Will any of the equipment which is provided under this program be lethal? Ambassador Sayre: Appropriate anti-terrorist equipment would include airport security equipment (metal detectors, x-ray machines), bomb disposal equipment, and communications equipment for crisis manage ment teams. We are not yet in a position to provide precise estimates on how much of the $5 million will be used for provision of equipment but we expect it to run in the general area of ten percent. No lethal equipment will be provided under this program. Senator Inouye: You note the established linkages between many terrorist groups. How will the program you are proposing disrupt or control these linkages? Ambassador Sayre: Terrorism is both a national and an international problem. Our program will first of all assist countries in combatting terrorism within their own borders. However, another major objective of the program is to improve cooperation with our friends and allies on combatting terrorism. We believe that training foreign law enforcement officers at the FBI, Treasury and other training schools in the United States will help considerably in improving the linkages among law enforcement officers. The training program is intended to improve the techniques and capabilities of law enforcement officers for dealing with terrorism problems. We believe that improved international cooperation against terrorism and better techniques for dealing with the problem will not only disrupt terrorist organizations within countries but will enable the international community to effectively work against the established linkages between terrorist groups. Senator Inouye: Will your program be associated with INTERPOL? What anti-terrorist programs are currently being conducted under INTERPOL's auspices? Ambassador Sayre: INTERPOL does not deal with international terrorism and, therefore, our program will not be associated with INTERPOL. Senator Inouye: Have recent arrests of Red Brigade members in Italy brought about any reduction in the incidence of terrorism? Ambassador Sayre: It appears that recent arrests of Red Brigade terrorists has brought about a significant reduction in the incidence of terrorism in Italy. Senator Inouye: You have said that the United States is "taking unilateral policy steps against nations which support or abet terrorism. Libya is current example." a What actions is the United States taking against Libya? Are we increasing security of US diplomatic missions because of threats from Libya? Ambassador Sayre: Prior to 1982, the US closed its Embassy in Libya and required the closing of the Libyan Embassy in Washington. In March, 1982, after consultations with Congress, President Reagan announced that the US would henceforth prohibit imports of Libyan crude oil into the United States and ban selected exports of US-origin items to Libya. The export regulations require US exporters to obtain licenses for all exports to Libya, except for food and medical supplies. Export licenses are not being approved for the sale of military equipment, wide-bodied aircraft, certain types of petroleum equipment and items such as sophisticated computers which have dual civilianmilitary applications. Regarding the protection of US embassies, thanks to Congressional approval of funds, the State Department is undertaking major security improvements at 70 of our most threatened diplomatic missions and security enhancement measures at an additional 55 posts. These measures are being taken as a result of threats from many sources, not only Libya. Senator Inouye: In your prepared remarks, I find the following statement: "States with diverse forms of Governments, in all parts of the world, should share a common interest in eliminating terrorism by taking concrete steps to attain common goals." This strikes me as a laudable goal, but one which ignores the realities of contemporary international politics. Would the United States regard an airplane hijacking by a citizen of Poland wishing to flee to the West as a terrorist incident? I think the United States and Polish authorities might well have antithetical goals in this instance. Do you not agree? Ambassador Sayre: The United States regards any terrorist act as criminal despite the political motivation involved. Aircraft hijacking is certainly a terrorist act regardless of who commits it. In 1978, the US joined with the Governments of Canada, the United Kingdom, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy and Japan to sign the Bonn Dec 16-524 0-83-15 laration. In essence the Declaration states that any nation which does not prosecute or extradite hijackers in its territory will face the termination of air service by the seven nations. It does not specify what sentence a hijacker must receive but it does require that he be tried under the laws of the apprehending nation or be extradited. In fact, several cases have occurred of Polish citizens hijacking Polish civil airliners to the German Federal Republic. Authorities there have, in accordance with the Bonn Declaration, tried the hijackers who were subsequently convicted and given prison terms. SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS Ambassador SAYRE. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate your help and cooperation, and we will respond as promptly as we can. Thank you very much. Senator KASTEN. The hearing is adjourned. [Whereupon, at 12:25 p.m., Tuesday, March 1, the subcommittee was recessed to reconvene at the call of the Chair.] FOREIGN ASSISTANCE AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 1984 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 1983 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 2 p.m., in room S-126, the Capitol, Hon. Robert W. Kasten, Jr. (chairman), presiding. Present. Senators Kasten and Specter. PEACE CORPS STATEMENT OF LORET MILLER RUPPE, DIRECTOR, PEACE CORPS ED CURRAN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, PEACE CORPS TOM WILSON, ACTING DIRECTOR OF BUDGET AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR KASTEN Senator KASTEN. The subcommittee will come to order. This afternoon we will continue our fiscal year 1984 hearings with testimony in support of the budget requests for the Peace Corps and the Inter-American Foundation, two organizations that have enjoyed a great deal of support in Congress. Last year we were successful in maintaining a level of funding for these organizations that allowed them to continue their success. That was difficult, with the budget constraints we were facing, but I am pleased we were able to end that process as successfully as we did. We will try in fiscal year 1984 to strike a balance once more between budgetary constraints and the need and real value of these programs. Ms. Ruppe, your statement will be inserted in the record in full. We would appreciate it if you could summarize your statement so that ample time will be left for questions. Once more, I appreciate having you here today, and I thank you for the work you have done. BUDGET REQUEST Ms. RUPPE. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I would like to take this oppportunity to introduce my Deputy Director, Ed Curran, and Tom Wilson, who is our Acting Director of Budget and Financial Management. Mr. Chairman, members of the subcommittee, it is a pleasure to appear before you this morning in support of the administration's request that you appropriate $108,500,000 for the Peace Corps for fiscal year 1984. PEACE CORPS EFFORTS IN 1982 You have stated that the full statement will go into the record, so I will just summarize a few items. I am glad to report that the Peace Corps' 5,000 volunteers serving in 62 countries have had a very productive year. Many of the projects they have been involved in over the past year are listed in my complete statement-agriculture, rural development, renewable energy, appropriate technology, construction of small dams, health, education, community health, village sanitation. These efforts have truly left an impressive record in the developing countries around the world. I recently returned from Asia, where I visited Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, and in each country top governmental officials as well as local leaders were most appreciative and felt that the volunteers were truly helping their development efforts and were a positive line of communication with the United States. In the Philippines we were awarded the highest award given by that country. The Golden Heart Award was presented to the Peace Corps and to the 6,000 Americans who have served in the Philippines as Peace Corps volunteers throughout the past 20 years. FORWARD PLAN INITIATIVES Since the Peace Corps was reestablished as an independent agency in February 1982 we have completed our reorganization. We have formulated several major initiatives addressing training, management, overseas programing, private sector development, increased public sector awareness of the Peace Corps, strengthening volunteer recruitment, expanding collaborative efforts with other Federal agencies and private voluntary organizations, and increasing volunteer assistance in the food and energy areas. This package of initiatives we call our "Forward Plan," and I am happy to report that some of the 3-year goals have been reached already, and the others are on track. In our endeavors to promote economic development and self-sustained productive capacity, as envisioned in our forward plan, we have initiated and expanded special projects in all three regions and will add several inservice training programs. FISCAL 1984 PROJECTS New projects for fiscal year 1984 in all three regions will increasingly emphasize food production for consumption and income; promote management and marketing skills of rural farmers; and further energy and water system projects enabling poor rural communities to administer their own water and energy resources and to maintain them after our Peace Corps volunteers are gone. |