House Chops Foreign Aid; Clinton Promises A Veto

Foreign aid would be cut sharply and three key foreign policy agencies dismantled under a bill approved Thursday by the House. President Clinton called the measure isolationist and said he would veto it.

The House gave Clinton another reason for a veto, adding an amendment that would require him to unilaterally lift the arms embargo against Bosnia.

But the Republican chairman of the International Relations Committee called the bill, approved 222-192, a major step in streamlining the federal government while “ensuring that our nation continues as a world leader.”

Democratic opponents scored the bill as a reversal of nonpartisanship in foreign policy, complaining that Republicans were trying to meddle in the foreign affairs responsibilities of the president.

Clinton said the House vote “would take us in an isolationist direction at a time when America is ready to lead the world.” He said he was pleased that the bill passed by less than the margin that would be needed to override a veto.

The 318-99 vote to unilaterally lift the arms embargo in Bosnia “is counterproductive to our efforts to bring about a negotiated settlement,” Clinton said.

Senate bills making similar cuts have been approved by the Foreign Relations Committee and are expected to come up for debate on the floor in several weeks.

The House bill would abolish the Agency for International Development, the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and the U.S. Information Agency, consolidating their work into an expanded State Department.

The legislation would cut foreign spending by $3 billion over three years, with reductions in both foreign aid and diplomatic operations.

It would set aid at $11.3 billion for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 and $10.8 billion the following year. Clinton had asked for $12.7 billion, just above this year’s level.

Overall, it would authorize $31.8 billion over two years for both aid and the cost of U.S. diplomacy.

The only major aid programs unaffected by the bill’s cuts would be the $3 billion for Israel and the $2.1 billion for Egypt.

The House tacked on an amendment requiring the president to unilaterally lift the U.N.-imposed arms embargo against Bosnia. Clinton has disregarded previous nonbinding congressional advice on the issue but this one would be binding if the Senate agrees and he allows it to become law or Congress overrides a veto.

Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., who opposes unilateral action on the embargo, said its lifting would put 25,000 U.S. troops in Bosnia. “It will put Americans right in the middle of the hottest war today - a very, very unwise move,” Hamilton said.

In a sign of Republican reluctance to go too far, a vote on an amendment Thursday rejected even deeper cuts in the Agency for International Development in preparation for its dissolution.

The House, however, approved amendments that would end U.S. participation in the Interparliamentary Union, which includes 135 countries, and cut several cultural and educational exchange programs.

Sponsors withdrew a provision that would have cut off aid to countries that conduct intelligence activities against the United States after intelligence agencies objected that it might compromise their sources and work.

“This brings fundamental reforms to U.S. foreign policy,” said Rep. Benjamin Gilman, R-N.Y., chairman of the International Relations Committee, who sponsored the bill.

“The Cold War has ended,” Gilman said. “I say it’s time to reform foreign policy agencies.”

Democrats responded with calls for a return to a bipartisan foreign policy.

“Foreign aid and foreign policy is not popular and never has been in any district,” said Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., “but it is vitally important to every one of our citizens that we have a good foreign policy.”