Sen. Bob Dole's proposal to boost aid to Eastern Europe and Panama by cutting funds from major recipients like Israel and Egypt is ``shortsighted and detrimental'' to U.S. interests, 22 Republican House members say. The House members wrote to President Bush on Wednesday to express ``our strong opposition to the Dole foreign aid plan,'' which would slice money from Israel, Egypt, Turkey, the Philippines and Pakistan. ``We believe this is the wrong approach to the burgeoning needs of Eastern Europe,'' said the House members, led by Reps. Vin Weber of Minnesota and Bill McCollum of Florida. ``To reward one ally at the expense of another would be shortsighted and detrimental to American interests,'' they said. At the same time, Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, Dole's Republican colleague from Kansas, said she supported Dole and hoped his plan would lead to ``serious review and substantive reform'' of foreign aid. Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, D-Maine, has not taken a stand on the issue, but he is holding meetings with Democratic colleagues to discuss foreign aid, his aides said. Kassebaum, who has introduced legislation to change the way foreign aid is divided up, criticized Congress for ``earmarking'' _ locking up _ 80 percent of the foreign aid budget. As a result, U.S. officials have no flexibility to deal with unforeseen circumstances, she said in a speech on the Senate floor. ``With earmarking, we have set up a system that prevents us from responding to opportunities'' like those in Eastern Europe, she said. Dole suggested changing the 1990 foreign aid budget that earmarks about $3 billion to Israel, slightly less to Egypt, about $500 million each to Turkey and Pakistan and some $160 million in economic aid to the Philippines. His plan would trim 5 percent from the big recipients, creating about $400 million that could go to Eastern Europe and Panama. Many have criticized Dole's plan. ``It's not going anywhere. Period,'' said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Debate on the 1991 foreign aid bill is expected to start soon, once the Bush administration unveils its requests next week. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations, has said his panel will hold hearings ``reexamining U.S. foreign aid priorities in light of the vast changes in the international situation.'' ``As far as I'm concerned, every program in the fiscal 1991 foreign aid appropriation will be reviewed,'' Leahy said in a statement. On Jan. 18, Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin met with Bush administration officials and later said he had ``reasons to believe'' U.S. aid to his country would hold steady at $3 billion a year through 1991. But he expressed concern about aid beyond next year.
