STATE DEPT. AUTHORIZATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP77M00144R001100180036-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 6, 2005
• Sequence Number: 36
• Publication Date: August 9, 1975
• Content Type: OPEN

Foreign PolicvNr?ccveVJ.c5A1 plebe 2005/06/02: CIA-RDP77M00144RO01100180036-5
Committee Action'.
STATE DEPT. AUTHORIZATION
11Ic ....a,..'.w
reported a bill (S 1517) authorizing $1.2-billion for fiscal
1976 operations and programs of the State Department,
United States Information Agency, the Board for Inter-
national Broadcasting and the Arms Control and Disarma-
ment Agency. The total was $48.6-million less than re-
quested by the administration.
The bill also would authorize the creation of a $25-
million emergency refugee assistance fund, strengthen the
role of the arms control agency in governmental decisions,
establish a Foreign Service grievance system and express
Congress' desire for negotiations to limit the Soviet
presence in the Indian Ocean.
The committee reported S 1517 by voice vote July 29 (S
Rept 94-337).
As reported, the bill authorized $1,201,485,000 for the
affected departments and agencies. The bill also authorized
additional amounts necessary for mandatory salary and
employee benefit increases.
State Department
S 1517 made the following authorizations for the State
Department:
Operations. The committee approved $435,755,000,
which was $3.1-million less than requested, for State
Department operations, including salaries, expenses and
allowances. The reduction reflected savings due to the U.S.
withdrawal from Indochina, the committee said in its
report.
The committee also made a permanent general
authorization for reimbursement of expenses connected
with official duties of the U.S. representative to the
Organization of American States (OAS), including
household operations, entertainment and maintenance.
The provision would apply to the private home in
Washington of the U.S. ambassador since no official
residence is maintained. Other U.S. personnel with am-
bassadorial rank who have no official residence are given
similar assistance.
International Organizations. For U.S. contributions to
international organizations and conferences, including the
United Nations and its associated agencies, the committee
approved $250,228,000. The reduction of $42,011,000 was
due to the committee's elimination of all funds proposed for
the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), for which the administration had requested
$22.2-million for fiscal 1976. Under the fiscal 1975
foreign aid law (PL 93-559), contributions to UNESCO
were prohibited until the President certified to Congress.
that the organization had taken steps to reverse its political
actions, a reference to UNESCO's passage in 1974 of Arab-
sponsored resolutions denouncing Israel and removing it
from membership in the working group.
The committee also deleted the authorization for the
U.S. contribution to the UN supervisory body in Vietnam.
International Commissions. For international com-
missions dealing principally with U.S. relations with Mex-
ico and Canada and with international fishing issues the
committee approved $19,993,000, the amount requested.
Exchange Activities. For international education and
exchange activities the bill authorized $74-million, which
was $15-million less than requested. The reduction was due
to Senate passage of a bill (S 824) on June 13 authorizing
use of $15-million in Japanese currency available in U.S. ac-
counts in Japan.
Arms Control
For the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
(ACDA) the bill authorized $12,130,000, which was $1.44
million more than requested. The additional funds were to
be used for two studies, the committee said; one would ex-
amine the impact on military expenditures of U.S.-Soviet
arms control agreements and the other would support
research on the development of nuclear safeguards.
The committee also reported a "comprehensive" ACDA
amendment sponsored by Hubert 1-1. Humphrey (D Minn.)
to change the agency's basic legislation, the Arms
Control and Disarmament Act (Pb 87-297). The amend-
ment would revise ACDA's legal mandate from being
"able" to perform certain arms control functions to hav-
ing the "authority, under the direction of the President and
the Secretary of State" to perform those functions. It also
would make the agency director an adviser to the National
Security Council, require his involvement in all government
decisions on arms export licenses and military grants and
sales, and provide for the agency's advance analysis of
government actions that might affect arms control and dis-
armament policy and negotiations. (House action on
ACDA, Weekly Report p. 1555; State Department, p. 1376)
USIA
For the United States Information Agency (USIA), the
committee authorized $263,879,000, the amount requested.
