REAGAN TO BYPASS CONGRESS TO FUND EL SALVADOR FIGHT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00901R000600200008-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 15, 2005
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: April 14, 1984
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2005/12/14: CIA-RDP91-00901
ARTICLE LP? nT
ON PACE b,l r S i I\Iu ; Oi~ POST
14 Apr- 11 1984
eagan to liypass
AL. ess to run
~ Salvador Fight:.
By Joanne Omang
V1asS11rr, x) Post stair Wr7Ler
The Reagan administration an-
nounced yesterday that it will by-
pass Congress and use a special
emergence defense fund to send mil-
itary and medical aid to the govern-
ment of El Salvador in its fight
against leftist guerrillas.
The decision is likely to worsen
the aarn mst.ration's aireadv tattered
re attT `ons v,it on ress over Centr
me pu v: it came after on-
geese recessed for a week a~ haut
acting on -the administrat'ion's re
Guest f'o 61.75mi?lion in emergen-
cy ass stance for El Salvador and
after th rouses condemned CIA
participation in the laving of mines
iicera~u w -
White House spokesman 'Larry
Speakes said that the action allows
El Salvador to defer payment on
military supplies for 120 days, and
that the Defense Department budget
would have to absorb the cost if
Congress does not provide El Sal-
vador with money for the equipment
by then.
The aid, he said, will initially in-
clude four medical evacuation heli-
copters, training equipment- and
funding, ammunition and spare
parts for helicopters and communi-
cations equipment. -
In a formal statement, the White
House said the aid was needed "in
order-to prevent unnecessary loss of
life and to assure the security re-
quired . for [El Salvador's) runoff
election for president next month.
Rep. Clarence D. Long (D-Md),
chairman of the House Appropria-
tions subcommittee on foreign op-
erations, immediately condemned
"I think it's wrong, wrong, wrong," '
'he said. He called the move.`.'coun-
terproductiive," saying it was a signal
to -Congress to 'go: work, your head-
off,-'but if we don't get exactly what
we want, we'll bypass you"
A State Department official, how-
ever, said that a marathon telephone
consultation session yesterday after-
noon found most members of Con-
gress willing to-support the move.
"There was a consensus . 'that
.something had to be done. It was a
question of how.you were going to do
it," he said.
Long had reached a tentative
agreement, .late Thursday -with ad-
ministration officials to provide El Salvador with
S32 million-about a third of the original White
House request-for ammunition and medical
evacuation equipment by reprogramming unspent
aid funds assigned to other nations.
In return, the administration would have guar-
anteed to implement a number'of relatively minor
actions in El Salvador aimed at strengthening hu-
man-rights controls over the Salvadoran armed
forces, according to Long's staff.
But the agreement did not suit Long's counter-
part in the Senate Appropriations subcommittee
on foreign operations, Sen. Robert W. Kasten Jr.
(D-Wig.), nor the author of the $61.75 million
compromise that passed the Senate last week,
Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii).
"We had a 'series of overwhelming votes over
here" in the Senate, a key Republican staff mem-
ber said. "Why should we or the administration
accede to a recommendation of one person in the
House for half the money?"
At a news conference, Kasten said he had ob-
jected because $32 million was not enough to meet
the need and because the reprogramming would
hurt other .nations. "The White House has been
bending over backward to work with Congress on
this," he said. "This route is the second-best be-
Approved rr'
The administration statement did not specify
how much money would be sent to El Salvador,
but the State Department official said the admin-
istration ",will try to keep it within $32 million
until Congress has had a chance to act., barring
unforeseen circumstances and assuming Congress
acts expeditiously."
The $61.75 million emergency aid request
passed by the Senate is pending as a top priority
before the House when it returns from its Easter
recess April 24.
After much debate on which of three emergen-
cy funding mechanisms to use, the administration
chose Section 21-D of the Arms Export . Control
Act, in essence a buy-now-pay-later plan for weap-
ons. It allows arms to be shipped overseas COD
rather than prepaid, and for payment to be de-
layed automatically for 60 days. If there is a pres-
idential. finding that national security interests are
at stake, payment may be delayed another 60
days.
The 120-day period can carry El Salvador into
mid-August, by which time the administration
hopes that Congress will have acted to provide
funds to pay for the arms, either through the
pending emergency aid request or through the,
administration's broader aid request. for all of
Central America.
A verdict is also likely by then in the case of
four Salvadoran National- Guardsmen charged
with murdering four American churchwomen in
1980, and that would release another $19 million
in funds set aside for El Salvador last year.
Ina related develoonhent. CIA Deputy Director
John N. 1v1cMahon issued an unusual formal
statement denying a report in vesterc1ey s '
ineton Post that, he had iTvm t*-e been--
ning" that. US. ex art activities against the S~.z
ciin;I Qovernmeut of Nicaragua were "ill
Lived."
He said he and CI A Director William J. Ceerev
"Are of one mind wren it comes to aeencc' rero-
grams inr~uding the-: to counter the t .tie..
Sa.ndin star to the stabilitt.-V and Mace of Ce ~
America."
The report cited a source familiar with McMa-
bon's thinking as saving he.had known that puialic
and c+ono-ressional -,;Lmport for the program would
' bindle `and we'd 'h draw."
