
NEW YORK TIMES
9 March 1984
Administration Feared Debate M~ .-11111a sa,n We rtinc an DIlt
Senator Hatfield said that he had not might collapse if more than one Cen-
financin tral American amendment were
been notified about the C
I
A
.
.
.
the oms,
amen ent until Wednesday _ after. he said the African an band nd the domes-
EW FUNDS T0 AID added. Echoing White bill
nN oon. Administration officials, ac- tic energy aid program were the only
mOwledging that the issue had not two measures already approved by the
NICARAGUA REBELS been handled smoothly, said the re- House that could be enacted swiftly
quest was rushed to the committee be- enough to provided the needed. Central
cause of fear that normal consideration American aid before June.
might drag on for months. The issue of the Ni rebels
The committee did not consider a
re-
man, said that Mr. Reagan, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan,
fearful of "a deteriorating situation in the New York Democrat who is com-
Was Added at last Minute Central America," was unwilling to mittee vice chairman, later said that
wait for a longer-term aid package be- Mr. Shultz had apologized for the fact
to a Domestic Measure fore sending additional military assist- the committee was not consulted be-
ance to El Salvador. Administration of- fore the request was submitted to the
ficials asserted that the Salvadoran Appropriations Committee. Mr.
By PHILIP TAUBMAN military needed a quick infusion of aid
WASHINGTON, March 8 - A key They said that, without the aid, the
Senate committee today rejected a pro- Salvadoran Government would be un
p
-
er a
tional fi-
posal by President Reagan that would able to provide security for presiden- nancing requests for the Nicaraguan
have nearly doubled aid this year to the tial elections later this month. rebels, but he added that such addi-
Nicaraguan insurgents. The Senate majority whip, Ted Ste- tional money was not urgently needed.
The Republican-controlled panel, the vens, Republican of Alaska, gave a
Senate Appropriations Committee, similar rationale to the committee for
said it had been inadequately consulted "increased aid to the Nicaraguan rebels.
about the increase. Senator Stevens, who offered the
In what was viewed as a setback for amendment to the home-energy assist_
the Administration, the committee ance bill, said the present aid pipeline
voted 15 to 14 against providing Q1 mil to the rebels runs out by late spring.
lion in additional fund?J for Nicara- The committee vote, which may be
guar rebel forces, gllicavef- reconsidered in floor debate later this
Lanced through the Central Intelli- month, seemed to be a reflection of irri-
ence Earlier this Con- with the tactics, used by the
g Agency.
year
f +
White House rather than substantive
ross a
tAm
M
n
4
g
pp
on.
Y?
i
_1
Added to Home-Energy Aid Bill
The President's request was pre-
sented in the form of an amendment to
a bill providing $200 million in addi-
tional financing for a home-energy pro-
gram for low-income citizens.
Two Republicans - Senator Mark O.
Hatfield of Oregon, the panel's chair-
man, and Senator Pete V. Domenici of
New Mexico - criticized the Adminis-
tration for presenting the amendment
as a last-minute, emergency request
that would have cut short full consider-
ation.
Mr. Hatfield, who voted against the
amendment, called the procedure "a
very poor job of management." Mr.
Domenici, who voted in favor, said the
Administration "handled this as poorly
as anything I have seen in 11 years."
He said that, if future Central Ameri-
can aid requests were handled in a
similar way, they "will be doomed."
because of shortages of arms and am-
opposition. -
After a peppery debate and proce-
dural maneuvering, a majority of the
committee agreed that linking the last-
minute request to the domestic bill
would delay; if not imperil, assistance
to low-income citizens.
Senator Warren H. Rudman
a New
,
Hampshire Republican who supports
the Administration's policy in Central
America, voted against the amend-
ment because he said it would compli-
cate consideration of the domestic
measure and delay payments to "cold
people in my state."
The committee postponed until next
week consideration of a bill that would
add provide $150 million in food aid to i
African nations. That bill may now
serve as the vehicle for both the addi-
tional financing for the Nicaraguan
rebels and the additional aid to the Sal-
vadoran military.
said that the failure to consult was "not
only wrong as procedure but self-de-
Mr. Moynihan said his committee
was pre
ared to consid
ddi
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/29: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404440102-4