Senate Refuses to End Filibuster on Contras Aid

The Senate on Monday refused to end a filibuster against a symbolic resolution to impose a 180-day moratorium on aid to the Nicaraguan contras.

The vote to shut off debate was 46-45, short of the three-fifths vote required by Senate rules.

Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), who had filed for cloture, said before the vote that he saw little chance of immediate success but that he might try again today. Byrd indicated he will abandon the effort if it fails on the second try.

Led by Helms

The filibuster is being led by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), a prominent supporter of the contras , who are fighting to overthrow Nicaragua’s leftist Sandinista government.

At issue is a resolution to suspend aid to the contras for 180 days while the Reagan Administration accounts for spending, from private sources as well as from the federal government, on the rebels.

This spending would include $27 million in non-military aid that Congress approved in 1985 and any cash that was skimmed off from the secret sale of arms to Iran and diverted to the contras, in violation of a congressional ban on any governmental assistance.

The resolution passed the House earlier this month on a 230-196 vote.

Largely Symbolic

However, the effect of the resolution would be largely symbolic. The reason is that the final $40-million installment of $100 million in contras aid approved in 1986 began flowing over the weekend after the Senate, on a 52-48 vote, rejected a resolution of disapproval.

In addition, both Byrd and House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.) acknowledge that they do not have the two-thirds majorities required to overturn President Reagan’s expected veto of the resolution.

The political impact, however, would be significant--both chambers voting to suspend military aid to the guerrillas.

This, Byrd says, would serve as “an alarm bell” to Reagan to abandon his request for $105 million in new military aid for the rebels and to press for a diplomatic solution to the conflict with the Sandinista government.

The vote Monday followed a brief debate in which the contras’ supporters, apparently confident of the outcome, did not speak.

‘Ultimate Sign of Weakness’

Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) accused those supporters of “hiding from a vote” by relying on the filibuster.

“It is the beginning of the end for contra funding because a filibuster is the ultimate sign of weakness,” Cranston said.

“This Administration seeks to evade accountability,” he added. “Shouldn’t we find out what the contras did with the money they got before we give them more money?”

During the debate, Byrd told the Senate: “I think the American people are entitled to an accounting of the money that has been spent, money from the United States, money from other governments, money from private sources and money from the diversion of the Iranian arms sale payments.”

Byrd told reporters that it is clear to him that the Administration has failed in its attempt to make the contras an effective fighting force against Nicaragua’s government.

‘Program Not Working’

“This program is simply not working,” he said.

And while the prospects for stopping contras aid now are not bright, they will improve by next fall, Byrd said, when Congress considers the Administration’s request for the additional $105 million.

“Later in the year, when we have to deal with this matter again--unless there’s really something to show for the money spent so far--it will be hard for the Administration to overcome the opposition to this approach,” Byrd said.