CONGRESS STILL DEADLOCKED IN ISSUES AS RECESS ENDS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302150006-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 27, 2012
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: July 9, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/27 CIA-RDP90-00965R000302150006-8
" " ?^EAR0 YORK IP !ES
7"7I C1July 1985
Congress Still Deadlocked on Issues as Recess Ends
By JONATHAN FUERBRINGER
Special to The New Yort Times
WASHINGTON, July 8 ? The House
and the Senate returned from their 10-
day Fourth of July recess today, still
deadlocked over the 1986 Federal
budget and facing a series of other dif-
ficult issues in the month ahead.
The Senate Republican leadership
ran into opposition from conservatives
right away on two key issues: imposi-
tion of economic sanctions on the Gov-
ernment-of South Africa and more than
two dozen diplomatic nominations.
Other issues includd nonmilitary aid
to the rebels fighting the Sandinista
Government in Nicaragua, economic
aid to Jordan, gun control, a farm bill,
limits on production of the MX missile,
financing for the space-based antimis-
sile shield and individual appropria-
tions bills.
Although the recess was officially
ended, in fact there were few senators
or representatives in Washington.
Outlook on the Budget
On the budget deadlock, House
Speaker
Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill Jr., Sena-
tor Bob Dole, the majority leader, and
President Reagan are expected to be
drawn into negotiations if there is a
chance for a compromise. But Mr.
O'Neill and Mr. Dole may face prob-
lems in rallying their members to ac-
cept any compromise they could reach.
"It's up to those gentlemen," said
Senator Lawton Chiles of Florida, the
ranking Democrat on the Senate
Budget Committee. Mr. Chiles insisted
that any "meaningful" deficit reduc-
tion package would have to include tax
increases and a freeze on the cost-of-
living increase for Social Security.
The House-Senate conferees on the
budget have been deadlocked for three
weeks. The main issue is the Social Se-
curity cost-of-living increase, which
the Senate proposed eliminating for
_?r: -
one year. The House is opposed to such
a freeze.
Mr. Dole said that the message he
heard from the voters in the recess last
week was to cut the deficit, adding that
there was almost no talk of Mr. Rea-
gan's proposal to redesign the tax sys-
tem.
AmbassadsrlaI Notninitlass
In the Senate, the Republican leader-
ship is still being blocked in its effort to
approve nearly two dozen ambassa-
dorial nominations and nominations
for other posts. The nominations, Mr.
Dole said, are "still being held hos-
tage."
Senator Jesse Helms, Republican of
North Carolina, hinted today that he
might continue to block approval of
some or all of the nonlinatiOnS. Pre-
venting approval before the August re-
cess. The conservatives are opposed to
some of the nominations and, in addi-
tion, are trying to stop what they have
called a "purge" of some conserva-
tives in the State Department.
The conservatives, however, did
allow the approval on a voice vote of
John C. Whitehead to be Deputy Secre-
tary of State.
Senator Helms also promised today
to block consideration of the South Af-
rican sanctions bill, which has the sup-
port of Mr. Dole and the Foreign Rela-
tions Committee.
"I think it's dumb to call it up," Sena-
tor Helms told reporters this morning.
"Anybody who doesn't understand that
the Soviet Union is orchestrating the
upheaval in all Africa, including South
Africa, doesn't understand what is
going on," he said later.
Mr. Dole moved today to block a fili-
buster by filing a cloture petition,
which is to be voted on Wednesday.
Even if Mr. Dole gets the 00 votes need-
ed, Mr. Helms has other procedural
means available to block action.
ThaSenate bill would ban new bank
loans to the South African Govern-
ment, the sale of computers to agencies
enforcing the racial separation policy
of apartheid, and the sale of goods used
in nuclear production. The House has
passed its own bill, which includes
these sanctions and additional bans on
new private investment and the sale of
gold Krugerrands.
While the Senate is concentrating on
these and other issues, including legis-
lation that would ease some gun control
restrictions, the House is expected to
spend most of its time on appropria-
tions. House-Senate conferences will be
striving to compose differences on the
supplemental appropriations bill for
1965 and the Department of Defense su-
thorization bill for 1988.
'Aid to Rebels in Nicaragua
The issue of nonmilitary aid to rebels
fighting the Government in Nicaragua
and that of economic aid to Jordan are
tied up in the supplemental appropria-
tions bill for 1965. Conferees from the
House and the Senate have yet to meet.
On the aid to the rebels, both the
house approvedW-IS-re--M-'?.4-
aid but differ over the definition of non-
military and whether it can be tunneled
irough tm central inteingence Ages-
cy. Meanwhile, tne senate nas ap-
proved $250 million in aid to Jordan but
the House has not.
The House Agriculture Committee is
to start work on a farm bill this week
and the Senate Agriculture Committee
has set a July 15 deadline for complet-
ing action. But while Mr. Dole has
made approval a priority, some sena-
tors doubt that the bill could approved
before August.
r.nnv Aooroved for Release 2012/09/27 CIA-RDP90-00965R000302150006-8