Plan to Lift Angola Secrecy Veil Rejected : Africa: The House says no to Dellums amendment to bring covert U.S. military aid into the open.

WASHINGTON —  The House on Wednesday rejected a Democratic-led effort to bring covert military aid to Angola into the open, amid complaints that the funds would be halted altogether if whites, rather than blacks, were being wounded and killed in the African civil war.

House members voted 246 to 175 to defeat a proposal by California Rep. Ronald V. Dellums (D-Berkeley) that would have lifted the veil of secrecy surrounding the Angola aid program. Voting with Dellums were 170 Democrats and four Republicans, while 168 Republicans and 78 Democrats voted against the proposed amendment to the House intelligence authorization bill for 1991.

Approved by a voice vote late Wednesday, the $29-billion funding measure now goes to a House-Senate conference to iron out differences.

A similar anti-secrecy amendment was defeated four years ago by about the same margin, suggesting that the end of the Cold War has done little to change fundamental views in the House on the Angolan conflict. Moscow has been backing Angola’s government for 15 years, while Washington has supported the rebels for five years.

Dellums’ amendment was viewed as an effort not only to bring the Angolan aid program “out of the closet” for open debate and decision, but also as an attempt to kill the aid program, reported to total $60 million this year. The actual funding amount was not discussed in open floor debate.

Some influential Democrats, such as former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.), endorsed the anti-secrecy amendment while supporting continued aid for the rebels. He noted that the Angolan government has a huge stockpile of Soviet arms and continues to dodge efforts to reach a cease-fire and schedule free elections.

Supporters of continued Angolan aid argued that, in the words of one lawmaker, “now is not the time” to cut off aid, citing the ongoing Cuban withdrawal from Angola.

Illinois Rep. Henry J. Hyde, who led Republicans opposing the amendment, said Soviet military aid to Angola remains substantial. Soviet assistance totaled $800 million last year and has topped $500 million so far this year, he said.

Dellums and California Rep. Mervyn M. Dymally (D-Compton), his amendment co-sponsor, focused on the civil war’s human toll. About 341,000 people have died or been wounded, Dellums said, including 55,000 children.

“Funding for the rebels is a Cold War anachronism,” declared Dellums, who grew angry when he said he saw Republicans smiling at his pleas to “save the children.”

“This is no laughing matter,” he chided. “Putting on my other hat as head of the (Congressional) Black Caucus, let me say that we would not tolerate this” if white children were dying.

Dymally echoed this view. “If you are an Afro-American, you look around the world with (leaders) shuttling back and forth to bring peace to Europe, peace to Asia, peace to Latin America, but not to Africa, (although) thousands of Africans are dying and being maimed” in Angola, he said.

Another amendment that would halt aid to Angola if President Bush certifies that the Angolan government had made satisfactory progress toward a peaceful resolution was approved 213 to 200.

The Angola debate came as the House considered a measure said to authorize $29 billion for all intelligence activities in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. The bill’s most controversial provisions involve Administration requests for $300 million in covert military aid for Afghanistan, $60 million for Angola and $12 million for Cambodia.

The Senate has approved a measure containing $200 million in covert funds for Afghanistan and none for Cambodia, while allowing the full $60 million for Angola.