U.S. Politics Stalls Aid for Mitch Victims

For the beleaguered victims of tropical storm Mitch, more U.S. relief is supposedly on the way to Central America--but the ball and chain of American politics is slowing it down.

Although a broad spectrum of Congress backs a package of disaster assistance totaling almost $1 billion--more than triple the amount Washington already has provided--the bill has become ensnarled in a thicket of side issues that could serve as a field guide to Capitol Hill’s hottest topics.

The budget surplus. Revenues from state tobacco settlements. Immigration policy. Farm policy. Those are just a few of the subjects that lawmakers are raising as they begin discussing and amending the bill carrying aid for the portions of Central America ravaged by the autumn storm.

It is not unusual for emergency spending measures to bog down in controversy or become laden with unrelated amendments. But this bill poses a particularly difficult political and budgetary challenge for Republicans.

Although President Clinton has argued that Congress does not need to find cuts in other spending to pay for the disaster aid because an emergency is involved, Republicans are under heavy self-imposed pressure to offset the cost. If they don’t, they will have to dip into the budget surplus to pay for the bill, and Republicans have made a high-profile promise to stop using these funds for anything except Social Security.

Clinton had hoped to have the aid nearly in hand for his visit to the region this week, but the measure has not even made it to the floor of the House or Senate. Clinton complained about the delay as he embarked on his trip but said he was glad that side issues, not the bill itself, were the problem.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with the merits” of the relief proposal, he said. “That’s encouraging.”

Aid to Honduras, Nicaragua and the other countries affected by the storm is of particular interest in California, home to many immigrants who have relatives in the affected areas. Some of those in Congress promoting the aid package have warned of an influx of illegal immigrants from Central America to California and other parts of the country if the region does not receive adequate assistance.

The House Appropriations Committee hopes to meet today to get the bill moving but must first settle disputes among Republicans about how to offset the costs of the emergency aid.

So far, the United States has contributed about $300 million in relief, including humanitarian assistance provided by U.S. troops in the immediate aftermath of the storm, which left at least 9,000 people dead.

But Clinton has said that more is needed and proposed an additional $956 million to help rebuild local infrastructure--including roads, schools, sanitation systems and farms--and to defer or forgive U.S. loans to affected countries. The Clinton administration had sought quick action on the disaster aid, saying that delays would pose significant risks to the region’s economic, agricultural and health needs.

“Funds must be provided swiftly to prevent the spread of disease, to buy seeds and plant crops in time for the spring planting season,” said Linda Ricci, spokeswoman for the White House Office of Management and Budget. “We must also demonstrate to Central Americans that they can find jobs and security in their own recovering economies.”

Committees in the House and Senate are preparing emergency appropriations bills that would provide the full amount requested by Clinton. The bills also include $100 million in aid to Jordan sought by Clinton. GOP leaders, meanwhile, added $152 million for U.S. farmers who have been hard hit by the collapse of some commodity prices.

When the Senate Appropriations Committee drafted its version of the emergency aid bill last week, it offset the cost of the package by cutting money for an an array of domestic programs, including welfare, food stamps and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Democrats have promised to fight those cuts when the bill comes to the Senate floor, saying it amounts to reducing aid to needy Americans to finance aid to needy foreigners.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) acknowledged that the bill has its public relations problems. “It doesn’t look very good, does it, to be cutting food stamps, needy families and immigration?” he said.

But Stevens contended that the programs he would cut to fund the emergency aid had been given more money than they needed this year.

The Senate committee also added a controversial amendment that would prohibit the federal government from getting a share of the revenues many states are collecting from settlements with tobacco companies. The White House, whose budget now assumes that the federal government will get $16 billion from tobacco settlements over five years, strongly opposes that provision.

On immigration policy, the Senate bill would give with one hand while taking away with another. It provides $80 million for detention centers housing illegal immigrants from Central America whose deportation has been postponed because of the disaster. But it cuts $65 million from enforcement and border affairs.

In the House, the Appropriations Committee initially planned to move the storm relief quickly. But it had to postpone a scheduled meeting on the bill last week to find spending cuts more politically palatable than the Senate’s plan.

Some Republicans, sensitive to complaints that they are holding up urgently needed aid, say Clinton should have sent the request to Congress sooner. Clinton called for more aid in a speech in December, but he did not submit the request until several weeks later.

Times staff writer James Gerstenzang contributed to this report from San Salvador.