SOME CONGRESSMEN MOVE TO HALT ARMS TO SAVIMBI

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000200720002-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 25, 2012
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: March 31, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/25: CIA-RDP90-00965R000200720002-2
WASHINGTON TIMES
31 March 1986
Some congressmen move
As American weapons begin fil-
tering into the Angolan bush country
to bolster Jonas Savimbi'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 $100 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.
-- uo v uid iU -+Q1Lcu a u111 [hat WOUId allow aid to
tie "ASHNGT3N - MES Mr b"
ilton and the Senate Intelligence
ommittee. t e Rea an administra
tion is thought to have taken the
highly unusual step of proceeding
with covert aid for the Angolan reb-
to halt arms to Savimbi
"I don't think there's a chance in
the world that we will approve any
kind of military aid," said one House'
specialist working on 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 15.
Rep. Lee Hamilton, Indiana
Democrat and chairman of the
House Intelligence Committee, has
av i s forces only! thepro
vision of f that support is the openly
acknowledged policy of the United
S
tates.
A joint congressional resolution
to that effect is now before the House
Foreign Affairs Committee.
Mr. Hamilton's measure faces
Senate opposition from Majority
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
on the Senate floor - probably after
it passes the House.
After Mr. Savimbi's high-profile,
10-day visit to Washington in Febru-
ary, Mr. Dole sponsored a resolution
of support for aid to UNITA, Mr.
Savimbi's National Union for the Tb-
tal Liberation of Angola. But the
measure died because supporters
could not muster enough votes to
pull it out of Mr. Lugar's Foreign Re-
lations Committee.
Mr. Dole and several colleagues
have sent Mr. Reagan an artfully
worded letter intended to lend the
administration political support for
aid to UNITA.
Despite concerns from Mr. Ham-
Since the administration's An p-
lan aid program of $10 million to $15
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 Mr. Savim-
bi's rebel forces.
Prohibited by House rules from
publicizing classified committ e
business or details of the covert aid
o
introduce a generally worded bill
that would allow only open aid to An
ola.
One House source said the par-
allel between Nicaragua and Angola
aid won't be played out and mem-
bers' votes on aid in one region won'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-
rica.
Mr. Savimbi receives support
from South Africa. Some members
of Congress object to U.S. aid to Mr.
Savimbi because they believe his
ties to Pretoria may not be compat.
ible with U.S. interests in the region.
ram. Mr. Hamilton decided t
i
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/25: CIA-RDP90-00965R000200720002-2