The House of Representatives, which voted 280-183 last night to cut off $90 million in economic aid for Syria for its attacks on Christian civilians in Lebanon, continued to debate today its foreign aid assistance bill with little expectation that Israel, Egypt and Jordan would be seriously affected by the mood in Congress to reduce expenditures.
About 50 amendments to the appropriations bill, that must be considered before a final vote, show no sign of specific reductions for those three countries, although the possibility exists that a proposed eight percent reduction for the total, which would affect them, may be adopted.
This proposal has been offered by Rep. Clarence Miller (R. Ohio). Another proposal, which would drop $584 million from the International Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, proposed by Rep. Clarence Long (D. Md.), also is to be considered.
Money bills require two legislative steps. The authorization measure, adopted last night in the House by 255-156, sets the ceilings and policy on foreign aid. This provides $785 million for Israel in economic and military assistance. Amounts similar to those in the authorization measure adopted by the Senate last week also are slated in the House measure for Egypt, Syria and Jordan.
Both the authorization and appropriation bills must be reconciled by the House and Senate and signed by the President before they are law. Thus the cutoff of Syria awaits hurdles in the Senate and the White House.
DEBATE ON SUSPENSION OF AID TO SYRIA
The amendment to suspend economic aid to Syria for the fiscal year beginning Oct. I was introduced by Edward Derwinski (R. III.). In introducing his amendment, the lawmaker declared: “The massacre and forced migration of Christians in Lebanon is a moral and legal shame that calls for condemnation and action by the United States and the world community.”
Opponents of the Derwinski measure said the cut would move Syria deeper into the Soviet orbit and upset the Middle East balance. Rep. David Obey (D. Wis.) said it would embarrass the new U.S. Ambassador to Syria, who was presenting his credentials today and damage U.S. attempts at settlement negotiations. Syria has steadfastly attacked Egypt and has refused to consider negotiations with Israel.
During the debate on the Derwinski measure, Rep. Janathan Bingham (D. NY) suggested cutting aid to Syria in half, to $45 millian. He thought total aid elimination would be “too drustic.” Reflecting the anger at Syria, the House rejected the Bingham proposal by a two-to-one margin, 78-38. Bingham did not ask for a roll call. In the end he voted for the Derwinski measure. Stephen Solarz (D. NY) voted against it.
Earlier in the day, Bingham released a letter he and 43 other House members had sent to President Carter urging him to speak out forcefully against the Syrian onslaught. They urged the President to work through the United Nations or independently to see that the “indiscriminate shelling of Beirut stops.” In their letter to the President, the Congressmen said that the Administration’s statements on the Lebanon situation “have been either excessively oblique or marked by an extraordinary and misplaced even-handedness.”
The letter added: “In the matter of the flagrant violations of the rights of the Christian Lebanese, there has been little more than silence.”
ADMINISTRATION TO FIGHT FOR AID TO SYRIA
However, the Carter Administration reacted to the overwhelming vote against economic aid to Syria by asserting that it will continue to fight for U.S. funding to the Damascus government.
“The Administration continues to believe strongly that there should be a security assistance program for Syria,” State Department spokesman Hodding Carter said today. “As we made clear in our presentation to Congress, Syria plays an important role in the Middle East and the U.S. relationship with Syria is an important part of our policy toward the Middle East.”
Carter said the Administration would continue consultations with Congress on the aid bill and “urge that Congress appropriate funds for this program.” He would not comment on the letter sent to the President by the 44 House members.
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