Contras Likely to Get $40 Million, Cranston Says

Nicaraguan rebels probably will receive $40 million in U.S. aid as scheduled next month, despite the controversy surrounding the diversion of Iran arms sale profits to the insurgents, Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), a leading opponent of the aid, conceded Friday.

However, he added that the new Democratic-led Senate has “a better crack at cutting off (future) aid than we had in the last Congress. I don’t have a precise (vote) count yet. That’s something I am working on.”

Cranston, the Senate’s second-ranking Democrat, is co-sponsoring a measure that would block the final installment of the total $100 million in aid that was approved last year after a long, bitter struggle between the White House and Capitol Hill opponents of aid to the contras. A similar bill also has been introduced in the House.

Reagan Veto Seen

Although a majority of the Senate is expected to support the measure, it likely would be vetoed by President Reagan, Cranston said in an interview, adding that he doubted opponents could muster the two-thirds majority they would need for an override.

And although the new Congress’ agenda is dominated by such overwhelming issues as the Iran-contra affair and the huge federal budget and trade deficits, he said, “we’re coming to the point where we’ve got to have some initiatives that meet human needs” as well.

Along that line, Cranston said, he plans to introduce legislation to spur the establishment of more child-care facilities for families of working parents.

But he added that child care “cannot be and need not be a government program.” Among the proposals under consideration are tax incentives for businesses that provide child care as a benefit to their employees, he said.

Grass-Roots Effort Sought

Cranston said he also is working to develop a “grass-roots national organization” to support the concept.

Also needed, he said, are legislation to reinvigorate housing, a congressional investigation of air safety issues and new laws to solve the crisis that has made it difficult for many businesses to obtain affordable liability insurance.