SOME CONGRESSMEN MOVE TO HALT ARMS TO SAVIMBI

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000302490048-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 26, 2010
• Sequence Number: 48
• Publication Date: March 31, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/26 :CIA-RDP90-005528000302490048-3
WAS~aIN~T~N TIItES
31 March 1986
Some congressmen move
to halt arms to Savimbi
As American weapons begin fil-
tenng into the Angolan bush country
to bolster Jonas Sayimbi's rebels
against the Marxist government's
latest offensive, plans are evolving
on Capitol Hill for a floor fight to
stop the U.S. aid program.
The upcoming squabble parallels
the recent fight in the halls of Con-
gress over 5100 million in aid to the
Contras trying to depose the Sandin-
ista regime in Nicaragua.
In both cases. the Democrat-
controlled House holds the linchpin
vote on the Reagan doctrine of pro-
viding arms to anti-communist in-
surgencies.
"I don't think there's a chance in
the ??orld that we wall approve any
kind of military aid:' said one House
specialist working nn the .-Angolan
aid proposal.
The debate over military aid for
the Angolan rebels will take place
after the House resumes debate on
the Senate's version of the aid pack-
age for the Nicaraguan resistance. A
vote on Contra aid is scheduled for
April 1~.
Rep. Lee Hamilton. Indiana
emocrat an ~ airman of the
House [ntelligence Cummittee, has
ilton and the Senate [ntelli ence
_ommutee. t e Reagan administra-
tion is thought to have taken the
h~hly unusual step of proceeding
with covert aid for the Angolan reb-
~ls: -
drafted a bill that would allow aid to
~Ir. Savimbi's forces "only i t e pro-
vision of that support is the openly
acknowledged policy of the United
'rates." -
A joint congressional resolution
to that effect is now before the House
Foreign Affairs Committee.
dir. Hamilton's measure faces
Senate opposition from 14tajority
Leader Robert Dole, Kansas Repub-
lican, and Sen. Richard Lugar, In-
diana Republican and chairman of
the Foreign Relations Committee.
Under Senate rules, however, they
cannot block an effort by Democrats
to offer the proposal as an
amendment to legislation pending
nn the Senate floor -probably after
it passes the House.
After ~Ir. Savimbi's high-profile,
10-day visit to Washington in Febru-
ary, ~Ir. Dole sponsored a resolution
of support for aid to L'NITA, dir.
Savimbi's National t'nion for the Zb-
tal Liberation of Angola. But the
measure died because supporters
could not muster enough votes to
pull it out of ~Ir. Lugar's Foreign Re-
lations Committee.
~Ir. Dole and several colleagues
have sent ~Ir. Reagan an artfully
?orded letter intended to lend the
administration political support for
aid to CNIT.?~.
Despite concerns from ~Ir. Ham-
Since the administration's ~riao-
lanaid program of $10 mill-on to 515
million is covert, no approval of Con-
gress is re uired. No details are
avai a e a out what type of hard-
ware is being offered to ~Ir. Sayim-
bi's rebel forces.
Prohibited by House rules from
publicizin? classified commirrPP
business or details of the covert aid
program, Mr. Hamilton decided to
introduce a generally worded bill
that would allow only open aid to ~n?
One House source said the par-
allel between Nicaragua and Angola
aid won't be played out and me~~
bets' votes on aid in one region ~~~on t
indicate support - or opposition -
to aid in the other. The wild card for
the Angola aid package is the
apartheid government of South Af-
rtca.
~Ir. Savimbi receives support
from South Africa. Some members
of Congress object to U.S. aid to ~Ir.
Savimbi because they believe his
ties to Pretoria may not be compat?
ible wuh C.S. interests in the region.
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/26 :CIA-RDP90-005528000302490048-3