CONGRESS/SALVADORAN AID

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01070R000201320007-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 19, 2008
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: August 8, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2008/09/19: CIA-RDP88-01070R000201320007-5
8 August 1984
CONGRESS/ RATHER: President Reagan's request for more U.S.
SALVADORAN AID military aid to El Salvador survive two key votes in the
Senate today by wide margins. The Republican-controlled
Senate rejected amendments that would have cut all or most
of the $117 million Mr. Reagan wants for the Salvadoran
military in the next seven weeks. And there was.a flicker
of victory for the president when-a House subcommittee
voted to approve most of his military aid request for El
Salvador. Still, as Bill McLaughlin reports, the
administration was not letting down its guard on this
issue.
MCLAUGh'LIN: The Reagan administration today, in an effort
to nearly double military aid to El Salvador, released
weapons, documents and photos that had been top secret
until last night. U.S. ambassador to El Salvador, Thomas
Pickering, said the administration hoped the weight of
this evidence would convince Congress that the guerrilla
war in El Salvador could not continue without outside
communist help. Although he said the evidence was the
result of careful intelligence gathering, he admitted
there was nothing dramatic about it. THOMAS\PICKERING
(U.S. ambassador to El Salvador): It is the accumulation
of evidence, not a single piece of it alone, which
provides the basis for conclusions. No single piece of
evidence to be presented here could in any sense be called
a smoking gun.
MCLAUGHLIN: Pickering was backed up by Gen. Paul Gorman,
commander of the Southern Command, who warned that the
Soviet-backed rebels were on--the brink of a major
offensive and the Duarte government would not survive if'
Congress refused additional military aid.
GEN.\PAUL\GORMAN (U.S. Southern Commander): The
insurgence are determined to damage Durate's prospects by
any means at their disposal. And they possess the means
for much bloodshed and destruction.
MCLAUGHLIN: Gen. Gorman and his team showed an
clandestine film shot at night from a U.S. C-130 aircraft
that was said to trace Nicaraguan boats supplying arms to
Salvadoran rebels. UNIDENTIFIED MALE VOICE (footage from
above-mentioned film): It is likely that the shrimper had
competed a transfer of material to the two 18-foot boats.
MCLAUGHLIN: There were also still photos of Salvadoran
guerrillas with Soviet-made weapons and some Soviet-made
weapons on hand, all supposedly to prove that the
Salvadoran rebels got most of their weapons from the
Continued
Approved For Release 2008/09/19: CIA-RDP88-01070R000201320007-5
 Approved For Release 2008/09/19: CIA-RDP88-0107OR000201320007-5
Communist bloc and its ally, Nicaragua. Sources say the
State Department has been trying for months to get today's
information declassified but had been blocked by the
Pentagon and the CIA. And despite today's victories on
Capitol Hill, President Reagan may still not get all the
money he wants this year for El Salvador. Bill
McLaughlin, CBS News, the State Department.
Approved For Release 2008/09/19: CIA-RDP88-0107OR000201320007-5