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from The Conservative Caucus

National Headquarters nil Leesburg Pike Falls Church, Virginia 22043 (703) 893-1550 Project Office 47 West Street , 02111 (617) 426-7188 For further information, please contact Larry Woldt (703) 893-1550

FOR RELEASE TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 1979 A.M.

CONSERVATIVE SURVEY SHOWS MOST CONGRESSMEN PLAN TO OPPOSE PANAMA

CANAL TREATY IMPLEMENTATION FUNDS

According to a survey of Congressmen conducted by The Conservative

Caucus, President Carter faces an uphill fight in winning House backing for more than three billion dollars in aid which Administration officials have promised the Panamanian government, in connection with the treaties concerning the Panama Canal and Zone which were ratified last year by the U.S. Senate.

Howard Phillips, National Director of The Conservative Caucus, a

300,000 member non-partisan lobby which has organized grass roots opposition to the canal treaties, reported that, "Of the 144 Congressional offices responding to our survey, 102 indicated that the Congressman was firmly opposed to treaty implementation legislation which would provide payments from the U.S. Treasury to the Panamanian government. By contrast, only 42 Congressmen were willing to express support for either the legislation endorsed by the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee or that proposed by the Carter Administration, both of which would use taxpayer funds to -underwrite the transfer of the Canal and Zone to Panama."

"The two contrasting approaches to treaty implementation are embodied in legislation being supported, alternatively, by Idaho Congressman George Hansen (H.R. 1958) and that approved by a 21-17 vote on April 3 in the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee," Phillips said.

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"Under the Hansen bill," Phillips said, "the expense of treaty implementation would be limited to an estimated $744 million to be supplied by Canal users and tollpayers. Taxpayers would bear no direct burden, but would be indirectly affected through increases in consumer prices for goods which pass through the Panama

Canal."

"On the other hand," Phillips estimated, "the cost of the Committee version would be in excess of three billion dollars, to be derived from roughly $1.8 billion in U.S. Treasury expenditures and more than $1.4 billion in indirect additional costs, resulting from the $744 million increase in tolls and an estimated $724 million operational deficit that will have to be paid in additional toll increases or Treasury expenditures."

- 30 - 102 Congressmen who are reported to oppose the use of Federal funds to finance the Panama Canal treaties.

ALABAMA LOUISIANA Tom Bevill (D) Claude Leach (D) Bill Nichols (D) Henson Moore (R)

ALASKA MAINE Don Young (R) Olympia Snowe (R)

ARIZONA John Rhodes (R) Clarence Long (D) (R) (D) MICHIGAN Guy Vander Jagt (R) CALIFORNIA Robert Badham (R) MINNESOTA Don Clausen (R) Arlan Stangland (R) Bill Dannemeyer (R) Robert Doman (R) MISSISSIPPI R. Lagomarsino (R) Jon Hinson (R) Dan Lungren (R) Trent Lott (R) John Rousselot (R) G.V. Montgomery (D) Norman Shumway (R) William Thomas (R) MISSOURI Charles Wilson (D) Richard Ichord (D) Robert Wilson (R) (D) Gene Taylor (R) Ken Kramer (R) MONTANA Ron Marlenee (R) FLORIDA L.A. Bafalis (R) NEBRASKA Andy Ireland (D) Virginia Smith (R) Richard Kelly (R) Bill Nelson (D) NEW JERSEY C.W. Young (R) Matthew Rinaldo (R)

GEORGIA NEW MEXICO Larry McDonald (D) Manuel Lujan (R)

IDAHO Steven Symms (R) William Carney (R) (R) Robert McEwen (R) Tom Corcoran (R) Donald Mitchell (R) Daniel Crane (R) (R) Philip Crane (R) Samuel Stratton (D) (R) Leo Zeferetti (D) Edward Madigan (R) NORTH CAROLINA INDIANA Charles Rose (^D) John Myers (R) IOWA Douglas Applegate (D) James Leach (R) John Ashbrook (R) Thomas Tauke (R) Thomas Kindness (R) Thomas Luken (D) KANSAS Clarence Miller (R) Jim Jeffries (R) Ron Mottl (D) Keith Sebelius (R) Chalmers Wylie (R) Bob Whittaker (R) Larry Winn (R) OKLAHOMA Wes Watkins (D) KENTUCKY Larry Hopkins (R) Gene Snyder (R) PENNSYLVANIA TEXAS Joseph McDade (R) WTTTiam Archer (R) Don Ritter (R) James Collins (R) Richard Schulze (R) Jack Hightower (D) Bud Shuster (R) Marvin Leath (D) Robert Walker (R) Tom Loeffler (R) Ron Paul (R) RHODE ISLAND (D) Fernand St. Germain (D) Richard White (D) Charles Wilson (D) SOUTH CAROLINA Joe Wyatt (D) Carroll Campbell (R) Mendel Davis (D) VIRGINIA (R) Dan Daniel (D) J, Kenneth Robinson (R) SOUTH DAKOTA William Wampler (R) James Abnor (R) G. William Whitehurst (R)

TENNESSEE WEST VIRGINIA John Duncan (R) Harley Staggers (D) Ed Jones (D) James Quillen (R) Toby Roth (R) James Sensenbrenner (R)

WYOMING Richard Cheney (R) 42 Congressmen expressing support for either the Panama Canal implementation legislation endorsed by the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee or that proposed by the Carter'Administration, both of ■which approaches would cost in excess of $3 billion.

ARIZONA MINNESOTA Morris Udall (D) Martin Sabo (D) Bruce Vento (D) CALIFORNIA L. Van Deerlin (D) NEW JERSEY Ronald Dellums (D) Peter Rodino (D) Julian Dixon (D) Paul McCloskey (R) NEW YORK George Miller (D) Jonathan Bingham (D) Carlos Moorhead (R) (D) Edward Roybal (D) (D) Fortney Stark (D) Stanley Lundine (D) Henry Waxman (D) (D) (D) COLORADO James Scheuer (D) (D) (D) (D) FLORIDA NORTH CAROLINA William Lehman (D) R. Preyer (D) Edward Stack (D) OREGON ILLINOIS A1 Ullman (D) (D) (D) PENNSYLVANIA Doug Walgren (D) INDIANA Elwood Hillis (R) SOUTH DAKOTA Thomas Daschle (D) MASSACHUSETTS Joe Moakley (D) WASHINGTON James Shannon (D) Michael Lowry (D) Gerry E. Studds (D) Joel Pritchard (R)

MICHIGAN WISCONSIN Bob Carr (D) Rob Kastenmeier (D) John Conyers (D) Clement Zablocki (D) Howard Wolpe (D)