MODERATE SENATORS DUBIOUS ABOUT ADMINISTRATION S LATIN REQUEST

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000302970005-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 21, 2010
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: March 1, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/21 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000302970005-7
ARTICLE WASHINGTON POST
ON PAGE ~ MZZ 1 March 1984
rVAoderate Senators Dubious About
Administration's Latin Request
Joanne Omang
wwur4t Pc Batt wrna
A key Senate Democrat called
y6tterday for a total aid cutoff to El
Salvador unless there is a halt to
'death-squad killings and rampant
corruption there, and a key Repub-
lican senator said she would oppose
proposed aid increases to that coun-
try without assurances the funds
would be spent properly.
Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii),
a senior member of- the Intelligence
and Appropriations committees, and
Sen. Nancy Landon Kassehaum (K-
Kan.) were among several foreign-
p2~modrates issuing storm warn-
inzs to the W ite k1ouge on the eve
of Co ' first votes on the mas-
live package of economic and m' -
rte' aid the administration is seek-
ing for Cen tral America
--'These moderates warned the ad-
~.....:e.~~~inn nnninc* nnu affnrt 'tl1
"I fear that America fs stumbling
blindly toward the abyss,". he said.
He criticized the Salvadoran govern-
ment for doing little to-stop the
death squads, despite U.S.-warnings,
. and urged Congress to provide aid in
` s x-month increments, releasing it
only if it can vote that El Salvador is'.
observing "minimum standards of
respect for human rights."
_ In aninterview, Inouye said that
his remarks "are in the minds of
many senators" who are "represent-
? ative of the whole spectrum of Con-
gress." He said he was drafting
amendments to the administration
sid request that would enact his pro-
posals. "Somewhere we have to pass ?i
the message to El Salvador and,
other countries that we mean busi-
ness when:.wesay cut out that non-'
sense about killing people," he,said.
Kassebaum, a member of the Sen-
provide further military help to r i I. ate Foreign Relations Committee,
Salvador without going through the said in an interview that she "will
congressional appropriations process.
The Reagan administration is ask- not be supportive of those [admin-
ing for another $178 million in mil- istration[figures ~ I have some
--- answers' to concerns that previous
has not been used
region
itary aid to El Salvador this year as aril effect the
part of an $8.9 billion five-year pack-
age of economic and military assist- She cited reports of diversion and..
ance to the region. The White House fraud in the use of U.S. aid and of
is also moving toward- a decision to the sale to guerrilla forces of U.S.- !
provide part of the aid to El Sal- i supplied military equipment by cor-
vador in advance of congressional rupt members of the Salvadoran
action in order to keep the Salvador- , armed forces.
an armed forces from running short "If the [Salvadoran] army were
of supplies in their war against leftist doing a good job, I think there'd be
guerrillas. support for it, but it's clearly so in-
In a toughly worded speech to the effective I'm not sure the new money
Senate, Inouye said administration would help" Kassebaum said.
policies in Central America "have
served to encourage those who would
seek to quell by force the urges of
freedom and dignity" and have
heightened tensions in the region.
On the House side, Rep. Lee H.
Hamilton Jr. (D-Ind.), who is con-
sidered a moderating. influence on
the Foreign Affairs Committee,
echoed Kassebaum's sentiment.
_1 have serious doubts' that we
sould provide such large amounts
61 aid in areas of great military in-
security," he said. "I'm concerned it
will be used.to continue the deplor-
able government system that now
exists there."
He said the administration argu-
ment that immediate aid is needed
in El Salvador to prevent supplies
running short "simply doesn't wash"
Kassebaum said that providing
aid without congressional action
"won't help them down the road in
getting the. further aid." And Inouye
said that Congress "won't react in a
positive manner. If the administra-
tion plans to do something like that,
I would most certainly advise them
that they should not."
The House Foreign Affairs sub-
committee on the Western Hemi-
sphere is scheduled to begin work
today on the aid package and is con-
sidered likely to pass amendments to
eliminate additional aid ' to El Sal-
vador this year and hinge. further aid
on stiff conditions.
A State Department official ex-
pressed confidence those actions
would not survive the full House,
adding that concerns about imme-
diate aid to El Salvador will be ad-
dressed.
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/21 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000302970005-7