Democrats Charge Republicans with
Election-Year Taxpayer 'Ripoff'
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — After bitter partisan debate, the House approved Wednesday a $995,000 election-year investigation of the Clinton administration's go-ahead for 1994 Iran arms shipments to Bosnia. The Republican-led House by a vote of 224-187 created a select subcommittee to conduct the six-month investigation and then approved $995,000 for it by a vote of 225-203.Democrats accused the Republicans of wasting taxpayer money for the investigation in an effort to embarrass President Clinton politically but Republicans said Congress must investigate possible wrongdoing. "At issue today is the legitimate suspicion of wrongdoing on the part of the administration, wrongdoing that could threaten the lives of our young men and women serving overseas," House Republican Leader Dick Armey told the House.
Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia called the investigation a "$1 million ripoff."
Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, the Republicans' near-certain challenger to Clinton in the November election, has ordered a similar investigation in the Senate.
The administration has acknowledged it decided not to object to the Iranian shipments, saying it feared for the Muslim-led Bosnian government's survival at the time if it did not get the weapons to oppose superior Bosnian Serb forces. But Republicans accused the administration of duplicity in allowing the deliveries while also supporting a U.N. embargo against such shipments and of giving Iran a foothold in Bosnia that could threaten U.S. peacekeeping troops now based there.
"We had a policy of looking the other way while the most terrorist nation on earth was getting a foothold," Rep. Henry Hyde, an Illinois Republican who will chair the select subcommittee, told the House. Earlier, the House International Relations Committee voted at a raucous session for possible subpoenas for two diplomats involved in the affair. The vote was 22-1 to authorize Chairman Benjamin Gilman, a New York Republican, to issue the subpoenas if necessary to force Charles Redman, who was chief U.S. Balkans negotiator at the time, and U.S. Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith to give testimony.
State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns denied that the department had attempted to keep the two from testifying. "There's really no need to issue a subpoena here," Burns told a news briefing. "If the House International Relations Committee wishes to talk to them, they will be there." WASHINGTON (Reuters) — After bitter partisan debate, the House approved Wednesday a $995,000 election-year investigation of the Clinton administration's go-ahead for 1994 Iran arms shipments to Bosnia. The Republican-led House by a vote of 224-187 created a select subcommittee to conduct the six-month investigation and then approved $995,000 for it by a vote of 225-203.
Democrats accused the Republicans of wasting taxpayer money for the investigation in an effort to embarrass President Clinton politically but Republicans said Congress must investigate possible wrongdoing. "At issue today is the legitimate suspicion of wrongdoing on the part of the administration, wrongdoing that could threaten the lives of our young men and women serving overseas," House Republican Leader Dick Armey told the House.
Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia called the investigation a "$1 million ripoff."
Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, the Republicans' near-certain challenger to Clinton in the November election, has ordered a similar investigation in the Senate.
The administration has acknowledged it decided not to object to the Iranian shipments, saying it feared for the Muslim-led Bosnian government's survival at the time if it did not get the weapons to oppose superior Bosnian Serb forces. But Republicans accused the administration of duplicity in allowing the deliveries while also supporting a U.N. embargo against such shipments and of giving Iran a foothold in Bosnia that could threaten U.S. peacekeeping troops now based there.
"We had a policy of looking the other way while the most terrorist nation on earth was getting a foothold," Rep. Henry Hyde, an Illinois Republican who will chair the select subcommittee, told the House. Earlier, the House International Relations Committee voted at a raucous session for possible subpoenas for two diplomats involved in the affair. The vote was 22-1 to authorize Chairman Benjamin Gilman, a New York Republican, to issue the subpoenas if necessary to force Charles Redman, who was chief U.S. Balkans negotiator at the time, and U.S. Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith to give testimony.
State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns denied that the department had attempted to keep the two from testifying. "There's really no need to issue a subpoena here," Burns told a news briefing. "If the House International Relations Committee wishes to talk to them, they will be there."
May 3 · U.S. House to Investigate Iran-Bosnia Arms Deal
Apr 25 · House to Probe Iran Arms Deal
Apr 24 · White House Defends Silence on Iran Arms Issue
Apr 16 · Republicans Challenge Clinton's Arms Nod
Apr 12 · Croatia Would Block More Iranian Arms to Bosnia
Apr 10 · Clinton: U.S. Did Nothing Wrong in Iran Arms Aid to Bosnia
Apr 9 · Iran Says it Supplied Humanitarian Aid to Bosnia
Apr 6 · Paper says Clinton Gave Nod to Covert Arms
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