May 12, 1999
Washington (AP) - Weeks after the Clinton administration said U.S. food and medical items could be sold to three terrorist nations, lawmakers are looking to further ease economic sanctions. Senate Agriculture Chairman Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said the amount of activity under way in Congress to further relax sanctions will likely ''lead to some degree of success.''
''Billions of dollars in sales and income have been lost. Thousands of jobs in our farm economy have been sacrificed,'' said Lugar, sponsor of a measure to exempt commercial farm exports from sanctions unless otherwise determined by the president. ''In some instances, the sanctioned countries represented major markets for U.S. agricultural products,'' Lugar said at a Senate hearing Tuesday.
In a decision praised by lawmakers in both parties, President Clinton last month eased sanctions on the sale of food and medical items to Iran, Libya and Sudan.
Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said the United States was losing about $500 million in sales each year because of the sanctions - about 1% of total U.S. exports. ''It is a good first step,'' said Sen. John Ashcroft, R-Mo. ''But I think Congress and the administration need to use their combined authority to lift further most of the remaining restrictions on our farmers and ranchers.''
Undersecretary of State Stuart E. Eizenstat said he sensed ''a change in attitude in Congress with respect to sanctions.'' But Eizenstat said the administration wants to be careful to ensure that makers of industrial goods and other nonfarm products also benefit from any further relaxation of sanctions. ''We have to consider that as well as the precise details before we can make a specific endorsement,'' Eizenstat said of pending legislative proposals.
