House Passes Foreign Aid By Widest Margin Ever

Abstract

I na resounding vote of support for Israel and the peace process, the House of Rep­ resentatives approved aid to Israel and the overall foreign operations appropriations bill by an overwhelming margin of 337-87. (See complete list on pp. 102-103). The measure received strong bipartisan sup­ port, with 225 Democrats and 112 Republi­ cans voting for the bill. Only 25 Democrats and 61 Republicans opposed it. The large' freshman class of 1992 continued to back foreign aid, with 98 out of 114 voting in favor of the legislation. The bill contains 3billionineconomicandmilitaryassistanceforIsrael,3 billion in economic and military assistance for Israel, 2.1 billion for Egypt, and 78millionfortheWestBankandGaza.Pro−Israelprovisionsinthebillinclude78 million for the West Bank and Gaza. Pro-Israel provisions in the bill include 80 million for refugee resettlement in Israel, $17 million for development projects that utilize Israeli expertise, and enhanced authority to provide Israel with surplus U.S. military equipment. The bill also conditions aid to the PLO on Arafat's willingness to honor the commit­ ments he made to renounce terrorism and seek peaceful political change. If the Presi­ dent cannot certify that Arafat has kept these commitments, assistance would be cut off.