Office of the Historian

151. Message From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Scowcroft) to Secretary of State Kissinger in Paris1

Washington, December 17, 1975, 2316Z.

Tohak 57/WH 52526. 1. We are working two angles at the present time on Angola. The first is to avoid a vote in the Senate today.2 Tonight is the Christmas Ball at the White House and the President will have a [Page 389] good opportunity to put the arm on key leaders. Calling the leaders in tomorrow is an open option, depending on the President’s soundings tonight.

2. We are also working with Mahon so that, if the Senate does act, he will try to bottle up the bill and prevent it coming to a vote in the House until Congress reconvenes.

3. The first option is obviously preferable and, at the moment, it looks good. Will keep you posted.

4. Warm regards.

  1. Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box CL 103, Geopolitical File, Angola Chronological File. Confidential; Eyes Only; Flash. Kissinger was in Paris to attend the Conference on International Economic Cooperation.↩
  2. Senator John Tunney (D–CA) attached an amendment to the 1976 Defense Appropriations bill (H.R. 9861) prohibiting the expenditure of funds for the civil war in Angola. The measure was approved December 19. (Congress and the Nation, Vol. IV, 1973–1976, p. 867)↩