GOP Bid Seems to Fail on New Contras Vote

A Republican attempt to force the House of Representatives to vote again on U.S. aid to Nicaraguan rebels appeared to have failed Wednesday, delaying a new debate on the issue until June.

Minority Leader Robert H. Michel (R-Ill.) told reporters that his attempt to get 218 signatures on a petition to bring the issue to the floor is falling short, and he blamed the House Democratic leadership for the holdup.

“That’s what their ultimate goal is, to just continually push it off, push it off, push it off--and they’ve got the votes to do that,” Michel said. “Procedurally, it’s just hard to get around the numbers game here.”

Opposed Other Spending

President Reagan has requested $100 million in military and logistical aid to the rebels, known as contras , but the House voted against the request April 16. Michel and other Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the measure because they objected to other appropriations in the same bill, totaling $1.7 billion. The Republicans said that they believe a majority of the House still wants to approve some form of funding for the contras.

But House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill Jr. (D-Mass.), a staunch opponent of contra aid, has made a new free-standing vote on the issue difficult to arrange.

“They really didn’t have the votes last time,” said Rep. David E. Bonior (D-Mich.), a member of the Rules Committee. “They gambled and it backfired.”

O’Neill said that he will allow the issue to be considered as part of the military construction appropriations bill, which is scheduled to reach the House floor the week of June 9. That would put the Republicans in the same uncomfortable position as before--with aid for the contras, which they want, attached to a bill full of Democratic-sponsored projects that they don’t want.

Nearing Deadline

Michel estimated that he had only 156 names on the discharge petition, with a practical deadline for signatures today. To reach a majority of 218, Michel needed to gather signatures from 36 Democrats in addition to the House’s 182 Republicans.

“Unless we get those signatures tomorrow, then I think it’s pretty impractical for us to meet the kind of date we originally wanted,” he said.

“They’re a long way from home,” O’Neill said. “I do not think they will get there.”

The House is scheduled to consider both Reagan’s request, which has already passed the Republican-led Senate, and a rival measure sponsored by Rep. Dave McCurdy (D-Okla.). The White House bill would provide the contras with $70 million in unrestricted aid and $30 million in non-weapons aid after a 90-day pause for negotiations. McCurdy’s bill is roughly similar but would require a second vote by Congress to release the money.

Investigations Under Way

The new debate is likely to be complicated by a series of congressional investigations of the contras, which Democrats are attempting to launch in both the House and Senate. Several former members and associates of contra groups have charged that members of the guerrilla forces have engaged in drug smuggling and have misspent U.S. aid funds. The contras deny the charges. The State Department says it does not know whether they are true but asserts that the contras’ leaders are not involved.

Meanwhile, the State Department confirmed that the Administration has given a group of contra supporters a license to export a UH-1B military helicopter to Honduras to evacuate injured rebels from combat.

Department spokesman Charles Redman said the license was granted to the U.S. Council for World Freedom, led by retired Maj. Gen. John K. Singlaub, on condition that the helicopter be used for humanitarian purposes only and that it not be used in Nicaragua and not be armed.