President Reagan won a major boost for his Central American policy Wednesday when the House of Representatives approved $100 million in humanitarian and military aid to Nicaraguan rebel forces.
The aid, approved by a 221-209 vote in the Democratic-controlled House, would make it possible for the rebels, or contras, to increase active military attacks against the Sandinista-controlled Nicaraguan government, which Democrats warned would lead to the eventual involvement of U.S. forces in the region.
If the measure goes into effect, which is probable, it would be the first time the U.S. has openly given military support to a group seeking to overthrow a government with which this country is not at war.
Reagan won on the deeply divisive and emotional issue because of his personal persuasion and a conciliatory strategy by the administration and the Republican leadership.
Fifty-one Democrats voted with the administration, five more than supported the President when a similar measure was defeated by the House last March.
Republican floor leaders said after the vote that they had expected it to be close. Rep. George O`Brien (R., Ill.), who is seriously ill with cancer, was brought to the floor in a wheelchair to support the administration position.
”I believe in the contras and . . . I was honored that my team decided they needed my vote,” said O`Brien, who received a standing ovation when he pledged to support the key amendment.
Reagan met with several swing congressmen during the day and made telephone calls to key legislators from Air Force One en route to Las Vegas for a Senate campaign dinner in the hours before the vote.
”The thing was won on the aircraft,” said a White House official. ”At least five votes were changed from when we took off to when we landed.”
”We counted only 213 votes when we left Washington and knew we had 218 just before we landed,” said another official, who added that the President`s lobbying picked up eight to 10 votes in the last 48 hours.
At the dinner, Reagan said in a voice raspy from all the lobbying: ”It`s only Round 1. But oh, boy, what a round!”
He said the vote ”represents a giant bipartisan effort. We hope that our coalition will hold together for the rest of the votes tonight so we can get the freedom fighters in Nicaragua the assistance they need.”
To that, an aide commented: ”He lost his voice, but won the vote.”
After landing in Santa Barbara, Calif., Wednesday night, Reagan issued a statement that said the vote ”signals a step forward in bipartisan consensus in American foreign policy.”
”As we approach the celebration of our own independent state, we can be proud that we as a people have embraced the struggle of the freedom fighters of Nicaragua.”
The entire military construction bill, to which the contra aid is attached, was approved 249-174.
After Reagan spoke in Las Vegas, the House voted 225-198 against an amendment that would have stopped all contra aid until a full accounting was made of $27 million appropriated for the contras earlier. Rep. Michael Barnes (D., Md.) chairs a subcommittee that is investigating reported misuse of that aid and was chief sponsor of the amendment. Some Democrats who voted for Reagan`s package also voted for Barnes` amendment.
One of the Democrats who voted for the Reagan package, Rep. Wes Watkins
(D., Okla.), said he met with Reagan at the White House Wednesday morning and listened to his pitch.
”I haven`t made up my mind yet,” Watkins said in an interview just minutes before the vote. But he joined 50 of his Democratic colleagues and gave Reagan a resounding victory.
The House vote would give the contras $30 million in humanitarian aid and $70 million in military assistance that includes funds for the purchase of both light and heavy weapons.
It also would allow U.S. personnel to train contras in Central America and would provide $300 million in economic aid to friendly countries in the region.
However, by a 215-212 vote, the House approved an amendment by Rep. Robert Mrazek (D., N.Y.) that prohibits U.S. personnel from entering any area in Honduras or Costa Rica within 20 miles of the Nicaraguan border for the purpose of providing training or other assistance to the contras.
The contra aid plan, sponsored by Reps. Ike Skelton (D., Mo.) and Mickey Edwards (R., Okla.), would be delivered in three payments: $40 million immediately, $20 million more on Oct. 15 and the final $40 million next Feb. 15.
Until Sept. 1, however, the money can be used for humanitarian aid only.
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The measure will have to be voted on by the Republican-controlled Senate, which earlier approved a different bill giving the contras military and humanitarian aid, but it is expected to meet little opposition there.
Nicaragua`s ambassador in Washington, Carlos Tunnermann, said the House vote ”moves the U.S. closer to the ultimate military solution–that is the deployment of U.S. armed forces to the region.”
House Minority Leader Rep. Robert Michel (R., Ill.) praised the President`s leadership and the bipartisan nature of the vote.
”I just know we did the right thing for the long haul,” Michel said at a press conference.
Reagan postponed a scheduled trip to California for one day in order to make a televised address Tuesday aimed specifically at House members considered to hold swing votes.
All but two of those swing votes went with the administration, including Rep. Les Aspin (D., Wis.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
In the last year, contra military activity has been minimal, which the leadership has blamed partly on the lack of sufficient funding.
After a series of dramatic attacks last August, contra raids have been limited to isolated attacks on remote farming cooperatives and power stations. None has had a significant military or economic impact on Nicaragua.
In addition, the contras have been forced to withdraw at least 2,000 men from inside Nicaragua, where they had been carrying out raids far from the country`s northern border with Honduras. The rebels estimate their strength at 15,000 to 18,000 men, but Sandinista officials and contra critics doubt they have more than 10,000.
Adolfo Calero, one of the three leaders of the contra umbrella group known as the United Nicaraguan Opposition, welcomed the result of the vote.
”It (the vote) is the best investment this country has made in this kind of situation,” he said.
He said that the new military aid eventually would be used to buy artillery, something that he predicted eventually would enable the contras to take and hold territory inside Nicaragua.
In arguing against further aid, Rep. Leon Panetta (D., Calif.) said the contras have failed to make any significant inroads using U.S. money already received.
The last time the administration measure failed, at least in part, because Reagan took a hard line and accused people who voted against his proposal of being traitors.
But Michel took a much softer line this time.
He appealed specifically to younger House members by asking them not to make a decision now that they would not be able to live with in the future.