SWINDALL AND BURTON AMENDMENTS DEFEATED: ATTACKS ON THE ANC AND SWAPO REMOVED FROM THE STATE DEPARTMENT AUTHORIZATION BILL – TOGETHER WE MADE A DIFFERENCE!

The mailing says the House-passed version of the State Department Authorization bill contained damaging amendments offered by Representatives Patrick Swindall and Dan Burton; the Swindall amendment was designed to restrict representatives of the ANC, SWAPO, the PLO and diplomats from over a dozen nations from travelling beyond the limits of the cities where their diplomatic missions are located; the Burton amendment would have cut 25% of U.S. funding to United Nations programs designed to benefit the ANC or the PLO. The mailing says the Senate passed its version of the State Department Authorization bill without any similar anti-liberation movement language; Senator Jesse Helms offered an amendment restricting the travel of diplomats, but it only applied to Warsaw Pact countries; the anti-apartheid movement then focused on the House/Senate conference committee to get the Swindall and Burton language removed. The mailing says Representative Mervyn Dymally took leadership in defeating the Swindall language in the conference; Dymally's office alerted the anti-apartheid network when the Republicans began to circulate a proposed substitute for the Swindall language; the substitute did not mention any country or organization by name, but mandated the Secretary of State to impose travel restrictions on representatives of any nation or organization suspected of "international terrorism" or espionage. The mailing says anti-apartheid groups from around the country mobilized to tell the conferees that this substitute was just as unacceptable as the original Swindall amendment. The mailing says lobbying was focused on members who were likely to take leadership in defeating the amendment: William Hughes, Peter Kostmayer, and Barney Frank, and also reinforced Congressman Dymally in his efforts. The mailing says the clear, simple message was repeated over and over to the conferees from individuals, grassroots groups and national organizations: no restrictions in any form whatsoever on the liberation movements of southern Africa. The mailing says this active, broad-based lobbying paid off when the conferees finally met in November; when the Burton language was discussed, Senator Claiborne Pell successfully amended it to strike out all reference to the ANC and thus protected U.S. funding for UN programs which benefit the ANC; when the Swindall language was considered the next day, Congressman Kostmayer, one of the members specially targeted to take a leadership role by the anti-apartheid community, amended the substitute language so that all reference to liberation movements and international terror ism was removed; the travel restrictions that were passed apply only to representatives of specific nations suspected of intelligence activities in the U.S. The mailing says the defeat of the Swindall and Burton attacks on the liberation movements was a significant victory for the anti-apartheid movement and for supporters of liberation in southern Africa; when people from around the country began to send the consistent, clear message of support for liberation movements, Congress had to respond by eliminating these damaging attacks; only this kind of concerted, focused, grassroots effort can bring about a truly anti-apartheid, pro-liberation U.S. policy toward the southern African region. The mailing discusses the ANC (African National Congress), SWAPO (South West African People's Organization), and PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization).