Nation : Senate Democrats Win Quick OK on $1.3-Billion Poland, Hungary Aid

Senate Democrats won rapid approval for their $1.3-billion aid plan for Poland and Hungary in committee today after Republicans accused them of forcing a confrontation with President Bush that could wreck U.S. aid for the two countries.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the aid 10 to 1 only a day after the Democrats announced it and sent it on to the full Senate for action.

Democrats led by Assistant Majority Leader Alan Cranston of California accused Bush of timidity and said his request for only about $219 million for Poland and Hungary failed to seize an opportunity to encourage democratic change in the two countries.

“We are in a race against time,” Cranston said. “ . . . We have to seize this opportunity.”

But Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), once the committee’s chairman, accused the Democrats of forcing “a deliberate confrontation with the President” that would delay if not jeopardize any U.S. aid for Poland and Hungary.