House Passes Foreign Relations Authorization Bill Larded With Negative Provisions

By Shirl McArthur

The Foreign Relations Authorizations Act for fiscal years 2002 and 2003, H.R. 1646, which the full House passed on May 16, included several provisions designed to further erode American interests in the Middle East. Before discharging the bill to the full House, the International Relations Committee inserted a section that effectively recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by requiring that (a) the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem be under the supervision of the U.S. ambassador to Israel; (b) any official U.S. government document that lists countries and their capital cities identify Jerusalem as the capital of Israel; and (c) a passport, registration of birth, or certificate of nationality of a U.S. citizen born in Jerusalem shall, upon the request of the citizen, record the place of birth as Israel. In addition, the section includes a fourth clause urging the president “to immediately begin the process of relocating the United States embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.”

While the Jerusalem provisions were no surprise, it was not expected that International Relations Committee ranking Democrat Tom Lantos (CA) would introduce an amendment seeking to punish Lebanese educational institutions and non-governmental organizations for the activities of Hezbollah on the border with Israel. Lantos’ amendment would terminate military aid (only about $600,000) to Lebanon until the Lebanese armed forces are deployed along the border and have controlled Hezbollah’s activities against Israel. If this doesn’t happen within six months, the $35 million or so in economic aid would be suspended.

Responding to a question during his testimony before the House Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, Secretary of State Colin Powell publicly opposed the amendment, pointing out the educational and humanitarian nature of the majority of U.S. aid to Lebanon. In a subsequent letter to Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), Powell went further, saying, “If enacted, this amendment would severely impede our ability to pursue critical U.S. policy objectives in Lebanon and the region.”

In addition, Reps. John Dingell (D-MI) and Darrell Issa (R-CA) sent one letter and Reps. Ray LaHood (R-IL) and Nick Rahall (D-WV) another, with individual letters sent by Reps. Sonny Callahan (R-AL), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Knollenberg, and John Sununu (R-NH) to their colleagues urging them to vote against the amendment. Dingell, Issa, LaHood and Rahall, plus Reps. David Bonior (D-MI) and Jim Kolbe (R-AZ), all spoke against the amendment on the floor of the House. In the end, however, loyalty to Israel won out over humanitarian and U.S. national interest concerns, and the amendment passed by a vote of 216 to 210. (Those representatives who voted against the amendment are listed below.)

That, however, was not the initial tally. At the conclusion of the voting, but before it was officially recorded, the totals stood at only 206 for the amendment and 220 against. But then, 17 members announced that they were switching their votes from no to yes. They were partially offset by seven members who switched from yes to no, resulting in a net gain of 10 votes for the amendment.

One can only speculate about what or who caused those particular 17 members to abandon principles, but some members, who cannot be named, complained privately about the inordinate amount of pressure AIPAC was exerting to gain passage of this amendment. The 17 who switched from no to yes were Reps. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), Corrine Brown (D-FL), Dave Camp (R-MI), Howard Coble (R-NC), Randy Cunningham (R-CA), Elton Gallegly (R-CA), Virgil Goode (I-VA), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Melissa Hart (R-PA), Van Hilleary (R-TN), David Hobson (R-OH), Chip Pickering (R-MS), Christopher Shays (R-CT), Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Thomas Tancredo (R-CO), David Vitter (R-LA), and Greg Walden (R-OR).

Another section of the appropriations bill, sponsored by Reps. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Eric Cantor (R-VA), Benjamin Gilman (R-NY) and Robert Wexler (D-FL), which was passed by voice vote as part of a bloc of amendments, expresses the “sense of Congress” condemning Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad for his “inflammatory remarks” on March 27 at the Arab summit meeting and on May 5 welcoming Pope John Paul II to Damascus. It urges the Bush administration to emphasize to Syrian officials “the negative impact of such remarks.”

Finally, there is a section, which might be amusing for its arrogance and presumptuousness were it not for the friction it might cause with some countries in the Middle East and elsewhere, pointing out that some 30 countries have limited or no diplomatic relations with Israel, and “the United States should assist its ally, Israel, in its efforts to establish diplomatic relations.” It requires the secretary of state to send an annual report to Congress describing the actions taken by U.S. officials to encourage other countries to establish diplomatic relations with Israel and the responses received from those countries.

Gilman Holds One-Sided Hearing on ILSA Renewal

On May 9, House Middle East subcommittee chairman Benjamin Gilman held a hearing on whether the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA), which expires Aug. 5, should be renewed. ILSA penalizes foreign firms that invest in Iran’s and Libya’s energy industries. Given how Gilman packed the witness list with supporters of Israel (which somehow sees Iran as a threat), the answer to the question was a foregone conclusion.

Supporting renewal were (in addition to Gilman) ex-Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (D-NY), the act’s original author, Patrick Clawson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, an AIPAC offshoot, and AIPAC executive director Howard Khor. Only National Foreign Trade Council president William Reinsch testified against renewal.

