New Congress to Have One Fewer Arab American, Three New Jewish Americans

By Shirl McArthur

THE 111TH Congress will include one fewer Arab American, since Rep. Ray LaHood (R-IL) is retiring. Reps. Charles Boustany (R-LA), Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Nick Rahall (D-WV) all were re-elected. The only Arab American in the Senate, Sen. John Sununu (R-NH), was defeated by Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, whom Sununu narrowly defeated in the 2002 election. The former New Hampshire governor is married to Lebanese-American attorney Bill Shaheen.

Jewish Americans gained three members in the new Congress, all in the House. They are Democrats John Adler (NJ), Alan Grayson (FL) and Jared Polis (CO). The House will include 31 Jewish members (7 percent), or 32 if the replacement for Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), who will have to resign his House seat (see below), is also Jewish. The 28 re-elected House members (not including Emanuel) were Reps. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Howard Berman (D-CA), Eric Cantor (R-VA), Stephen Cohen (D-TN), Susan Davis (D-CA), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Bob Filner (D-CA), Barney Frank (D-MA), Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), Jane Harman (D-CA), Paul Hodes (D-NH), Steve Israel (D-NY), Steve Kagen (D-WI), Ron Klein (D-FL), Sander Levin (D-MI), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Steve Rothman (D-NJ), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Henry Waxman (D-CA), Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Robert Wexler (D-FL) and John Yarmouth (D-KY).

The number of Jewish senators will remain at 13 (or 13 percent, compared to the 2 percent of Americans who are Jewish). Although the race in Minnesota is undecided, both candidates, Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken, are Jewish. Two Jewish Democrats, Sens. Frank Lautenberg (NJ) and Carl Levin (MI)—the latter the all-time Senate leader in pro-Israel PAC contributions—were re-elected. The remaining 10 Jewish senators, Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), were not up for re-election in 2008. The two Independents, Lieberman and Sanders, will caucus with the Democrats.

New “Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace” Group Shows Some Clout

As described in the article “Pro-Israel PACs: Disguises and Permutations” (August 2008 Washington Report, p. 26), last April a group consisting mostly of prominent American Jews formed a new lobbying group and PAC to counter the pro-Likud positions of AIPAC and other Jewish groups that, in the view of the organization’s founders, do not reflect the more moderate views of the majority of American Jews. The group, known as J Street, with its associated JStreetPAC, (quoting from its Web site, <www.jstreet.org>), claims that it “represents Americans, primarily but not exclusively Jewish, who support Israel and its desire for security as the Jewish homeland, as well as the right of the Palestinians to a sovereign state of their own—two states living side by side in peace and security. We believe ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is in the best interests of Israel, the United States, the Palestinians, and the region as a whole.” The group “supports diplomatic solutions over military ones, including in Iran.”

In the 2008 congressional elections, JStreetPAC raised over $565,000 to 41 House and Senate candidates, of which 32 won their races, with two races still too close to call as of the end of November, and J Street expects them to “provide a strong voice in Congress advocating peace and diplomacy in the Middle East.” The Jewish publication Forward reported that some candidates were warned that if they accepted JStreetPAC’s contributions they would lose the support of other, more hawkish, Jewish PACs. The winning JStreetPAC-supported candidates included mostly Democrats, but also Arab-American Republican Boustany. Eight of J Street’s winning candidates will be newcomers to Congress, including Senator-elect Jeff Merkley (D-OR), who defeated “Hall of Shame” member Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR). Merkley was the largest recipient of JStreetPAC funds, with more than $93,000. One supported new member is Jewish, Representative-elect Polis.

“Lame Duck” Congress Again Fails to Pass New Iran Sanctions Bill

The Nov. 17-20 special session of Congress ended without taking up a new Iran sanctions bill. Of all the various such bills introduced during the 110th Congress, it was thought that the one most likely to pass was H.R. 7112, introduced by Berman on Sept. 26. It did not call for a blockade of Iran, but, as with previous Iran sanctions measures, it contained all sanctions and no incentives. It also would have authorized divestiture of investments in Iran. The House passed it under “suspension of the rules” the same day it was introduced, but in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) failed on the last day of the regular session to have it passed unanimously, and didn’t try to bring it up again during the “lame duck” session.