Broadcasting Board
For the Board for International Broadcasting, which
makes operating grants to Radio Free Europe and Radio
Liberty, the committee recommended $65,640,000, the
amount requested. It observed that, sum was considerably
higher than the fiscal 1975 appropriation of $49.8-million
and said this was due to changes in pension legislation and
to personnel reductions and management consolidation that.
eventually would produce savings in operating costs.
The board's authorization also was included in another
bill (S 2230), which contained provisions partially lifting the
embargo on arms shipments and sales to Turkey. The two
were combined into one bill for parliamentary reasons to
permit blouse reconsideration of the Turkish aid issue.
.The Senate passed S 2230 on July 31 by a vote of 47-46..
(Vote 873, p. 1800)
The House recessed for August, without taking a vote,
however, leaving S 2230 pending. A Foreign Relations Com-
mittee aide said future Senate action on the board's
authorization would depend upon House action on S. 2230.
If S 2230 were cleared, then the authorization contained in
S 1517 would be deleted on the Senate floor; if it were re-
jected, the board's authorization would remain in S 1517.
(Action on S 2230, p. 1750)
Refugees
For general assistance to migrants and refugees, the
committee recommended $10.1-million, the amount re-
quested by the administration. This assist ante is provided
mainly through multilateral organization; and the Inter-
national Committee of the Red Cross. The panel also
recommended another $20-million for assistance to
refugees from the Soviet Union and Communist countries
of Eastern Europe, but specified that no more than 20 per
cent of the funds appropriated could be used to settle
refugees in countries other than Israel.
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The committee authorized the establishment of a
standing Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance
Fund, to meet needs as determined by the President with
appropriations up to $25-million. Under existing law, the
President is authorized to transfer up to $10-million in
foreign aid funds for such emergency assistance; the ad-
ministration had requested that amount be increased to
$25-million. The committee said the standing fund was an
alternative to the transfer authority. Congressional over-
sight would be retrospective, with justifications for the use
of funds being sent to the House and Senate Appropriations
Committees, the Foreign Relations Committee and the
Speaker of the House.
Personnel
S 1517 would require the secretary of state to establish
regulations incorporating the merit principle in the employ-
ment procedures for Foreign Service Reserve officers. It
also would require the State Department to prepare a com-
prehensive plan for simplifying the State-USIA personnel
system. It also would establish a Foreign Service grievance
system based upon a three-member grievance board;
authorize a pre-departure housing allowance for Foreign
erv-ce officers; aut -ti raze t Department security of-
ficers-thy firearms; and change the program in which
Foreign Service officers work for public organizations, by
requiring such service of all officers before their 15th year
of employment.
Other Provisions
S 1517 would authorize $25-million for a U.S. contribu-
tion to the endowment fund of the United Nations Univer-
sity.
The bill as reported also expressed the sense of
Congress that:
? The U.S. consulate in Gothenburg, Sweden, closed in
1970, be reopened, and authorized the funds necessary to do
so. Swedish-American relations were strained that year
because of opposition to U.S. policies in Vietnam.
? U.S. ambassadors be selected on the basis of merit
rather than political activities or contributions.
? A U.S. agricultural attache be stationed in the People's
Republic of China.
? The President begin negotiations with the Soviet Union
to reach an, agreement limiting Soviet military forces in the
Indian Ocean and nearby countries. The President was to
report to Congress by July 1, 1976, on steps he had taken to
begin talks. I
-By Judy Gardner
Bill Reported:
ECONOMIC AID
The House International Relations Committee Aug. 1
reported a bill (HR 9005) authorizing $2.9-billion for
foreign economic and development assistance in fiscal 1976
and 1977.
It was the first time the House committee had
separated development aid from military and security sup-
porting assistance. The Senate Foreign Relations Com-
mittee had taken that approach in 1973, but the.final con-
ference version contained both portions. (1973 Almanac p.
816)
In that conference, however, House members agreed
they no longer would insist on one bill, explained a House
committee aide.
