Reagan Calls Sandinista Incursion ‘Slap in Face’ to House Members Who Rejected Contras Aid

President Reagan, in a last-minute appeal for aid to Nicaraguan rebels before the Senate approved the proposal, said Thursday that the Sandinista government’s military incursion into Honduras “is a slap in the face” to House members who rejected the $100-million package last week.

During a speech at a political fund-raising luncheon here, Reagan assailed the opponents of his rebel aid proposal in the Democratic-controlled House, clearly signaling his intention of turning the debate over the measure into a domestic political issue.

“The lives of the Nicaraguan freedom fighters, the fate of Central America, is to a large degree in the hands of the United States Congress,” he said.

The House last week narrowly defeated the President’s measure to give military and other assistance to aid the contras, as the rebels are called. Later Thursday, after Reagan’s address, the Senate voted 53 to 47 to approve the measure, and the House will reconsider the issue in mid-April, after its Easter recess.

Introducing Reagan at the fund-raising affair, Rep. W. Henson Moore (R-La.), a leading candidate to succeed retiring Sen. Russell B. Long (D-La.), referred to “the 12 missing votes of March”--the margin of Reagan’s 222-210 defeat on the contras measure in the House. Moore, vowing to be influential in reversing the defeat, declared: “We’re all contras.”

Mocked House Opponent

The President mocked one House opponent, whom he did not name, by quoting him as having said that he hoped the Sandinistas would take the defeat of the rebel-aid package as “a sign of peace and friendship.”

Reagan said: “The Nicaraguan Communists took the House vote as a sign, all right. They invaded the territory of Honduras with about 1,500 heavily armed troops, and then they lied about it.”

The President’s reference apparently was to Chalmers P. Wylie, an Ohio Republican who opposed aid for the contras in the House last week. Wylie said after the vote: “I didn’t want to say no to the President. I was a little nervous about it but I feel good about my vote. I hope the Sandinistas take it as a sign of peace and friendship.”

The Nicaraguan government has denied that it has launched any kind of offensive across the Honduran border, calling reports of an invasion “a cheap maneuver” to win votes on Capitol Hill for aid for the contras.

Reagan stood by White House reports that the Sandinista incursion into Honduras involved about 1,500 troops, a figure that has been disputed even by some Administration officials. On Tuesday, Reagan authorized $20 million in emergency aid to help the Honduran government repel any Sandinista attack.

Scrapped Compromise Move

The Nicaraguan offensive, reported just days after the House voted down aid for the contras, embarrassed opponents of the measure and emboldened the Administration to suspend negotiations aimed at a bipartisan compromise.

Senate Democrats had urged Reagan to accept a compromise that would mandate a period of negotiations by the United States with the Nicaraguan government before any military aid could be released.

Reagan declared Thursday, however: “Does anyone really believe that the ruling clique that runs Nicaragua will enter into a serious dialogue simply to prove they are good guys?”

The President argued that military help to the contras would furnish the needed leverage to bring the Sandinistas to the bargaining table, just as he said the threat of his Strategic Defense Initiative, a research program on space-based missile defenses widely called “Star Wars,” helped revive arms-control negotiations with the Soviets.

“Peace through strength is a fact of life,” he said. “It is time to grow up and face reality.”

Carter Administration Attacked

Without mentioning his predecessor by name, Reagan reiterated his familiar charge that the nation’s defenses were allowed to erode by the Administration of President Jimmy Carter, despite a growing totalitarian threat.

“Crossing our fingers and hoping for the best is not the way to ensure a more peaceful world,” Reagan said.

Carter has complained to Administration officials and to the media that Reagan has falsely portrayed his record on defense and ignored the defense buildup he began during his last years in office.

Reagan made his stop here en route to his Santa Barbara ranch in California for a 10-day Easter vacation. In two hours on the ground, he attended two fund-raisers: a $1,000-a-plate luncheon for Moore, which raised more than $800,000, and a $5,000-a-head reception for the Louisiana Republican Party.

In his luncheon speech, Reagan reaffirmed his commitment not to raise taxes, saying it would “risk knocking the legs out from under economic growth.” He touted the nation’s economic recovery as “one of the longest and strongest peace-time economic expansions in our history.”

However, Reagan said, that he is “aware of the economic troubles that persist in Louisiana,” which has suffered from the downturn in agriculture, energy and trade. The state’s January unemployment figure was 12.2%.