WE ARE WRITING TO SEEK YOUR SUPPORT FOR AN AMENDMENT WE INTEND TO OFFER TO THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT FY 1985 AUTHORIZATION BILL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86M00886R001400140019-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 8, 2009
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: June 6, 1984
• Content Type: LETTER

Approved For Release 2009/05/08: CIA-RDP86M00886R001400140019-5
Fok. is dune
9$4
1
Two items from`'-Rob Simmons, via of OLL:
--A'"Clark Amendment's on Ni
on the con'Me 1 car gua to be introduced
b
Ked
y
nney and a'i ngaman.
It would be presented as 'an -..
Defence amendt to the FY 85
j
th
-_ ^2"
u
orizti
--SSCI draft press release exonerating the Agency
from any-wrongdoing'or impropriety concerning the
Nicaragua spending cap. According to Simmons, Senator
Moynihan is holding this press release, rev
-Z I
publication.
Approved For Release 2009/05/08: CIA-RDP86M00886R001400140019-5
 Approved For Release 2009/05/08: CIA-RDP86M00886R001400140019-5
~
Qr 410
d`
Dear Colleague:
Wnt ?S s ?enale
O$YON. D.C. =0510
June 6, 1984
We are writing to seek your support for an amendment we
intend to offer to the Defense Department FY 1985 Authorization
Bill. This amendment would cut off U.S. support for paramil-
itary activities in Nicaragua.
We opposed the Administration's covert war against Nica-
ragua when the Senate debated the issue last April. The argu-
ments against funding the contras are even stronger today. We
know now what the contras are and are not doing in Nicaragua.
We know that
the contras are trying to destroy the economic in-
frastructure of the Nicaraguan nation;
-- the contras are engaged in acts of terror directed
against the civilian, non-combatant population of
Nicaragua;
-- the contras' chief aim is to overthrow the govern-
.. ...e..a ..c .?. --------
the contras are not about the business of inter-
dicting supplies1om Nicaragua to the Salvadoran
guerrillas.
z
R Since April 4, we have also learned more about U.S.
invcPement in that war. We have learned that
-- U.S. personnel played a direct role in the mining
of the harbors in Nicaragua;
-- U.S. personnel participated in attacks on oil faci-
lities in Nicaragua; and
-- U.S. personnel directed air-strikes against targets
in Nicaragua.
/9C
STAT
'S!~T AT
We are that much closer to direct involvement of U.S. troops in
Nicaragua and that much further away from peace in the region.
We certainly welcome Secretary of Shultz's visit to
Managua last week, and we certainly wish every success for this
Approved For Release 2009/05/08: CIA-RDP86M00886R001400140019-5
 Page TT--
Approved For Release 2009/05/08: CIA-RDP86M00886R001400140019-5
long-overdue effort at diplomacy. But that trip has not
resulted in any change in President Reagan's policies, nor
in the aims and activities of the contras.
I
We have all read reports that the Administration is
using a variety of methods to finance military and intelligence
activities in Central America, that these methods are intended
to circumvent normal Congressional oversight. Today, for
example, the New York Times reported there was evidence that
the CIA has spent more than the $24 million authorized for
FY 1984, despite an explicit prohibition against using funds
from any other account for this purpose.
U.S. support of the contras is counterproductive: it
violates international law and damages U.S. prestige through-
out the world; it expands -- rather than isolates -- the
conflict in the region; it has impeded negotiations, according
to the Contadora Group; and it has diminished -- rather than
enhanced -- the prospects for pluralism in Nicaragua.
Regardless of one's position on supplemental funding for
the contras for the remainder of this fiscal year, we hope.-,you
will agree that this funding should be terminated in FY 1985.
We urge you to join with us and to vote to stop U.S. support
for the "secret" war in Nicaragua.
Sincerely yours,
f444461Z
Edward M. Kennedy
V
Approved For Release 2009/05/08: CIA-RDP86M00886R001400140019-5
 Approved For Release 2009/05/08: CIA-RDP86M00886R001400140019-5
AMENDMENT NO. ---------------------------- Ex. ---------- Calendar No ----------
To end United States su o- for the Secret War in Nicaragua
Purpose: ---------- ___--------
-----------------------------------
------ ----
--------- -------------------- ---------..
IN THE SENATE QF THE UNITED STATES- -------- Cong., -------- Sess.
S. A11enclment_to_S__2723 ------
(or Treaty ______
D ___--__ SHORT TITIJ.; -------~
(title) Amendment to -lind 11- in rart- far- the Secret W;iI? Nicaragua
-------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
( ) Referred to the Committee on ---------------
and ordered to be printed
( ) Ordered to lie on the table and to be printed
INTENDED to be proposed by _ Kennedy____ B ngaman -----------------------------------
Viz: At the appropriate place add the following:
1 "Notwithstanding any other provisi,::.,%statute or resolution,
2 no funds may be expended for the purpose or which would
3 have the effect of supporting, directly or indirectly,
4 military or paramilitary operations in Nicaragua by any
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
nation, group, organization, movement or individual."
Approved For Release 2009/05/08: CIA-RDP86M00886R001400140019-5
 Approved For Release 2009/05/08: CIA-RDP86M00886R001400140019-5
STAT
JIAI
Approved For Release 2009/05/08: CIA-RDP86M00886R001400140019-5