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G' u~u f 114 April 1981+
Co
11 11
Wouse Unit Says .1, Goldwater Letter
Because of his visibility in recant
Mr. Boland made his comments dur- !;, months as a critic of the covert activi-
ing debate about a nonbinding resolu- _Mi:. Aq and a~ o Jza,ye N,~4rtte
Report on Mines tion that opposed the use of Federal to show some support for the agency
funds to mine Nicaraguan waters. The the colleagues said. Mr. Boland a mod
House ? approved the resolution late grate Democrat frQrn-_spnng:fie1d i~
. J ? 31
Thursday by a vote of 281 to 111. Mr. known in the House as a cautious law-]
Boland supported the resolution, which maker who refers to avoid confronts-
was overwnelmingly approved earlier:
Assert
s ranee Watched bythe _
etiors in .i viCa t tiiswee>~
Several embers of the Senate ~e-
ra ua lecr ~-n,>ee o ate.
telligence have
accused the C I A of failing to inform
By PHILIP TAUBMAN
SpediltoTbeNewYork Tun
WASHINGTON,' April ,13 The
House Select Committee on intelli-
gence was informed about . United
States involvement in the mining of
Nicaraguan ports in late January and it
later monitored the operation closely,
according to the committee's chair-
man. -
The chairman. Representative Ed-
ward P. Boland , Democrat of Massa
chusetts, said during House debate IatQ
Thursday that the Central Intelligence
gen informed the panel about th
e
mining on Jan. 31 after some of the ex-
plosive devices had teen _planted, at
Puerto r~io on icaraguan's Pacific
coast.
Reported by Managua on Jan. 3
Although Mr . Boland has been a lead-
in_g_opponent of the C.I.A.'s covert ac-
tivities in Nicaragua, and his remarks
on
Thu*sdav were highly critical of the
mining,be did not fault the C.I.A.-for
failing to notify Congress.
His comments added togro2inng evi-
dence that Congress was informed
about the mining by the Reagan Ad
ministration well before a flurry of re-
sorts last week about the C.I.A.'s role
An the operation.
Although most members of Congress
were presumably aware that Nicara-
guan harbors were being mined - Mr.
I Boland said the mining was first re-
vealed by the Managua radio on Jan. 3
- the current furor in Congress devel-
oped after the extent of direct Ameri-
can involvement was disclosed in news
reports last week.
Dons with the C.I.A.
dir. Boland'sdescrintion of the
C.I.A.'s talks with Congress about 7 fie
harbor mining generally conformed
with accounts given by intelligence of-
icia .- I
the Pape] about the mining. Earlier this-:. Mr. Boland said that in the first brief-
week, the chairman of the Senate corn: '' mg on the mining, on Jan. 31, intelli-
mrttee Seziator Barry M Goldwa*er,gence officials said the waters off
Re_ublican Qf Arizona sertt~~Eatl .Puerto Sandino had been mined. Ap
letter to William J. Casey the directoz t arently pressed by the committee to
of Central Intelligence, complaining; ti the mining of a Nica an __ ra about the lackof notification. 'frt. C.I.A. officials, accordis to Air.
Boland sal uerto an moT as npt
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan,
h
'
Democrat of New York, the vice chair-'
man of the committee, said earlier this
week that he had not seen the report be-
fore voting on April 5 in favor -of $21
million in new funding.for the covert
activities in Nicaragua. Mr. Moynihan
said, however, that he had received a
"a quick brief before the vote" from
Gary J. Schmitt, the committee's mi-
noritystaff director.
Other committee members, includ-
ing Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Demo-
crat of Vermont, have said that the
committee was informed about the
arbor, it
s an anchorage " Mr. Bo-
land, dismissing the characterization,
told the House,. "Of course
they're
,
wrung.
`Enough to Warn Other Ships'
The remainder of the mining, which
was concentrated at Puerto Sandino
and Puerto Corinto, also on the Pacific
coast, took place in February, Mr. Bo-
land said.
.The House committee held a second
briefing about the mining on March 27,
Mr. Boland said. "The indication then
MMll?g. bnenng, _Mr. Boland said. He said the
W. Boland,-in an apparent reference': CI.A. reported that the mines hail "hit
to , the Senate committee, said, some seven shins between the dates of
__-/ .. -.,, _.,,. ......I.. ~..b Y""" ?? ?.u? ' ' va O p LIZ GbiStU, an-
with what was happening." He added: swering, "Japanese ships - freighters
"That's their responsibility. I knew loading cotton, Panamanian ships ,
what my responsibilitywas." - ' with molasses, a Russian ship with oil,
The House and Senate committees, ' some other, small shipping boats hit by.
while ostensibly sharing responsibility mines,. not lethal, but enough to warn
for overseeing the intelligence com_.i?other ships coming into those waters
munity, often concentrate on different
issues and frequently disagree about
intelligence matters. During the last
year, the House committee has twice
voted against providing aid to Nicara-
guan rebels while the Senate commit-
tee has supported the program.
Mr. Boland accordin to collea
ma e his in on ursday, in
part, to show that the House committee
was more attentive to fo11ow1ng tYl,e
.Irt activities. Mr. Bolanc} ''
according to the colleagues. also
thought the C.I.A. was beirigunfairly'
blamed for keeping Congress ignorant
of the mining.
the actual -placement of the mines in
Nicaraguan territorial waters was han-
dlea by a team 01 Latin American com-
manoos train by the C.I.A.
intelligence officials reiterated
today that the Senate intelligence com-
mittee was notified about the mining in
briefings on March 8 and March 13, al-
though they said the subject was not
discussed at length. On April 2, they
Continued
Approved For Release 2005/12/14: CIA-RDP91-00901R000600200008-5