Those supporting renewal argued that it has been effective in deterring foreign investment in Iran and in punishing Iran for its behavior. (Libya was barely mentioned.) Reinsch argued that the act has not been an effective deterrent of foreign investment, since “$10.5 billion of foreign investment has taken place in Iran’s oil and gas sector since 1997.” He further pointed out the damage the act has done to America’s diplomatic relations with its European allies and others and the harm it has done to U.S. commercial interests and to U.S. long-term energy security requirements.

Although the Bush administration has not publicly said whether it will oppose ILSA’s renewal, the act clearly would seem to be inconsistent with the administration’s emphasis on increasing energy production to meet domestic and international needs. ILSA’s renewal, therefore, will not necessarily be automatic. And, even if it is passed by both houses of Congress, there remains a chance of a presidential veto.

Some New Arab-Bashing Bills

In April and May, two new bills and one resolution intended to show their sponsors’ never-ending vigilance in defending Israel were introduced. The first of these, H.R. 1643, was introduced April 26 by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and includes the same three provisions describing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as were contained in the earlier bill, H.R. 598, and as were included in the Foreign Relations Authorization bill described above. Original co-sponsors of H.R. 1643 were Reps. Cantor, Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Joseph Hoeffel (D-PA), and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).

More serious is H.R. 1795, introduced on May 10 by Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), with Gilman and Lantos as co-sponsors. This bill seeks to impose sanctions on the PLO and the PA unless they comply with all of a series of commitments reportedly made by the PLO or the PA in 1993, 1995, and 1998. Most of the named “commitments” have to do with preventing violence, but one is the “resolution of all outstanding issues in the conflict between the two sides through negotiations and exclusively peaceful means.” Since no mention is made of a requirement for Israel to keep its commitments or to refrain from violence, this is obviously impossible to achieve with the current government in Israel.

H.R. 1795 goes further than H.R. 1087, described in the May/June issue of the Washington Report. Whereas H.R. 1087 would cut off aid to the PA, cutting off aid is only one of the sanctions listed in H.R. 1795. Others include downgrading the PLO office in Washington, denial of visas to PLO and PA officials, and designating the PLO “or one or more of its constituent groups” as a “foreign terrorist organization.”

The new resolution, H.Con.Res. 133, was introduced May 15 by Flake, with Cantor, Gilman, and Wexler as co-sponsors. It is identical to their amendment to the Foreign Relations Authorization bill described above, which condemns the remarks of Syrian President Al-Assad.

Secret Evidence Repeal Bill Gains Co-Sponsors

The Secret Evidence Repeal bill, introduced on March 28 by Bonior, with nine original co-sponsors (named in the previous issue of this magazine), now has 52 co-sponsors, in addition to Bonior. The new co-sponsors are Reps. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), John Baldacci (D-ME), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Michael Capuano (D-MA), William Coyne (D-PA), Calvin Dooley (D-CA), Phil English (R-PA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Lane Evans (D-IL), Flake, Barney Frank (D-MA), Melissa Hart (R-PA), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Rush Holt (D-NJ), Stephen Horn (R-CA), Henry Hyde (R-IL), Dale Kildee (D-MI), Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI), Peter King (R-NY), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Nick Lampson (D-TX), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Sander Levin (D-MI), William Lipinski (D-IL), James McGovern (D-MA), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), George Miller (D-CA), Dennis Moore (D-KS), Bob Ney (R-OH), Major Owens (D-NY), Rahall, Charles Rangel (D-NY), Lynn Rivers (D-MI), Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX), Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Adam Smith (D-WA), John Sununu (R-NH), Todd Tiahrt (R-KS), Mark Udall (D-CO), Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA).

U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement Held Up

The U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement appears to be held hostage to a package of unresolved trade issues, many of them having nothing to do with U.S.-Jordan trade. As Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) (the original author of the Senate bill implementing the agreement) said on the floor of the Senate May 3, no progress has been made on a series of trade-related items because the Senate has yet to “determine how to deal with the issues of trade-related environmental standards and internationally recognized core labor principles in trade agreements;…reach agreement on America’s trade priorities and our trade negotiating objectives;…and determine how we will deal with the numerous elements of the trade agenda.”

Baucus urged that the Jordan agreement be delinked from the rest of the trade items and the implementing legislation passed. The agreement includes for the first time in the body of an agreement provisions relating to the environment and labor standards, and includes a controversial, ambiguous phrase that if there is no resolution of a dispute “the affected party shall be entitled to take any appropriate and commensurate measure.” These clauses bother some senators, not because of Jordan, but because of the precedents they might set. Baucus pointed out that his implementing legislation does not even mention “appropriate and commensurate measures” and that “U.S. law would not be changed at all by this phrase.”

