White House administration officials urged Congress to pass legislation without an anti-abortion provision to pay almost $1 billion in outstanding United Nations dues and grant $18 billion for the International Monetary Fund. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Secretary of Defense William Cohen and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin all urged House Republicans to drop the anti-abortion language from the fund legislation. The language prohibits money from going to groups that offer family planning or abortion services.
Albright said that the anti-abortion provision, which could result in a veto of the bill by President Clinton, should be considered separately.
Similar language killed U.N. and IMF funding legislation last year. Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) said the situation “is about as bleak as it gets.”
