18 SENATORS WANT CONTRA AID PLAN WITHDRAWN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504870035-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 23, 2012
• Sequence Number: 35
• Publication Date: February 27, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP90- 00965ROO0504870035-3
WASHINGTON POST
27 February 1986
18 Senators Want Contra Aid Plan Withdrawn
By Joanne Omang and Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writers
Critics and defenders of the Rea-
gan administration's request for aid
to Nicaraguan rebels began staking
out battle positions yesterday, led
by bipartisan group of 18 senators
who asked that the package be
withdrawn.
"This would be a particularly bad
time for the United States to in-
crease the level of conflict in Cen-
tral America," said the senators, 16
Democrats and two Republicans.
They asked that the request wait
until President Reagan holds fur-
ther discussion with Latin American
leaders engaged in regional peace
negotiations.
The president's request would
provide $30 million in nonmilitary
aid to the contras, or counterrev-
olutionaries, and give him $70 mil-
lion to use in any way he deems ap-
propriate, presumably for military
assistance. [louse leaders met to
discuss ways of handling the re-
quest.
In a move that one administration
official said was related to the
contra aid package, State Depart-
ment officials finished assembling a
five-year, $250 million aid request
for Northern Ireland and are ex-
pected to submit it to Congress in
the next few days.
That aid, outlined in general form
in November, would come in the
form of a U.S. contribution to an
international fund to help economic
and social development along the
border between Northern Ireland
and the Republic of Ireland.
The aid request is expected to
have broad support on Capitol Hill.
Its chief supporter is House Speak-
er Thomas P. (Tip) O'Neill Jr. (D-
Mass.), a leading critic of contra
aid. One [louse aide said, "I suspect
an attempt may be made to attach
contra legislation to the Irish aid bill
or vice versa" in an effort to make
the contra bill more attractive or to
get it to the floor unchanged.
An O'Neill spokesman denied any
link in the speaker's mind between
the requests. "The speaker is the
greatest supporter of Irish aid and
the biggest opponent of aid to the
contras," he said.
Earlier, GOP legislators told Rea-
gan that, despite their backing, the
contra aid proposal faces rough go-
ing on their side of the aisle.
"We have a great deal of mission-
ary work to do," House Minority
Leader Robert H. Michel (R-Ill.)
said after the meeting. But Michel
added that he is "not ready to do
any compromising."
Rea an met with 22 House mem-
bers yesterday morning and sen-
ators in the afternoon, a ong with
Vice President Bush, the secre-
taries of state and defense, his na-
tional security affairs adviser and
the director of the Central Intelli-
gence Agency.
"The administration and those of
us who have supported them in the
past need to do a better job of ex-
plaining what the administration's
goals are," said Sen. John Heinz (R-
Pa.). "Without people being clear
about what the president's goals
are, I think that his package will run
into difficulty."
Sen. Mark 0. Hatfield, chairman
of the Senate Appropriations Coln-
mittee, said he opposes the aid re-
quest. "For every contra we supply
with a new gun, countless elderly
Americans will go without meals
.... For every bomb we provide
the contras to destroy Nicaraguan
farms, another American farm will
face bankruptcy," he said.
The administration wants an up-
or-down vote on its contra aid pro-
posal, but the request has been re-
ferred to four House committees,
each of which is likely to want mod-
ifications.
Last year's legislation, which
provided $27 million in nonmilitary
aid to the contras and which expires
March 31, set up expedited proce-
dures for this year's measure. They
REP. ROBERT H. MICHEL
... has "missionary work to do"
mandate a vote on the president's
request, as presented, within 23
legislative days, which could come
as late as mid-April.
But the procedures also allow the
House Rules Committee to assert
jurisdiction over the measure. "You
get in there and anything can hap-
pen," one Democratic aide said.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504870035-3