Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 20, 1991 TAG: 9103200316
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The prohibition, opposed by the Bush administration, was included in a measure to provide $42.6 billion toward the war effort. The bill was approved 98-1, with no separate vote on the arms-sale ban.
The Senate later debated a measure to provide $5.2 billion for war assistance to Israel and Turkey, stepped-up security by the Secret Service and scores of other programs. The Senate recessed for the evening without taking a vote. Final passage could come today.
The House passed its own versions of both bills on March 7. One made the unspecified threat that "Congress may consider appropriate action" if allied aid falls short of promised levels.
Congressional frustration with America's allies is high because of the huge costs at stake. Of $54.5 billion in promised assistance, just $25.6 billion has arrived, according to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Not one of the six countries that pledged substantial amounts of help - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Japan and South Korea - has delivered its pledge in full. All six countries plan to buy U.S. weapons this year and would be affected by the ban, according to information the administration has given Congress.
In a letter distributed to congressional leaders, the White House Office of Management and Budget said the proposed prohibition would place "unnecessary and inappropriate constraints" on the sales.
Separately, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, "We have been very pleased by the support that we've gotten from allies so far, and we don't think it's necessary to legislate on this issue."
But those pleas did little to sway angry senators.
"I don't recall any hesitation whatsoever on the part of the United States in deploying the heart and brains and muscle of our military establishment to the Saudi Arabian peninsula," said Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., the author of the weapons-ban language.
"They have the capability to make good on their pledges and it's not going to cause one Saudi to go hungry," said Sen. Mark Hatfield, R-Ore.
Singled out for special criticism was the United Arab Emirates. The tiny, oil-producing gulf nation has delivered half its promised $4 billion in payments; lawmakers said it could afford much more.
"The United Arab Emirates . . .could easily send us a check for $10 billion overnight and scarcely miss it," said Byrd. "The emirates would have been wiped out completely had it not been for the action of the United States."
No official, complete computation of the war's cost has been announced. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the cost as $45 billion. The White House budget office has said it could cost $40 billion, plus $150 million to $1.65 billion daily for the 43 days of fighting.
The $42.6 billion war-financing measure would allow up to $15 billion in taxpayers' funds to be spent for war expenses. That money would be spent only if foreign contributions are not sufficient.
by CNB