Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, September/October 2006, pages 40-53

Congress Watch

Eight Senators, 29 Representatives Included In 109th Congress’ “Hall of Fame”

By Shirl McArthur

In anticipation of this Fall’s elections, the Washington Report presents its scorecard for the members of the 109th Congress. As with previous scorecards, an effort was made to balance negative marks with positive ones. However, in some cases that meant taking a negative item, such as H.R. 4681, the draconian bill punishing the Palestinians for holding fair elections, and recognizing those representatives who voted “No” or “Present.”

For the House four positive and four negative items were chosen. For the Senate, three positive and three negative items were chosen. Eight senators registered in all three positive columns with not more than one negative, and these eight are recognized in the “Hall of Fame.” On the other side, 11 senators registered at least two negative marks and no positive ones. These 11 are shown in the “Hall of Shame.”

Twenty-nine representatives registered in all four positive columns with not more than one negative one, or three positive columns with no negative ones. These 29 are recognized in the “Hall of Fame.” On the other side, 43 representatives had four negative marks and no more than one positive one, or three negative marks with no positive ones. These 43 are listed in the “Hall of Shame.”

The Issues

HOUSE: The Positives (+)

1. Palestinian Punishment. H.R. 4681, the harsh measure designed to punish all Palestinians for Hamas’ winning the December Palestinian elections, passed on May 23, 2006 on a roll-call vote, with 37 House members voting “no” and nine voting “present.” These 46 are shown in column 1.

2. Hyde-Capps Letter. In December 2005, 108 representatives signed a letter, initiated by Reps. Henry Hyde (R-IL) and Lois Capps (D-CA), to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice commending her for her involvement in the November 2005 Gaza border crossing agreement. The 108 are shown in column 2.

3. Iran Sanctions. On April 26, 2006, the House passed H.R. 282, extending and expanding sanctions on Iran. When passed the bill had 361 co-sponsors. Those House members who resisted AIPAC’s pressure to co-sponsor the bill are shown in column 3.

4. “Downing Street” Letter. After the Sunday Times of London published articles in May 2005 describing a leaked document, since called “the Downing Street memo,” showing that the U.S. and British governments had agreed by the summer of 2002 to attack Iraq, and greatly stepped up air attacks on Iraq during the second half of 2002, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) sent a letter to President George W. Bush, signed by 89 other House members, asking whether Bush or anyone in his administration disputed the accuracy of the document and posing other pointed questions. The 90 signers of the letter are shown in column 4.

HOUSE: The Negatives (X)

5. Dubai Ports. The seemingly innocuous commercial agreement for the Dubai-owned company Dubai Ports World (DPW) to purchase the British company Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co.—which would include, among other things, the contract to manage 24 container terminals at the ports of Baltimore, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Miami, and New Orleans, as well as lesser operations at 21 other U.S. ports—resulted in a bipartisan flood of xenophobia, bigotry, anti-Arab racism, ignorance and outright lies pouring from the halls of Congress. Of the no fewer than 18 bills and resolutions resulting from the uproar, some were aimed specifically at scuttling the deal. Of these, two—H.R. 4807 and H.R. 4881—have been selected as being particularly outrageous. Co-sponsors of these two bills are shown in column 5.

6. Palestinian Elections. In December 2005, prior to the Palestinian elections, the House passed H.Res. 575, asserting that Hamas should not participate in the elections and threatening serious consequences if it did. The resolution’s 164 co-sponsors are shown in column 6.

7. Jerusalem. As usual, bills and resolutions were introduced in both houses of the 109th Congress seeking to push U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In the House, these were H.R. 588 and H.Con.Res. 412, and the co-sponsors of those measures are shown in column 7.

8. Poor Little Israel. No fewer than six resolutions, five by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), were introduced with the only aim of promoting Israel’s foreign interests, although they had nothing to do with U.S. interests—or with the U.S. Congress, for that matter. These ranged from condemning U.N. actions regarding Israel, to promoting Israel to the OECD and NATO, to bemoaning the plight of Jewish refugees from the Middle East. Co-sponsors of these resolutions are shown in column 8.

SENATE: The Positives (+)

A. Palestinian Punishment. S. 2370, the slightly more moderate Senate version of the measure designed to punish all Palestinians for Hamas’ winning the December Palestinian elections, has 91 co-sponsors. Those nine standing firm against AIPAC are shown in column A.

B. Palestinian Elections. The Senate companion to H.Res. 575, asserting that Hamas should not participate in the elections and threatening serious consequences if it did, was the letter to Bush initiated by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Jim Talent (R-MO) and signed by 70 senators, containing the same threat. Those senators not signing the letter are shown in column B.

C. Iran Sanctions. S. 333, the Senate version of H.R. 282, the measure extending and expanding sanctions on Iran, has 62 co-sponsors. Those senators not co-sponsors of S.333 are shown in column C.

SENATE: The Negatives (X)

D. Dubai Ports. The two Senate bills selected as being outrageously aimed at scuttling the DPW agreement to purchase the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co were S. 2333, initiated by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), and S. 2334, initiated by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ). Co-sponsors of these two measures are shown in column D.

E. Jerusalem. The Senate resolutions seeking to push U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel were S.J.Res. 14 and S.Con.Res. 98, both introduced by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS). Co-sponsors of these resolutions are shown in column E.

F. Poor Little Israel. In the Senate, four resolutions were introduced aimed at promoting Israel’s foreign interests, although they had nothing to do with U.S. interests. Co-sponsors of these resolutions are shown in column F.

Click here for the Report Card for the 109th Congress.

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