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December 15, 1995
Web posted at: 9:15 p.m. EST
From Senior White House Correspondent Wolf Blitzer
PARIS (CNN) -- President Clinton has announced plans to make an initial $85.65 million in humanitarian aid available to Bosnia over the next four months. In addition, the president said he would ask Congress to authorize another $600 million in U.S. assistance over the next several years.
And there would be $32 million available from the government's Support for East European Democracy program -- mainly for construction. The total $718 million aid package was revealed when the president was in Paris Thursday for the Bosnia peace agreement signing ceremony.
Privately, administration officials told CNN that the aid will be channeled mostly to the Bosnian Muslim-controlled areas -- and not to the Serbs.
"It is crucial to the success of the peace process that the international community demonstrate now its willingness to assist the people and government of Bosnia to begin the economic reconstruction of war-ravaged areas, especially over the winter months," said a statement released by the White House.
The U.S. aid package is part of a much larger $6 billion international assistance program for Bosnia. Most of that money is expected to come from European countries, Islamic nations, international organizations -- including the International Monetary Fund, and from private humanitarian relief groups.
In addition to the humanitarian aid package, the U.S. is expected to spend nearly $2 billion over the next year for the deployment of 20,000 U.S. troops to Bosnia.
The White House says the initial "quick impact" aid package would include $72.98 million for winterization and humanitarian assistance; $7.25 million for rehabilitation and reconstruction; $2.9 million for community and federation building; and $2.5 million for "self-sustainability and return to normalcy."
The U.S. Congress will have to authorize and appropriate these funds.
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