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To: willcousa who wrote (38826)	10/26/2000 12:54:40 PM
From: Kirk ©	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Gilman Calls for Russia-Iran Papers dailynews.yahoo.com Thursday October 26 12:21 PM ET Gilman Calls for Russia-Iran Papers By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The chairman of the House International Relations Committee called on the Clinton administration Thursday to show Congress all documents related to a 1995 deal that allowed Russia to continue selling weapons to Iran without suffering sanctions. ``We are asking for all the documents and don't have any as yet,'' said the chairman, Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman, R-N.Y. He spoke during a break in a classified Capitol Hill briefing on the agreement between Vice President Al Gore (news - web sites) with then-Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. ``And we want to know why sanctions were not enforced,'' Gilman said. The senior Democratic member of the committee, Rep. Sam Gejdenson of Connecticut, dismissed the widening debate over the nonproliferation agreement as an attack on Gore just before the election. And he said the agreement with Russia was ``clearly in America's best interest.'' ``I think this is clearly about the election and not about policy,'' he said. The private briefing for House committee members followed an open hearing Wednesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, at which the State Department's deputy assistant secretary for nonproliferation, John P. Barker, said there was no secret agreement. While specific documents remain classified, he said, the gist of it was announced in 1995 and Congress was briefed. After that hearing, senators went into a closed session as well. They said afterward that administration officials refused to allow them to see either the agreement or a list of weapons Russia was allowed to sell. Published reports assert that while Russia agreed not to sign new contracts with Iran, it was allowed to continue selling items already contracted for without being punished under a 1992 law aimed at keeping weapons out of the hands of countries that export terrorism. In addition, Republicans have charged, Congress was not properly informed. Former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., who once chaired the House committee, said Thursday he and his staff were briefed on the agreement four times. Calling recent publicity about the U.S. understandings with Russia unfortunate, he said: ``It threatens to undermine our nation's efforts to prevent further sales of advanced arms by Russia to Iran.'' Eleven former top U.S. officials, including four former secretaries of state, issued a statement this week saying they were ``deeply disturbed'' by Gore's agreement with Chernomyrdin and that Gore, apparently at the prime minister's request, kept the terms from Congress.