With military aid being questioned increasingly, with
the present composition of the I-louse and with the develop-
ment program targeted at helping the poorest nations,
committee members felt the development portion could
stand on its own merits on the floor this year, the aide said.
Also, he said, action was likely to be delayed on the
military and security supporting portions because no re-
quests had been received from the administration and
because members intended to look closely at the military
aid program.
President Ford had submitted specific requests on May
19 only for the development and economic portions, ex-
plaining that "because of the uncertainties caused by
changing events," he was not including proposals for grant
military aid, foreign military credit sales and security sup-
porting assistance, which in the past had gone to Middle
East nations. Ile also was not making specific requests for
assistance to Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Syria, Ford con-
tinued, until the administration's comprehensive review of
Middle East policy was completed. The results of that
review, which had begun in March, had not been announced
by the first week in August.
Committee Action
The International Relations Committee reported HR
9005 by voice vote Aug. 1 (H Rept 94-442).
As reported, the bill authorized $1,354,150,000 for
fiscal 1976, $1,523,850,000 for fiscal 1977 and not more than
one-fourth of the fiscal 1976 amount for the budget transi-
tion period from July 1-Sept. 30, 1976. The committee's
recommendations were $61.2-million more than the ad-
ministration's request for fiscal 1976 and $62.6-million
more than the request for fiscal 1977.
Development Assistance
Food and Nutrition. For agricultural, rural develop-
ment and nutrition programs, the committee recommended
authorizations of $638.8-million for fiscal 1976 and $760-
million for fiscal 1977. The fiscal 1976 recommendation was
$10-million below the administration's request, to offset an
increase of that amount in the ceiling on Indus Basin loans;
the fiscal 1977 amount matched the request.
The committee provided that repayments of develop-
ment loans could be made available for specific purposes.
In the 1973 foreign aid law (PL 93-559), Congress had
stipulated that loan repayments be turned over to the U.S..
Treasury. HR 9005 earmarked $200-million of the
repayments for a U.S. contribution to a $1.25-billion Inter-
national Agricultural Development Fund, proposed at the
1974 Rome World Food Conference to finance agricultural
development projects in developing countries.
Population. For population planning and health, the
committee recommended an authorization of $248.1-million
for fiscal 1976 and $280.6-million for fis-al 1977, an in-
crease of $29-million each year over the ; dministration's
request. The committee made the increases, it said, because
appropriations for population planning had been "sharply
limited" for the past two years. It also stipulated that at
least 67 per cent of the funds provided for the programs
should be used for population planning activities.
Education. For activities in education, human
resource development and public administration, the com-
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Foreign Policy/National Security - 14
mittee recommended $89.2-million for fiscal 1976 and
$101.8-million for fiscal 1977, the amounts requested.
Technical Assistance. The committee recommended
$99.55-million for fiscal 1976 and $104.55-million for fiscal
1977 for a new category of programs in the fields of
technical assistance, energy, research, disaster reconstruc-
tion and intermediate technology.
It also permitted the President to waive the required
25 per cent contribution toward the cost of a U.S. aid pro-
ject, when the recipient nations met the United Nations
criteria of "relatively least developed countries." The com-
mittee explained these countries rarely can afford the re-
quired 25 per cent payment.
Schools, Hospitals. HR 9005 authorized $25-million
each in fiscal 1976 and 1977 for U.S. schools and hospitals
abroad, plus an additional $7-million each year in local
currency. It also limited the assistance to no more than
four institutions in any one country in any fiscal year. The
committee said about 50 per cent of the funds were going to
institutions in the Middle East, which it believed was too
high a concentration in one region.
Other Authorizations
International Organizations. The committee
recommended $194.5-million in fiscal 1976 and $219.9-
million in fiscal 1977 for voluntary contributions to various
United Nations programs-principally the U.N. Develop-
ment Program, Children's Fund (UNICEF), and Relief and
Works Agency-and also the Organization of American
States (OAS).
