DATE:07/01/93 TITLE:MOVE IN CONGRESS WOULD HALT U.S. JETLINER SALES TO IRAN (07/01/93) TEXT:*93070109.NEA 07/01/boeing,ge jet sales to iran/#mcj yb kf *NEA409 07/01/93 * MOVE IN CONGRESS WOULD HALT U.S. JETLINER SALES TO IRAN (Congressmen call on president to stop deal) (600) By M. C. Jaspersen USIA Staff Writer Washington -- Members of Congress July 1 called on the Clinton administration to halt a planned sale of U.S.-made commercial jets to Iran, saying it is time for the U.S. government to learn from its previous mistakes. In a letter addressed to the president, more than 140 members of the House of Representatives state that "If we are to publicly brand Iran for its support of terrorist activity and proliferation of dangerous weapons, the United States must not sell these aircraft to Iran." Releasing their letter to President Clinton at a news conference here, Representative Peter Deutsch (Democrat of Florida) said he learned of the plan to sell the jets from a letter President Clinton wrote to Senator Jesse Helms (Republican of North Carolina) to notify the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the administration is contemplating changing the classification of Boeing 737s from their presently designated "joint-military-civilian-use" to a "civilian-use" status, thereby making such a sale permissible. Deutsch noted that within one day, he and other colleagues had gotten more than 140 other congressmen to sign a letter asking Clinton not to approve the jet sales to Iran. Representative Jim Saxton (Republican of New Jersey) cautioned that the administration must not forget the lessons of Iraq. "We were surprised by that country's development and eventual invasion of Kuwait because we were not paying attention to the technology...that was flowing to Iraq from around the world," he said. Saxton said he opposes the sale of "dual-use technology to Iran as a matter of security and as a matter of conscience." "The United States should not be in the business of sharing its technology, craftsmanship, and engineering with the lead sponsor of world terrorism.... Iran is not a friend," he stressed. 1 Iran contracted to purchase the jets -- 737s manufactured by Boeing using General Electric engines -- in September 1992, and the U.S. manufacturers applied to the U.S. Department of Commerce for a license to go ahead with the sale. Both companies have been hit hard by recession and recent military spending cuts. They applied for a special export license, because under U.S.law -- the 1992 Iran-Iraq Non-Proliferation Act -- the Department of Commerce would have to deny export licenses to any company seeking to do business with Iran. Also, since the 1979 Iranian revolution, the United States has restricted the sale of dual-use technology to Iran. Citing Secretary of State Warren Christopher's recent remarks condemning Iran's heightened terrorist activities, Representative Charles Schumer (Democrat of New York) said, "President Clinton is considering a decision that will affect the prospect of whether Iran...will soon have the means to be an even greater threat to world security." NNNN .
