397. Letter From Secretary of State Shultz to Representative Mickey Edwards1
I am pleased to state my strong support for the Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs Appropriations Bill, 1989, as reported by the Foreign Operations subcommittee on May 5.2 For the first time during my tenure as Secretary of State the majority and minority of the House Foreign Operations subcommittee have reached agreement on a bill that is acceptable to the Administration. It truly represents a bipartisan approach to foreign assistance and I support its adoption by the full Appropriations Committee and its ultimate passage by the House.
Although the bill does not meet all of the Administration’s needs, which we will continue to pursue during Senate consideration, it reflects an acceptable compromise between competing interests and recognizes our commitments to friends and allies abroad. As a whole, the bill strikes a reasonable balance between our economic and security assistance programs and substantially provides the funds that are a key element in the successful conduct of our foreign policy.
This appropriations bill is extremely important to me, and I commend you and Dave Obey for the constructive role you played in the drafting of this legislation. I stand ready to assist in the effort toward House passage of the subcommittee bill without modification.
Sincerely yours,
- Source: Reagan Library, Alison Fortier Files, Subject File, Foreign Aid FY 1988. No classification marking.↩
- In a May 6 memorandum to Shultz, J. Edward Fox provided an explanation and breakdown of the bill. The memorandum is in the Reagan Library, Alison Fortier Files, Subject File, Foreign Assistance.↩