Senate Panel Votes to Bar Aid to Contras

In its first vote since Democrats took control of Congress this year, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 11 to 9 along party lines Wednesday for a bill that would bar aid to rebel forces fighting the leftist Sandinista government of Nicaragua.

The bill faces a certain veto by President Reagan, and committee Chairman Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.) and Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chief sponsor of the legislation, expressed doubt that it could win the two-thirds support in the full Senate needed for an override.

The measure would prohibit the White House from releasing $40 million in funds appropriated for the contras in the last fiscal year, which ended Oct. 1. At the same time, the bill would authorize $300 million in new aid for the Central American democracies--Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Republicans Daniel J. Evans of Washington and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, seeking to ensure approval of the $300 million in aid, asked that the contra ban be separated into another measure, such as a resolution of disapproval.

But Dodd, a longtime foe of the Administration’s Central America policy, insisted that the bill remain intact, noting that a disapproval resolution allows only for a vote with no debate. The senator said at a news conference that he wanted the bill to send an important message to the Administration that Congress is strongly opposed to contra aid.

In addition, Dodd said, “it is important that Managua get the message as well and begin to negotiate seriously.” He said the Sandinista regime, which has refused to enter Central American peace negotiations as long as Washington continues to provide support for the rebels, will not be “able to hide behind contra aid much longer.”

Bill Assailed

The State Department denounced the bill, saying that it would “abandon all Nicaraguans struggling to bring democracy to their country.” The department charged that the bill would free the Sandinistas from any obligation to honor human rights, reduce Soviet and Cuban military advisers and the flow of Soviet arms into Nicaragua or end “subversion of their democratic neighbors.”

“If enacted into law, this proposal would undercut the prospects for a negotiated settlement and deal a serious blow to our security interests in this crucial region,” the department said in a statement, pledging to “work vigorously” to prevent passage of the legislation.

The committee adopted an amendment by Sen. Terry Sanford (D-N.C.) on a 15-5 vote that would press the Administration to pursue negotiations with Nicaragua even after what he believes will be the eventual defeat of the contras. These discussions would involve peace initiatives by the Contadora group--Venezuela, Colombia, Panama and Mexico--to remove foreign military forces and restrict arms in Central America and to encourage the growth of democracy.

“The worst of all outcomes is that the Sandinistas will defeat the democratic fighters, and consequently they would have it all their way,” said Sanford, one of the freshman members who entered vigorously into the debate.

Certain Restrictions

The amendment would also include Nicaragua as a possible beneficiary of the $300-million aid package if it were to meet certain democratic requirements outlined in the measure. These restrictions include such basic constitutional principles as freedom of speech.

Evans joined four other Republicans in endorsing Sanford’s amendment, but he objected to Dodd’s inclusion of the ban on contra aid in the overall legislation, saying that the funding for the Central American democracies would be needlessly delayed by a presidential veto.

The ban on contra funding would not affect the Administration’s budget request for $105 million as a supplemental appropriation for the current fiscal year. But Dodd told reporters that he will seek to block this request as well, saying that “50 to 55” senators will support such a ban.

Here again, however, he hesitated to claim enough votes to override a presidential veto. “We’re talking 10 more votes--who knows?” he said.