Portuguese Colonies. The committee made no new
authorizations for grants to Portugal and its former
colonies in Africa, but recommended a reallocation of the
loans and grants authorized in the 1974 act. It would
forgive the repayment of a $3-million loan to the Cape
Verde Islands and permit $2.75-million remaining in loan
funds to be used for grants.
Disaster Relief. The committee recommended an
authorization of $25-million each for fiscal 1976 and 1977
for disaster relief assistance and required quarterly reports
to Congress on the use of the funds. The administration had
requested $20-million each year.
It also authorized the President to appoint a special
coordinator for international disaster assistance to coor-
dinate the U.S. response among government agencies, and
between the United States and private voluntary agencies,
as well as other countries.
Food Aid Policy
The committee recommended a number of policy
amendments to PL 480, the Food-for-Peace program. It
noted that its jurisdiction was limited to the act's foreign
policy and overseas distribution aspects, while. the
Agriculture Committee retained jurisdiction over domestic
issues, and that the two overlapped.
Reflecting the concern of members over political uses
of the food program, HR 9005 required that no more than
30 per cent of the food aid sold abroad under Title I of the
program should go to countries that were not among the
most seriously affected by food shortages. The President
could waive the percentage limitation if he certified to
Congress that the food assistance was for humanitarian
purposes, and if neither house of Congress disapproved the
assistance by resolution within 30 calendar days. The com-
mittee said the provision was stronger than a comparable
70-30 provision in the 1974 foreign aid act because it had no
expiration date, required the allocation, required presiden-
tial certification of a waiver and gave Congress veto power.
The bill also provided that a minimum of 1.5-million
tons in food commodity grants be distributed in each fiscal
year under Title II of the PL 480 program, with a minimum
of one million tons to be distributed through nonprofit
voluntary agencies and the World Food Program. The
minimum was designed, the committee said, to promote
the effectiveness of the agencies and permit better plan-
ning because there had been uncertainty in the past about
quantities they would receive. There is presently no
minimum. The new minimums would prevail, the com-
mittee continued, unless the "unlikely event" occurred that
insufficient commodities were available for Titles I and II
of the program, which never had happened.
HR 9005 also required the President, when he sub-
mitted the proposed food assistance program to Congress,
to include an assessment of global food production, the
steps being taken by, other donors to increase their food
assistance and the relationship of U.S. aid to that provided
by other nations. He also was required to submit by Oct. 1.
of each year a revised estimate of world food production
and any revisions in the U.S. program.
The bill authorized and encouraged the President: to
negotiate for an international system of national food
reserves to meet famine emergencies, similar to a sense of
Congress statement passed by the 93rd Congress. The com-
mittee stressed that the provision was not a commitment of
support for any particular food reserve system.
Famine Prevention. In another policy section, the
committee authorized the creation of a seven-member
Board for International Agricultural Development to ad-
minister programs aimed at increasing the participation of
agricultural schools and land-grant universities in research
and programs to increase food production in less-developed.
countries. Funds would be made available from the
authorization for food and nutrition development
programs. The long-term funding, the committee ex-
plained, would promote the building of agricultural in-
stitutions in poorer countries to assist local farmers, and
also would support long-range research into methods of in-
creasing food production.. The committee set no specific
level of funding, but said it expected initial expenditures to
be relatively small and to increase rather slowly.
Included in the report was a letter from Agriculture
Committee Chairman Thomas S. Foley (D Wash.) in which
he pointed out that the food reserve and university
program provisions involved matters under his com-
mittee's jurisdiction. Foley said he was reserving the right
to amend them during floor debate.
Additional Views
In separate views, Michael J. Harrington (D Mass.)
said that despite the committee's improvements in the
Food for Peace program the bill still failed to limit ade-
quately the political uses of the program. He said that Chile
was slated by the administration to receive the largest bulk
of food sales to Latin American countries, although it was
not on the United Nations list of nation; most seriously
affected by food shortages. He called the proposed sale the
administration's "technique of circuinverting" the con-
gressional ceiling of $25-million on economic assistance to
Chile, imposed in the 1974 foreign aid act.
-By Judy Gardner
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