SENATORS JAR MILITARY RIDERS OFF HEATING BILL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000606400004-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 27, 2010
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: March 9, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/27 :CIA-RDP90-005528000606400004-3
AR T I C LB ~.PEEAR?
ON PAGP,~~ ... -
WASHINGTON TIMES
9 March 1984
~enat~rs jar milt
Bp Thomas D. Brandt ~ ~~~~~
and Roger Fontaine ;~
WASMIAGTOI~ TINES STAFF
The Reagan administration lost a r
high-risk gamble in Congress yesterday
when it tried to add the two most con-
troversial militar}? parts of its Central
American policy as riders to a bill to
heat the homes of the poor in America.
But the larger question is whether
the action in aRepublican-controlled .
committee signals the end of the admin- !
istration's highly touted, 510 billion
"Jackson Plan" for the economic recov-
ery and battle against communism in
Central America. The plan was named
for the late Sen. Henry Jackson, D-
}'i~a sh.
"T'he name of the plan is appropriate,
they are both dead," said a high admin-
istration official yesterday. The five-
year plan was produced by a pres-
idential commission headed by former
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
After the ke}? 15-14 vote, Sen. Pete
Domenici, R-N.it'I., said he had never
seen an issue so badly managed. He
warned that the administration's entire
plan for Centr.#.1 America may be re-
jected if the performance continues.
"I guarantee them [the State Depart-
ment] and I guarantee the president for
whom they work, they are going to fail"
if there is no improvemetft, Sen. Do-
menici said. The senator served o_n t_he_
Kissinger panel and is chairman of the
Budget Committee.
The strateg}~that failed hinged on at-
taching two "emergency" requests -
for 521 million in covert aid for anti-
Nicaragvan guerrillas and 593 million
for El Salvador - to the 5200 million
emergency energy-assistance bill that i
has alread}? passed the House.
The 15-14 vote came in the
Republican-controlled Senate Appro- ;
priations Committee, considered the ad-
ministration's most receptive panel.
The administration having taken its
best shot and lost, sources said, the vote
may have been the high-water mark for
a CE~ntral American plan this year.
Four reasons for the Jackson Plan's
failure have been offered by administra-
tion sources:-
? After the December recess,
"ever}?thing" became partisan as the
election }-ear opened.
? There ++?as no time to rework the
Kissinger report, so it came out looking
like an "old-st}?le foreign-aid bill"
? The House Foreign Affairs subcom-
mittee on the Western Hemisphere,
where the first votes were taken, is
among the most liberal in Congress;
Now the full committee is deadlocked,
and any package likely to emerge is ex-
pected to have more human rights re-
strictions on aid to El Salvador than
President Reagan is likely to accept.
? Unlike the Social S_ecuri_ty and MX
missile commissions, the Kissinger
panel failed to generate consensus in
Congress on massive help for Central
America.
The high-drama .vote in the
Republican-controlled panel followed
combative exchanges between the
chairman, Sen. Mark Hatfield, R-Ore.,
and Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, the Sen-
ate majority whip who managed the ad-
ministration's efforts.
"Gentlemen, there's no alternative;'
said Sen. Stevens, explaining that no
other legislative vehicles could pass
Congress before June 1, which would be
too late for military and guerrilla forces
supported by the United States.
The "contras" who are trying to top- ,
ple the Marxist government of Nicara-
gua will be out of funds before they ~:
could be helped by a June appropri-
ation, which would take two more
months to reach them, Sen. Stevens said. ~
He added that it was important that ~
the $93 million for El Salvador's military
be at least approved before El Salvador's
national elections on March 25, where
there may be increased activity by left-
istguerrillas opposing the government.
1-lo~+~ever. two Democratic members
of the TntPtlieence Committee. which
oversees all covert funding, disaereed
}+?ith S n. Stevens. Sen. Daniel TnouvG,
D-Hawaii. said he had n~o rto~r notifica-
tion and no~'ustificatto- n had been nro-
udpd jzY the administration.
"None of us have been told there a~as
a sudden urgency;' said Sen. Patrick
Leahy, D-Vt.
Talking to reporters afterward, Sen.
Stevens said he believed the administra-
tion had the votes before the meeting
began, and that "the criticism of the
State Department in this instance is not
~+?ell-founded"
The administration has several op-
tionsopen for passing the two packages.
One is to take them to the floor of the
Senate and to offer them as amendments
to the heating bill. A second option is to
offer them next week in the same com-
mittee with a 5150 million famine relief
bill for Africa. .
"'What will sink that bill;' said Sen.
Stevens.
Sen. Robert Kasten, R-Wis., w?as
ready to offer the 593 million El Sal-
vador aid yesterday as a rider to the?
African relief bill, but the committee
VOtE
dav.
Another option is to rise existing au-
thoritythat would allow the president to,
provide emergency military assistance
to El Salvador if the countr}~ agrees toy
repay within 120 days:
Presidential spokesman Larry
Speakes said the president would con-:
sider such a;move if Congress did not
act quickl~;~whiie a senior administra-;
tion official explicitly said the adminis-?
tration would go the emergency route if
Congress proved uncooperative. ;
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/27 :CIA-RDP90-005528000606400004-3