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

SIDEBAR

The 210 Representatives who Voted Against Stopping Aid to Lebanon

The 210 representatives who voted against the Lantos amendment to stop aid to Lebanon were Reps. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Robert Aderholt (R-AL), Todd Akin (R-MO), Thomas Allen (D-ME), Joe Baca (D-CA), Brian Baird (D-WA), Richard Baker (R-LA), John Baldacci (D-ME), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), James Barcia (D-MI), Bob Barr (R-GA), Thomas Barrett (D-WI), Joe Barton (R-TX), Charles Bass (R-NH), Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Doug Bereuter (R-NE), Marion Berry (D-AR), Judy Biggert (R-IL), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), John Boehner (R-OH), David Bonior (D-MI), Mary Bono (R-CA), Rick Boucher (D-VA), Kevin Brady (R-TX), Dan Burton (R-IN), Steve Buyer (R-IN), Sonny Callahan (R-AL), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Chris Cannon (R-UT), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Lois Capps (D-CA), Michael Capuano (D-MA), Julia Carson (R-IN), Michael Castle (R-DE), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), William Clay (D-MO), Eva Clayton (D-NC), Bob Clement (D-TN), Mac Collins (R-GA), Larry Combest (R-TX), John Conyers (D-MI), John Cooksey (R-LA), Chris Cox (R-CA), Phil Crane (R-IL), John Culberson (R-TX), Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Danny Davis (R-IL), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Jim DeMint (R-SC), Norman Dicks (D-WA), John Dingell (D-MI), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), John Doolittle (R-CA), David Dreier (R-CA), Jennifer Dunn (R-WA), Vernon Ehlers (R-MI), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Terry Everett (R-AL), Sam Farr (D-CA), Harold Ford (D-TN), Barney Frank (D-MA), Greg Ganske (R-IA), George Gekas (R-PA), Richard Gephardt (D-MO), James Gibbons (R-NV), Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), Paul Gillmor (R-OH), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Porter Goss (R-FL), Kay Granger (R-TX), Mark Green (R-WI), Jim Greenwood (R-PA), Gil Gutknecht (R-MN), Tony Hall (D-OH), James Hansen (R-UT), Doc Hastings (R-WA), Robin Hayes (R-NC), Wally Herger (R-CA), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX), Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), Steve Horn (R-CA), John Hostettler (R-IN), Amory Houghton (R-NY), Kenny Hulshof (R-MO), Asa Hutchinson (R-AR), Henry Hyde (R-IL), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Jesse Jackson (D-IL), William Jenkins (R-TN), Chris John (D-LA), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Nancy Johnson (R-CT), Walter Jones (R-NC), Paul Kanjorski (D-PA), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Ric Keller (R-FL), Mark Kennedy (R-MN), Brian Kerns (R-IN), Dale Kildee (D-MI), Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI), Ron Kind (D-WI), Jerry Kleczka (D-WI), Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), Jim Kolbe (R-AZ), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Ray LaHood (R-IL), Steve Largent (R-OK), Tom Latham (R-IA), Steve LaTourette (R-OH), Jim Leach (R-IA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Sander Levin (D-MI), Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Ron Lewis (R-KY), John Linder (R-GA), William Lipinski (D-IL), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Frank Lucas (R-OK), Bill Luther (D-MN), Karen McCarthy (D-MO), Jim McCrery (R-LA), Jim McDermott (D-WA), James McGovern (D-MA), John McHugh (R-NY), Buck McKeon (R-CA), Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), John Mica (R-FL), Dan Miller (R-FL), Gary Miller (R-CA), George Miller (D-CA), Patsy Mink (D-HI), Alan Mollohan (D-WV), Jim Moran (D-VA), John Murtha (D-PA), Sue Myrick (R-NC), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), George Nethercutt (R-WA), Bob Ney (R-OH), Anne Northrup (R-KY), Charles Norwood (R-GA), James Oberstar (D-MN), David Obey (D-WI), John Olver (D-MA), Solomon Ortiz (D-TX), Tom Osborne (R-NE), Michael Oxley (R-OH), William Pascrell (D-NJ), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), John Peterson (R-PA), Thomas Petri (R-WI), Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), David Price (D-NC), Deborah Pryce (R-OH), Adam Putnam (R-FL), Jack Quinn (R-NY), George Radanovich (R-CA), Nick Rahall (D-WV), Ralph Regula (R-OH), Dennis Rehberg (R-MT), Lynn Rivers (D-MI), Tim Roemer (D-IN), Harold Rogers (R-KY), Michael Rogers (R-MI), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Ed Royce (R-CA), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Martin Sabo (D-MN), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Thomas Sawyer (D-OH), Jose Serrano (D-NY), Pete Sessions (R-TX), John Shimkus (R-IL), Robert Simmons (R-CT), Mike Simpson (R-ID), Adam Smith (D-WA), Lamar Smith (R-TX), Nick Smith (R-MI), Vic Snyder (D-AR), Pete Stark (D-CA), Bob Stump (R-AZ), John Sununu (R-NH), John Tanner (D-TN), Billy Tauzin (R-LA), Charles Taylor (R-NC), William Thomas (R-CA), Benny Thompson (D-MS), William Thornberry (R-TX), John Tierney (D-MA), Pat Toomey (R-PA), James Traficant (D-OH), Fred Upton (R-MI), James Walsh (R-NY), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Wes Watkins (R-OK), Mel Watt (D-NC), J.C. Watts (R-OK), Curt Weldon (R-PA), Dave Weldon (R-FL), Edward Whitfield (R-KY), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Heather Wilson (R-NM), Frank Wolf (R-VA), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Bill Young (R-FL), and Don Young (R-AK).

—S.M.