Bush Pressures Congress to Approve Russian Aid : Legislation: But some legislators counter that the President has fallen down in promoting the package.

By WILLIAM J. EATON

June 17, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

WASHINGTON — President Bush prodded Congress on Tuesday to give swift approval to his multibillion-dollar aid program for Russia, calling it an investment in a “new century of peace.”

But Democrats and some Republicans quickly countered that Bush himself has failed to work hard enough to muster support for the highly controversial overseas spending in this recession-plagued election year.

Even as Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin prepared to renew his appeal today for substantial American assistance, House Speaker Thomas S. Foley warned that the future of the Russian aid program is uncertain.

“I’ll tell him (Yeltsin) very candidly that we have serious problems because of the economic circumstances of the country,” Foley said.

The President has sought a $12-billion increase in the U.S. commitment to the International Monetary Fund, which will administer most of the $24 billion pledged by a number of nations to promote economic reforms in Russia, as well as another $600 million in bilateral assistance.

Some Democratic leaders have demanded that Congress first consider domestic programs, such as a huge urban assistance package and further extension of jobless benefits, before the Russian aid bill is cleared for House or Senate action.

The fate of the Russian aid bill also is unclear in the Senate, where Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.) has hesitated to set a date for its consideration because of lingering doubts among Democrats about the President’s request.

“Foreign aid is hard enough in a recession, and after an urban crisis it’s nearly impossible,” said one Senate Democratic aide. “And the Administration has largely been silent on this.”

Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), who is quarterbacking the Administration’s campaign in the Senate, reported to Mitchell that a majority of the Senate’s 43 Republicans now favor the legislation, the minimum required by the Democrats before they would take up the measure.

The Administration’s strategy apparently calls for the Senate to vote first on the Russian aid package in hopes of providing momentum for subsequent passage in the more doubtful House.