ACCESSION NUMBER:00000
FILE ID:95092002.NNE
DATE:09/20/95
TITLE:20-09-95 HOUSE DEBATES PLO COMPLIANCE WITH PEACE ACCORDS
TEXT:
(Some seek to impose conditions on U.S. assistance) (550)
By Rick Marshall
USIA Staff Writer
Washington -- The House Foreign Relations Committee began debate
September 20 on whether the U.S. should consider curtailing assistance
to the Palestinian Authority because of its perceived failure to live
up to the commitments the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
undertook with the Oslo Accords.
In his opening statement Committee Chairman Benjamin Gilman
(Republican, New York) criticized PLO chairman Yasir Arafat for
continuing to support the destruction of the state of Israel in
remarks to Arab audiences.
He also pointed to "serious questions concerning the PLO's assets, its
ability to effectively utilize that aid, and assurances that aid funds
will in fact go to assist people in the self-rule areas, and not be
siphoned off for other purposes."
Democrats Tom Lantos (California) and Sam Gejedensen (Connecticut)
took a more positive view of the peace process and defended the
Clinton Administration's efforts to advance it despite the
difficulties which have arisen.
The debate was significant because it reflects a growing mood in
Congress that some modifications to the Middle East Peace Facilitation
Act (MEPFA) may be necessary, according to well-placed committee
sources.
MEPFA, which was passed in October 1993, is the basic law permitting
U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority. It has been surviving on
a series of short-term extensions which will expire at the end of
September.
There is growing reluctance in the Congress to extend MEPFA beyond
this month, however. At the same time there is considerable interest
in Congress about the complaints which are being leveled against the
Palestinian Authority and Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat. The extent
to which assistance to the Palestinians may be curtailed or
conditioned as a result, is far from certain.
What is clear is that a number of new bills have been submitted in the
House and the Senate recently which its sponsors claim would force
Palestinian compliance with their Oslo Accord commitments or limit
U.S. assistance as a consequence.
Those criticizing Palestinian actions were Republicans Dan Burton
(Indiana) and Jim Saxton (New Jersey) as well as Democrats Eliot Engel
(New York) and Peter Deutsch (Florida). Burton and Engel are House
Foreign Relations Committee members.
Burton focused on the possibility that U.S. troops might be stationed
on the Golan Heights as part of a peace agreement between Israel and
Syria. Putting U.S. forces there, he said, would be "a terrible
mistake."
Burton also referred to reports attributed to British intelligence
which say the Palestinian Liberation Organization has more than $8,000
million dollars in Swiss bank accounts. A subsequent committee
witness, Joe Kelley of the General Accounting Office, said that his
office had spoken with the British intelligence officer who had made
the claim, but that the officer had not furnished any information to
support it.
Lantos, who reminded the committee that he was the only survivor of
the Holocaust ever elected to the Congress, said that he found it
"inconceivable" that anyone would oppose the peace process.
Relinquishing the Gaza Strip has been of "enormous benefit" to Israel,
as have the business contacts which have flowed from Israel's peace
with its neighbors.
"The Clinton Administration is pursuing the right policy," Lantos
said, adding that he gave the administration his "full and unqualified
support."
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