HOUSE BILL WOULD BLOCK COVERT AID ON UNITA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000706870031-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 23, 2012
• Sequence Number: 31
• Publication Date: February 28, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/24: CIA-RDP90-00965R000706870031-3
1 '21
WASHINGTON POST
28 February 1986
House Bill Would Block
Covert Aid to UNIT4
Measure Could Spark Test of Will on Angola
By Patrick E 1.
and David B. O btay ?'
washo; m Po sun wntecs
1'
Eight Democratic members of
the House Permanent lect Com-
mi ee on Intel igence introduced!
administration's Plan to _jive covert
mi itary ai to Angolan rehei ea er
onas bi.
.
The bill, authored by Re e 14
Hamilton (D-
would allow aid to Savimbi
"only if the provision of that support
is the openly acknowledged policy
of the United States" and is ap-
proved by a joint resolution of Con-
gress.
The Democratic challenge to
U.S. covert involvement in Angola,
approved by the president in No-
vember, coinci es with what is ex-
pected to be a strong Democratic-
led drive to block the administra-
tion's request for $70 million for a
much larger covert operation to aid
anticommunist forces in Nicaragua.
The Hamilton bill says that the
United States "should not provide
any such support until the president
has publicly informed the Congress
and the American people that Unit-
ed States government support for
military or paramilitary operations
in Angola is important to the nation-
al security and the Congress has
approved such support."
Congressional approval of covert
orations is not requir ,but Con-
gress has occasionally stopped such
activity by special legislation.
The Hamilton bill follows
Savimbi's 10-day, high-profile visit
to Washington earlier this month
during which President Reagan and
Secretary of State George P. Shultz
said that the administration is com-
mitted to giving Savimbi "effective"
military aid. Savimbi has said he
needs U.S. military aid immediately
to stave off an expected Cuban-
backed offensive in April or May.
U.S. aid to Savimbi through the
Central Intelligence Agency was
cut off 10 years ago by the Clark
Amendment. The amendment was
repealed in July, clearing the way
for congressional conservatives to
press for renewal of assistance to
Savimbi's National Union for the
Total Liberation of 'Angola, UNITA.
The Hamilton bill could force the
first test of congressional will on
Marxist-ruled Angola. Over the
past several months, efforts by
House members to either support
or block aid to Savimbi have gath-
ered a little more than 100 signa-
tures each, leaving more than 200
members undecided.
The legislation will be referred to
the Ouse intelligence panel which
is planning a public hearing March
13 and a drafting session March 18.
If passed by both the House and
Senate, which remains uncertain,
the legislation would also allow Con-
gress to keep control of the flow of
aid to Savimbi, now set at an initial
$10 million to $15 million.
REP. LEE H. HAMILTON
... aid must be approved on Hill
JONAS SAVIMBI
... Reagan vowed "effective" aid
A State Department spokesman
said yesterday that the bill has not
been studied, but he added that the
administration has expressed its
strong opposition to congressional
contraints on the president's ability
to conduct foreign policy.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/24: CIA-RDP90-00965R000706870031-3