The Nation - News from Jan. 19, 1986

Sen. Mark O. Hatfield (R-Ore.), using his influence as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, arranged last year to earmark $2.28 million so two of his constituents could ship more than a million hybrid poplar tree cuttings to Nepal. Rep. Robert S. Walker (R-Pa.) angrily denounced the project, calling it “one of the continuing series of abuses of the appropriations process.” Officials for the Agency for International Development had originally blocked the poplar proposal, questioning whether Nepal’s soil was suitable for the trees.