House Approves Panel To Investigate Iranian Arms Shipments

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, May 9) -- In a near party-line vote, the House has voted 224-187 to establish a panel to investigate why the Clinton Administration condoned Iranian arms shipments to the Bosnian government at a time the United Nations had banned such transfers.

Last month, a Clinton official acknowledged that because the administration "felt sympathy for the Muslims," nothing was done to stop what was a known violation of the U.N. embargo. Nothing obligated the U.S. to do so either, the administration has pointed out.

Republicans aren't satisfied. They say Congress must find out whether the White House was "secretly giving a green light to the arming of the Bosnians by one of the most horrendous enemies of the American people," as Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Belart (R-Fla.) put it to the Associated Press.

Led by Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), an eight-member panel (five Republicans and three Democrats) will receive $995,000 to study the issue over six months.

Democrats are fuming the committee will issue its final report about a week before the Nov. 5 presidential election. "This select committee is not only completely unnecessary but also completely political." Rep. Martin Frost (D-Texas) groused to AP, saying it amounts to "$1 million of work for the Dole presidential campaign."

House Approves Panel To Investigate Iranian Arms Shipments

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