Adam Entous, Washington – Top Democrats in Congress demanded on Thursday that the Clinton administration get tough with Indonesian President Suharto, warning that U.S. financial support for Jakarta and the International Monetary Fund was at stake.
The second-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, David Bonior, and 26 other lawmakers said the United States was too tolerant of human rights abuses in Indonesia.
They called on President Bill Clinton to overhaul Washington's policies.
Bonior was joined by an unlikely ally, Republican Rep. Christopher Smith, a leading abortion foe in Congress threatening to derail funding for the IMF.
"This failure by the United States government to hold Indonesia to minimum standards of decent behavior both is wrong in itself and increasingly poses a threat to your efforts to mobilize support in America for continued cooperation with international efforts to alleviate the financial crisis besetting much of Asia," they said in a letter to Clinton.
"Allowing the Suharto regime this freedom will make it difficult for many of us to justify support for an increased American contribution for the IMF," the letter said.
Clinton wants Congress to approve $18 billion in additional funding for the IMF to replenish resources drained by last year's multibillion-dollar bailouts for Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand.
Weeks of lobbying on Capitol Hill by top administration officials have paid off with bipartisan support in the Senate.
But the IMF package is in trouble in the House, where both Republicans and Democrats have sharply criticized the IMF's policies, particularly in Indonesia.
Critics say the IMF's bailout for Jakarta has benefited Suharto and his family. They have accused the international lending agency of ignoring Indonesia's record of human rights abuses and history of corruption.
In the letter, the lawmakers threatened to oppose U.S. financial support for Indonesia and the IMF unless Suharto agreed to improve political, religious and worker rights, and conditions in East Timor.
"We strongly urge an immediate reevaluation of American policy toward Indonesia and a clear statement that the United States will hold the Indonesian government to minimum standards of decent treatment of its own people and the people of East Timor before allowing it to become the beneficiary of billions of dollars in international assistance," the letter said.
The letter was signed by House Minority Whip Bonior, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a high-ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, and Rep. Barney Frank, a senior Democrat on the Banking Committee. The three lawmakers previously agreed to support Clinton's package for the IMF.
The letter was also signed by several prominent Republicans, including Smith and Rep. John Porter, co-chair of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus.
Smith has threatened to link anti-abortion provisions to the IMF package. The attachment killed funding for the IMF last November and could derail the package again this year because it would drive away Democrats and invite a presidential veto.