HOUSE PANEL REFUSES TO LIFT BAN ON AID FOR REBELS IN ANGOLA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302450049-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 4, 2012
• Sequence Number: 49
• Publication Date: May 13, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/10/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302450049-8 STAT
ARTICLE APPEARED
. ON PAGE A3
SI
? .
THE WASHINGTON POST
13 May 1981
By John. Goshko
weseingaOmesarrwreAr
The House Ortiign Affairs Corn4
mitt.ee yesterdeilealte setback to
President Reagan's hopes for a freerk
hand. in conducting foreign_ policy by,
voting 19 to-Stnreject the adminis-t
tration's request - to lift the ban on,
':.forces in Angola,* - -
Covert, or - to rebelt,
The administration is seeking repeal.
Of the so-called,: Clark Amendment,'
? enacted- by Congress 1n-4976, as pare--
'20r- its campaign to get. rid of post-1-,-
- Vietnam restrictions that it regards as.
inhibiting the president's ability
'deal with unpredictable situations
the foreign policyTale
lithe Clark Amendment,, or
? foimer senator' Dick,--Clark of Iowa,
heads the list- of >those legislative re-
straints that the achahlistration-
? eliniimated.
A senior-State,
said in an Apnlleibackground-
ing that the administration...
intention of trying to undermine
communist govenzaenCin- Angola by
aiding iti
administrationti-fccriMneTe --r7oteex':
wants. to.. thec
Amendment as a Syinbarie signer that
the United States is prepared in turn
away from its -post-Vietnam ' &sett-.
? chantment with foreign involvemen
land back Reagan's- efforts, to project a
bold new U.S. image: "
, So far, howeve4.the President's de-
sires have been maidng little headway
in Congress. Both-the House commit-
tee and the Senate Foreign Relations
COmmittee have turned aside achnin-
istration objecdons to vote for restric-
tions On U.S.-militarY assistance to El
Salvador.i-kVAIL*Or'."4.
In addition, the committee
yesterday voted foritquical 1982 for-
. I ,..t
?
,
eis
eign bill O416.026:billion, $654:
million less! then'?What:, Reagan had
sought It made these cuts primarily
' in the area where Reagan and Secre-
tary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr.
had proposed, increases ?, that of for-
eign military assistance.
Specifically, the. Committee elimi-
nated, in the ' case of almost every
country except Israel, the administra-
tion's request to carryeut much of its
foreign military sales program by for-
giving repayment or granting the re-
cipient nations especially. favorable
favorable
interest terms. It aito shaved the ad-
ministration's request for a $250 mil-
lion economic support 'Contingency
fund for use in military, trouble spots
to $100 million, and cut a parallel
request for a Military grant contingen-
cy fund from $150 million to $25 mil-
lion. ? .,? -
- In another niave that-wenragainst
administration wishes, the committee
followed the lead taken Monday by
the Senate Foreign Relations Commit-
tee and voted to .spedfi that- US'
military aid to the military 'regime in
Argentina :fbe-contingent:otria-presi4
dential 'Certification , thet;Argentina is
making"progreee in 'improving its hu-:-
man-rights record.
However, the committee's most at-
tention-getting action. was:. its vote,
,vvith virtually no debate, to spurn the
request for: lifting the Clark Amend
ment. Rep: Howard :E.4.-Wolpe (D
Mich.), chairman of the .Africa sub-
committee, urged that the ban be re-
tained on the grounds' that repeal
- would increase the Angolan govern-
ment's reliance, on the _20,000 Cuban
troops in that county and harm ef-
forts to reach agreement on gaining
independence for neighboring. Nami-
bia from South Africa.
"
The- Cuban tops are- helping to
protect the Angolan goverrunen
against t rebel.-: forces led' by anti-
Marxist JonasSavimbi. The Reagan
administration; which is about to un
dertake a nevi4ffo.rt to resolve? the,
Namibia conflicthas stated it wants
the Cubans ?tit of Angola as part of
its attempt. to contain commi mist in-
fluence in Africa.
However, supporters of the amend:
ment have argued ,that repealing it at
this time will raise suspicions through--
out black Africa 2 that the United
States is trying to help the Angolan
rebels. Such suspicions, they contend,
will make the black African countries
reluctant to cooperate in the new
push for a Namibia settlement ,
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/10/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302450049-8