U.S. Pitches Unilateral Aid for Mexico But Lawmakers Foresee a Hard Sell
Clinton administration officials yesterday told Congress the United States must act alone to shore up Mexico's battered economy because multilateral lending institutions such as the International Monetary Fund cannot handle the task.</br></br>Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin and Secretary of State Warren Christopher told the House Banking Committee that Mexico is vital to U.S. interests because the slump of the Mexican economy could trigger a chain reaction, bringing the development of free-market economies throughout Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe to a screeching halt.</br></br>Rubin, Christopher and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan appeared before the panel as lawmakers reviewed two drafts of loan guarantee proposals drawn up by House Banking Committee Chairman Jim Leach (R-Iowa). The difficulty in rounding up the votes to pass the measure was underscored by a Los Angeles Times poll that found the rescue plan was opposed by 81 percent of the 1,353 adults questioned.</br></br>Republican congressional leaders continued to press President Clinton to muster more Democratic support for the plan. Senate Majority Leader Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.) said he "didn't hear any cheers go up from the other {Democratic} side of the aisle" when the president urged passage of the loan guarantees in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.</br></br>"It is going to be difficult to pass," House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said at his daily news conference. "I think no one should underestimate how much working is going to have to go into the next week or two."