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Friday, April 14, 1978
University Dally Kansan
Canal treaties threatened by amendment
WASHINGTON (UPI)—Some liberal Democrats showed signs yesterday of abandoning support for the Panama Canal treaties in sympathy with Panama's distress over a U.S. security rights amendment.
As Senate leaders worked behind the scenes on the amendment crisis, another liberal Democrat, James Aboureux of South Dakota, also threatened to abandon the treaties as a means of opposing President Obama's Carter's stand on unrelated energy issues.
"Everybody else has been blackmailed the president on the treaty, why shouldn't we?" an aide to Abouzeck said.
The object of the budding liberal revolt was a beaked reaction to the reservation
already attached to the first of the two canal treaties, known as the Neutrality Treaty, by Sen. Dennis Concini, D-Ariz.
IT SAYS THAT the United States reserves the right to use military force to keep the canal open and operating even after Panama takes control of the waterway in 1999 and if the threat is posed by strikes or work stoppages by Panamanians.
Panama has made clear that it regarded that reservation as an insult and a search for justification for intrusion into its internal affairs. State Department and Senate leaders have been searching for a way to mobilize the Panamanian government to keep out of other borderline senators in Tuesday's ratification vote on the main canal treaty.
denounced the DeConcini reservation as a political and diplomatic disaster.
Sen. George McGovern, D-S.D.,
HE SAID HE retained only "a glimmer of hope" that the issue could be resolved satisfactorily by some compromise written by the Democratic leaders and suggested that Senate does not come about before might ask the Senate not to vote on the second treaty at all.
Sen. Daniel Moyhain, D-N.Y., also decried the Senate's action in adopting the DeConcilio reservation, which it did just before it ratified the neutrality pact in March.
yesterday afternoon in Senate Democratic leader Robert Byrd's office in an attempt to work out some way of taking the sting out of his incarceration without losing DeConcini.
Those senators, including Aboreux,
voted in favor of the first treaty. It was
passed without阻力.
Pro-treaty strategists, meanwhile, met
SOURCES SAID that the Democratic leaders were trying to draft an amendment or an understanding, to be attached to the second canal treaty, that would restrain America's pledge not to intervene in Panama's domestic affair. The goal was to prevent a major impact of the DeConciln reservation without actually withdrawing or changing it.
The sources said Sens, Frank Church, D-Idaho, and Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., were supervising the drafting and were in frequent telephone contact with DeConcili.
Sen. Alan Cranston, assistant Democratic
Embittered leaders of the American Agriculture farm strike movement, vowing to continue their campaign for higher prices, issued a series of statements, including one that threatened lawsuits against the congressional investigators who voted against the emergency bill.
The bill, which won senator approval 49-41
Monday after the 2016-1850 House
Wednesday.
Farmers looking for compromise
WASHINGTON (UP1) - Farm spokesman tried yesterday to salvage some form of compromise price support aid for farmers after the House rejected an emergency
leader, said, however, that he did not expect a resolution to emerge until early next week.
Other farm spokesmen, however, were talking about picking up the pieces.
Amendments may be offered to that resolution as well, however.
The Senate is to begin debate on the final resolution of ratification Monday.
THE SENATE also cleared its work on proposed text treat amendments. Among the issues, they said the anti-treat amendment that would have required Panama to hold a second plebiscite
rushing for prompt Senate passage, Dole said he would ask the Senate Agriculture Committee to approve the bill next Wednesday.
Sen. Robert Dole, R-Kan., author of the production cutback and income support sections of the rejected bill, moved yesterday to revive the only section of the tax code that was enacted, dicated he would accept—an increase in the 1978 support target price for wheat.
They would presumably include a second reservation that DeConciln is planning on U.S. defense rights and, preferably, whatever other provisions, devise by way of reassurance to Panama.
Bob Borgland, secretary of agriculture,
said March 29 that the administration
favored an increase to $3.40 or $3.50, but
later rejected an increase to $3.40
and be able to acceptable.
Gleen Moore of Willard, Mont., president of the National Association of Wheat Growers, said, "We're going to continue to sell our crops, acceptable bill that improves farm income."
Gene Schroder, a spokesman for the farm movement, whose demonstrations, parades and mass lobbying ended in failure when the House, rejected the farm bill, said movement leaders had agreed to maintain their lobby office in Washington.
and increase crop support loan rates for wheat and corn.
Administration officials said Bergland and his aides were expected to begin discussions on how to move their proposed plans in the wheat target price through Congress.
Sen. Dick Clark, D-Iowa, introduced another bill that would increase the minimum wage and cotton
Schroder also said farm movement members would work for the defeat in November's elections of the congressmen who voted against their bill and would keep urging farmers to cut production 50 percent this year.
Dale introduced a bill to boost the scheduled target price of $3 to $9.
Congress would act separately on each part of the package, but administration officials have said that if any element is included, the entire proposal would be withdrawn.
Although the planned sales were made public two months ago, the administration held off sending formal notification to Congress until the completion of the Senate confirmation for Panama Canal basinades. The final vote on the second treaty is scheduled for Tuesday.
The State Department's position on the weapons proposal is that it is "consistent with the president's policy of restraint on arms transfers, which states that the U.S. will use such transfers to promote our security and that of our close friends."
If the administration refuses to alter the proposal, which also includes jet fighters for Israel, resolutions designed to block the war will be offered in the House and Senate.
Carter pushes for fighter sales in Middle East
The administration has notified key members of Congress that its formal proposal for the weapons sales will go to Congress April 26.
WASHINGTON (AP)—The Carter administration is determined to sell jet fighters to Egypt and Saudi Arabia despite widespread opposition in Congress and within the American Jewish community, Capitol Hill sources say.
But unless both chambers adopt such resolutions within 30 days of receiving Carter's notification, the sales would go through automatically.
Vance and David Owen, the British foreign secretary, will meet in Tanzania today with Nkomo and Mugabe and also with representatives of Tanzania, Angola, Mozambique, Botswana and Zambia, the five black countries that support the demand by Nkomo and Mugabe that they take over the Rhodesian government.
they say the odds are enormous against Vance's succeeding in setting up a conference involving Smith, guerrilla leaders Joshua Mkono and Robert Mugabe and the African National Congress Abd Marouz Guebi, the Rev. Ndaba-baihi Sihoko and Chef Jerichau Mierah曹.
That is the assessment of U.S. policy makers, who are convinced that the interim government installed in Salisbury is little different than a sham to perpetuate white minority rule.
the alternative of the uphill U.S. diplomatic effort is civil war between the militant Patriotic Front and the followers of moderate black leaders who have come to terms with Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith.
Outlook dim for meeting in Rhodesia
MADRID (AP)—Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance is flying to Africa with little hope of bringing black guerrilla leaders into a conference on Rhodesia's future.
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