European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 23, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday May 23, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 13 . Rosentha funds going to soviets better spent elsewhere when i was about 17 years old 1 used to Day dream about earning a some Money beyond what i needed for warfare and lunches in the College cafeteria i mean real Money something like $30 or $40. In my reverie 1 would go straight Down to Macy s Book department whose Stock i knew by heart from hours of wandering cashless along the shelves. A a i there i would spend my dream Money selecting Poe and of Neill in the satisfyingly hefty modern Library giants edition or that three volume Shakespeare for $4.95, picking up a Faulkner specially discounted or a Book of India travels for a Dollar careful not to go Over my lavish budget enjoying every moment while i strolled enjoying it even in retrospect when i Shook myself into reality and got off at the Gity College subway Stopa now somewhat older i daydream in larger terms about what i would do if the government showed up at my office one Day and. Asked me a How to spend bigger Money a say $2.5 billion for foreign Aid or even $150 billion. We Are told that the United states must lend at least $2.5 billion to the soviet Union this year for agricultural products a $1 billion already provided and an additional $1.5 billion the Bush administration seems determined to give to Moscow. Various governments and economists say it would Cost the West about $30 billion a year for at least five years to bolster the soviet Economy and they Tell us it is a bargain i done to know about that. Loans guaranteed by the United states a Low rate Long term and non Collater Ali Zed to a bankrupt country with hidden assets Are tax paid foreign Aid. So part of that Money is mine and yours which should concentrate our minds on How it is spent. Lets Start Small with a dream stake of that $2.5 billion in agricultural credits. Nobody wants soviet citizens to go hungry. But if hunger Relief is the goal the soviet Union does not seem in worse condition than Ethiopia the Sudan or Bangladesh. _ 1 if the goal is economic assistance to Shore up countries emerging from the disaster of communism i would pick from the shelf those that have already emerged. How about More for Poland the poles Are not Only jumping fun i in in to the rough currents of free Enterprise but we re a the victims of the soviet Union where Gorbachev still has not dipped a toe into the water. If the goal is to help countries that have overthrown dictatorship Here san idea. How about Haiti Nicaragua ? it would certainly be Nice if for once the United states devoted enough Money and continuous at Walter r. Mears Tention to making economic showcases out of impoverished neighbors who fought for political Freedom. The heart of the Issue of course is whether Money spent now for Gorbachev a government will solve or perpetuate the soviet crisis. The problem is that Gorbachev a government cannot get food from the soviet Field to the soviet stomach any better than could Stalin a. It is not just Money credit but political credit Gorbachev wants a economic help now against economic change tomorrow. 1, sen. Bill Bradley of new Jersey has asked the president to look into the realities of the soviet system that cause the problem How much is lost to waste corruption and policies that make the Black markets and shortages inevitable is the centralized system being used to coerce it the republics by holding Back food from certain Maverick regions yes a a Quot Quot 7-, Here a a question from soviet dissidents How Many office ats and sex officials of the communist bureaucracy Are Selling contracts to Theowest and battering on food a profits and what about collateral if the Gorbachev government needs food supplies it. Has plenty of resources it could put up billions in Gold Bullion and diamonds for instance. 11 could avoid need for credits if it just stopped spending billions for arms to the afghan government and for Castro propping. A answers received americans can decide on the urgency of additional soviet agricultural credits. A but after that we should wait until Gorbachev Orchis successor makes fundamental changes in the soviet economic system which i of course Wou id muck it totally in soviet until then we should take that $150 billion in hand and spend a Little time strolling in our minds dreaming of How it could by spent and for whom c the new York. Times ,. Sending mixed signals on Trade policies somehow the message that goes with . Trade policy seems to hinge on who is Selling what to whom. A president Bush is headed toward a collision with Congress Over the planned renewal of Trade preferences for China de spite repression there. At the same time the Senate is urging him. To promote a new Grain Deal with the. Soviet Union although the last one was granted just before Moscow a crackdown on Independence and democracy movements. Congressional critics of China a preferential Trade treatment argue that renewing it without restrictions would amount to saying the United states does no to care about human rights. Quot sen George j. Mitchell of Maine the democratic Leader said it would a per Etuate a failed policy based on a Dou in Standard that Hasni to led to the human rights improvements Bush had said he hoped would follow the 1990 renewal. The soviet Grain Trade is a separate Issue but it involves some of the same concerns. In Senate debate an opponent of the s1.5 billion in agricultural Export credits that would underwrite the Deal contended that providing the credits would amount to condoning repression by mos e not so the sponsors countered. A a these credits Are a message that America supports the soviet people in their struggle to cast off the decades of oppression a said a a sen. Thomas a. Daschle . The Senate voted 70-2$ for a Resolution advising Bush to approve $1.5 billion in credit guarantees for soviet Purchase of . Farm exports. The measure says food shortages could create a a climate of political repression and jeopardize Progress toward democratic Reform. Sen. David l. Boren d-okla., said the Resolution a pushes the soviet Union toward More Reform a More to the Domestic political Point it also could push Grain prices higher for american Farmers by 20 cents a Bushel for wheat 15 cents for Corn 50 cents for soybeans. A the Grain Resolution passed last week with bipartisan backing that included Mitchell. A that also was the Day Bush told Republican senators he wants another years Extension of the preferred Tariff treatment the United slates extends to China. A i do not want to isolate China a the president said. But an Extension that Isnit conditioned on human rights assurances and other reciprocal Steps by China will face trouble in Congress which can veto the renewal. Mitchell then introduced a Bill to limit China a favored Trade status to six months unless Beijing complies with conditions that include freeing All political prisoners permitting unrestricted Emi Gration ending harassment of democracy activists opening its markets to the United Stales and importing More american goods and limiting weapons exports there Are Bills in both houses to revoke China a most favored nation Trade status outright and another proposed by rep. Nancy Pelosi d-calif., with nearly 70 co sponsors to forbid a 1991 Extension of that status unless China complies with human rights  the administration now says Bush Hasni to completed the formal decision on this years Extension which does no to have to be issued until june 3, and might accept conditions including a statement of american concern about human rights and other issues. The Resolution endorsing a new soviet Grain Deal does carry an expression of concern about political and Market Reform. It suggests that the credit guarantees be offered in three $500 million instalments with the last two conditioned on soviet conduct. That Deal also has been questioned be cause of doubts about soviet ability to repay the credits which would come on Typ of $1 billion Bush approved last do Ember. That was spent by mid april. Given soviet economic troubles said sen. Patrick j. Leahy d-vt., new it credits a in All likelihood will be a bad  he called it foreign Aid on a credit card. The Issue in the debate about China Trade is the most favored nation status which Means that nobody else gets better Tariff or Trade terms. The United states applies it to All but a handful of countries a the soviet Union is among the exceptions. That a because communist nations Are covered Only if the administration certifies annually that they permit their citizens to emigrate freely. The chinese done to have a Law against it so their system has been cleared a despite red tape that stands in the Way of free emigration. A soviet emigration policy has  and the numbers have increased sharply but Moscow has not been found to qualify for Trade preferences. The 1990 agricultural Export credits were cleared under a waiver of the Rule. The supreme soviet approved a Bill on monday permitting most citizens to travel abroad probably beginning by 1993. That could Lead to most favored nation status. C the associated press