REAGAN'S SPEECH TONIGHT ON CENTRAL AMERICA ENTAILS HIGH RISKS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000303570116-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 26, 2010
• Sequence Number: 116
• Publication Date: April 27, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/26: CIA-RDP9O-00552ROO0303570116-7
THE WASHINGTON POST
27 April 1983
Reagan's Speech 'tonight on raI
America Entails Nigh Riis.
By Lou Cannon
and Patrick E. Tyler
Washtngton Post Staff Writers
When President Reagan addresses
Congress tonight at 8 on Central
America, he will be embarking on a
campaign of persuasion that his ad-
visers say has high risks but also
provides the hope of salvaging a pol-
icy that deeply disturbs an increas-
ing number of Americans.
"He's giving the speech because he
thinks the fate of American policy in
the region hangs in the balance," a
'White House official said yesterday.
Administration officials acknowl-
edge that, voter sentiment runs
strongly against increased U.S. in-
volvement in Central America. They
say the president has decided he will
not be able to get the military and
economic aid he seeks to shore up
the El Salvador government unless
the American people can be con-
vinced that they have a vital stake in
the region.
"There's a high risk to this but it's
a higher risk not to do it," said one,
official. "We are on a downward roll
with Congress right now. The pres-
ident feels that the public is con-
fused and doesn't understand what's
going on in the region and he wants
a forum to address the people."
At stake tonight. is Reagan's abil-
ity to muster bipartisan support for
his policies for some of the closest
and poorest U.S. neighbors in the
hemisphere. The threat of escalating
regional violence and uncontrolled
covert intelligence operations has
prompted key congressional commit-
tees. with bruad support in both
houses, to challenge Reagan's basic
approach to Central America.
White House officials said Reagan
decided to make his case before a
joint session of Congress to guaran-
tee network television coverage.
They contend that public support
for his defense spending proposals
increased after his nationally tele-
vised speech March 10.
But skepticism about U.S. in-
volvement in El Salvador and -Nic-
aragua is higher than on most other
national security issues. Administra-
tion officials yesterday cited public
opinion polls, which they said are
similar to the findings of private sur-
veys, indicating lack of support for
Reagan's policies in Central Amer-
ica. .
The most recent. survey, reported
April 12 in the Los Angeles Times.
found that only 26 percent of Amer-
icans believe the U.S. role in El Sal-
vador is "morally justified," com-
pared with 49 percent who believe it
is not. By 45 to 33 percent, voters
said El Salvador is not vital to U.S.
national defense. By 40 to 23 per-
cent, they said involvement there
"will not end in victory."
Sen. Paul Laxalt (R-Nev.), general
chairman of the Republican Party
and the senator considered closest to
Reagan, said yesterday that Rea-
gan's speech was an effort to win
over the "uncommitteds" in Con-
gress.
'I suppose that one risk would
he . . . that the speech is so belt-icose
that maybe some of the undecided
people say. `Hey. this is going too far
and don't Vietnam us,' " Laxalt
added. "That, I would `think, would
be the only-clown side."
However, White House .officials
said that Reagan is well aware of the
dangers of giving a warlike speech
and that he intends instead to de
liver a measured account of U.S. pol-
icy that one official described as
"more a report than a speech."
"If I go up there and give an anti-
Soviet speech, nobody will listen,"
one official quoted the president as
saying.
Except for State of the Union
speeches to joint sessions of Con-
gress, Reagan has used this forum
only once before, when he spoke on
economic policy on' April 28, 1981:
The last time a president addressed
a joint session of Congress on a na-
tional security issue was June 18,
1979, when President Carter ap=
pealed for ratification of the SALT
II treaty. It was never ratified.
Despite the high hopes at the
White House. the prospects facing
Reagan policy in Central America
seem similarly difficult.
"What you're asking Congress to
do is cast votes for unpleasant prop-
ositions," said Rep. Dick Cheney
(Wyo.), who heads the House Re-
publican Policy Committee and is a
strong supporter of administration
policy in Central America. "This is a
long-term engagement. It's a lot
more than asking for a vote on a sin-
gle appropriations hill." ,
In immediate terms, the "unpleas-
ant propositions" are defined by the
president's request to Congress to
spend $250 million in military aid
over the next 18 months in El Sal-
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/26: CIA-RDP9O-00552ROO0303570116-7
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