Erred on Aid to N. Africa Jews: Inouye : Will Ask Congress to Rescind $8 Million for Schools in France

Sen. Daniel K. Inouye said today that he had “made an error in judgment” and will ask Congress to rescind an $8-million appropriation he had won for construction of schools for North African Jews living in France.

But, speaking on the Senate floor, Inouye also defended his actions on behalf of the project and said he is “disappointed, hurt and angered by the accusation that I had supported the earmarking because of a $1,000 contribution to my reelection campaign.”

Inouye began his remarks by declaring: “I have made an error in judgment. I fear that I have embarrassed my colleagues. I intend to correct that error.”

He said he will “move as quickly as possible” in the Senate to have the appropriation rescinded. He said he has also asked Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.) “to place before the House a bill to rescind the $8 million.”

‘My Reputation ... My Honor’

Inouye said he was not aware of the $1,000 contribution and complained of criticism “that I sold my reputation and my honor for a thousand dollars.”

“Never before have I been accused of taking 30 pieces of silver,” he said.

Zev Wolfson, a New York real estate developer, gave Inouye a $1,000 campaign contribution--the maximum for an individual--for his last Senate race in 1986.

Wolfson sits on the board of Ozar Hatorah, the group that was slated to get the $8 million to build the schools in Paris. The Reagan Administration had opposed the money, which was included in the State Department’s budget for refugees.

Critics said that the North African Jews are not considered refugees by the American or the French government, that many have lived in France for over a decade and that many have prospered.

‘They Remain Refugees’

Inouye, however, insisted that “though many have been in France for years, they remain refugees, subject to abuse and discrimination and fearful of a rising tide of right-wing nationalism. They continue to seek refuge. They are refugees.”

“I continue to believe that what I have done is appropriate, but to fight the criticism and to prolong the controversy in order that I might win vindication, would risk a further loss of public confidence in the Senate,” Inouye said.

“It is not easy for me to withdraw from this fight,” Inouye said. “But to recognize that to continue, to place my colleagues and the Senate at risk in order to win personal vindication, would be an act of prideful arrogance,” he said.