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Jimmy Carter Administration: Ninth Message to Congress Transmitting a Report on U.S. Sinai Support Mission

(April 16, 1980)

To the Congress of the United States:

I am pleased to transmit herewith the Ninth Report of the United States Sinai Support Mission. It covers the Mission's activities during the six-month period ending April 1, 1980. This Report is provided to the Congress in conformity with Section 4 of Public Law 94-110 of October 13, 1975.

The Peace Treaty that Egypt and Israel signed in Washington on March 26, 1979, called for the United States to continue its monitoring responsibilities in the Sinai until January 25, 1980, when Israeli armed forces withdrew from areas east of the Giddi and Mitla Passes. This mission was completed on schedule and to the satisfaction of all parties.

Trilateral talks in Washington in the fall of 1979 resulted in an ad referendum agreement that the United States, using the Sinai Field Mission, would verify certain military constraints—specified in Annex I of the Treaty—in the area of the Sinai west of the interim Buffer Zone. Subsequent negotiations among the three parties will, when completed, specify the details of this agreement. Administration officials have been in touch with appropriate Congressional committees on various aspects of this United States undertaking and will provide Congress with all agreements and understandings to which the United States is a party, as soon as they become available.

This year's funding of the Sinai Support Mission is authorized under Chapter 6, Part II of the Foreign Assistance Act, "Peacekeeping Operations." At my request, the Congress restored $6 million of the Sinai Support Mission funds for FY1980, to cover anticipated outlays associated with the new United States task in the Sinai. In addition, I approved a request for an additional $3.9 million to provide the Sinai Field Mission with the use of aircraft to carry out its verification assignment. Appropriate notices have been submitted to Congress regarding the proposed transfer of funds.

The American peacekeeping initiative in the Sinai has been a highly successful one to date. I urge the Congress to continue its support for this Mission as part of the larger United States effort to promote a permanent peace in the Middle East.

JIMMY CARTER
The White House,
April 16, 1980.


Sources: Public Papers of the President