U.S., Iraq Reach Security Agreement

After months of negotiations, U.S. and Iraqi officials finally reached agreement on a long-term, U.S.-Iraq security pact. On Nov. 16 the Iraqi cabinet approved it, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari signed it the following day, and the full Iraqi parliament approved it on Nov. 27. In a last-minute concession to Iraq’s largest Sunni party, the agreement is subject to a national referendum scheduled for July 2009. The pact is in two parts: a “Status of Forces Agreement” (SOFA) setting forth the rules under which U.S. troops will operate, and a strategic framework agreement covering cooperation in politics, economics and other areas. SOFAs normally are executive agreements—i.e., not submitted to Congress—but many members of Congress previously complained that the strategic agreement should be considered a treaty, and hence subject to congressional approval. These objections have largely faded away, because the final agreement does not appear to tie the hands of the new Obama administration.

The agreement calls for total withdrawal of U.S. forces to be completed by Dec. 31, 2011, but if the July referendum fails, U.S. troops would have to withdraw by July 2010. However, there is nothing in the agreement that would prevent the next Iraqi government from asking some U.S. troops to stay. There also is nothing about when withdrawal should begin, so, as Iraqi spokesman Ali Al-Dabbagh pointed out, it is not inconsistent with President-elect Barack Obama’s plan to begin withdrawing U.S. troops within 16 months.

Rahm Emanuel’s Selection Provokes Controversy, Probably Unwarranted

Obama’s selection of Emanuel to be his White House chief of staff has led to some controversy on the part of those concerned about Emanuel’s views on Israel. There has also been considerable misinformation about him, similar to, but mirroring, the scurrilous anti-Arab, anti-Muslim stories circulating about Obama during the election campaign. The White House chief of staff does not have a policy role. His function is to act as a gatekeeper and, as necessary, an enforcer in promoting the president’s agenda. Emanuel was chosen because Obama admires Emanuel’s political skills and trusts him to be aggressive in moving Obama’s programs through Congress.

Some facts: Emanuel is Jewish, born of Jewish parents in Chicago in 1959. His father was a member of the Jewish underground terrorist gang Irgun prior to Israel’s independence and now lives in Israel. Rahm Emanuel began his political career working on Paul Simon’s election campaign to the U.S. Senate in 1984, and he was a senior advisor to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley in 1989. During the Gulf war in 1991, he went to Israel as a civilian volunteer for a few weeks and helped repair military vehicles. He joined the Clinton White House in 1993 and helped organize the 1993 White House lawn signing ceremony for the Oslo agreements. After leaving the White House, he joined a major investment bank as a managing director. He was elected to Congress in 2002 from Illinois’ fifth district and rose to be named in 1977 as Democratic Caucus Chair, the fourth ranking position in the House Democratic leadership.

With all of his Jewish/Israeli background, Emanuel’s legislative record is decidedly middle-of-the-road regarding issues of interest to this magazine’s readers. In the recent congressional scorecard published in the September/October 2008 issue, he registered in only two of eight issues chosen: one positive mark for being a co-sponsor of H.Res. 143 urging the president to appoint a special envoy for Middle East peace, and one negative mark for being a co-sponsor of H.Con.Res. 362, which easily could be read as “demanding” a blockade of Iran. Similarly, in the Arab American Institute’s 2008 Congressional Scorecard, of 12 issues chosen Emanuel registered only one positive and one negative mark, both having to do with amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

For other views of Emanuel, see p. 22 of this issue and Andrew Cockburn’s “Meet Rahm Emanuel, the Democrats’ New Gatekeeper” (March 2006 Washington Report, p. 30).

Shirl McArthur, a retired U.S. foreign service officer, is a consultant based in the Washington, DC area.