House OKs $4.4 Billion Anti-Terror Plan

The House Tuesday overwhelmingly endorsed an ambitious plan to combat terrorist attacks against Americans abroad that includes a five-year, $4.4-billion safety overhaul of nearly half of all U.S. diplomatic missions.

The measure would set up new anti-terrorism programs, provide $10 million in reward money for information on international terrorists and drug traffickers and guarantee compensation of about $60 a day for American diplomats, soldiers or contract workers held hostage overseas--an amount that has rankled some Vietnam War-era prisoners who received far less for their suffering.

Although the bill would not provide cash benefits for American civilians such as those held hostage in Beirut last summer on a TWA jet, it would for the first time authorize payments to the Americans detained in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979. Each of the 52 diplomats, civilians and military personnel held for 444 days could receive about $29,000 if the bill becomes law.

The bill, passed on a 389-7 vote, is expected to win quick Senate approval and be signed by President Reagan.

Beirut Bombings

Reflecting concern about bombings that destroyed the U.S. Embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 and 1984, killing more than 300, the bill earmarks $2.7 billion to fortify American embassies and consulates. A State Department advisory panel appointed in the wake of the Beirut bombings urged last year that 126 of the department’s 262 facilities overseas either undergo extensive renovations or be replaced entirely.

The bill authorizes another $1.6 billion for more security personnel.

Studies cited by the House Foreign Affairs Committee indicate a dramatic rise in terrorist attacks. In 1985, according to the panel, terrorists struck more than 800 times, up from 600 international terrorist incidents only the year before. At least 30% of the attacks were directed against Americans or U.S. facilities, the committee found.

An Administration task force on terrorism recently reported that, over the last decade, terrorist attacks against U.S. officials or installations have taken place on the average of about one every 17 days. The same panel concluded that the number of U.S. diplomats killed in the last 17 years exceeded the total for the previous 180 years.

Despite widespread backing for the program, the harmony was marred by an emotional debate over hostage compensation levels led by Rep. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a former Navy pilot who spent nearly six years as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese.

The measure would entitle U.S. government workers and civilian contractors who were held hostage to a per diem compensation equal to the average amount federal workers receive as reimbursement for daily travel expenses--between $50 and $66 a day, at current levels. McCain, who when freed was paid $5 a day for his ordeal, sought to reduce the daily compensation level to $20. However, his colleagues rejected the change.

Noting that GIs held prisoner during World War II and the Korean War received only $2 per day, McCain argued that authorizing a $60 level would be unfair to former American POWs.

But Rep. Pat Schroeder (D-Colo.) argued that the funds were designed to compensate the families of hostages for their hardships as well as the victims themselves. “This is not like a windfall,” Schroeder said.