Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, August/September 2001, page 19

Congress Watch

Senate Changeover May Help U.S. Interests in Middle East

By Shirl McArthur

The shift in power in the Senate resulting from the defection of Sen. James Jeffords (I-VT) from the Republican Party could result in the Senate’s taking a more balanced approach to Middle East issues. This should be especially noticeable in the Foreign Relations Committee, where former chairman Jesse Helms (R-NC) and Middle East subcommittee chairman Sam Brownback (R-KS) appeared to seek out opportunities to praise Israel and criticize the Arab states. Their replacements, Sens. Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Paul Wellstone (D-MN), respectively, have reputations for being much more balanced and willing to listen to both sides of contentious issues. Wellstone, in particular, was a member of this magazine’s “Hall of Fame” for the 106th Congress (see Aug./Sept. 2000 Washington Report, p. 25), with three positive marks and no negative marks on the scorecard. The new chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV), was also a Hall of Fame member, although the contrast with outgoing chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK) will not be so striking, because Stevens is more or less neutral on Middle East issues.

H.R. 1795 Gains Co-Sponsors, Inserted Into Foreign Aid Bill

H.R. 1795, introduced by Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) on May 10, which 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, now has a total of 38 co-sponsors. Among the sanctions listed in the bill are cutting off aid to the PA or PLO, 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.”

While the chances of H.R. 1795 being passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president are slim to non-existent, the matter became more complicated on June 27, when essentially the same language was inserted into the Foreign Operations (foreign aid) Appropriations Bill in a mark-up session by the foreign operations appropriations subcommittee. While subcommittee action does not mean that the full committee, let alone the full House and the Senate, will agree, it clearly is cause for alarm.

The 38 co-sponsors of H.R. 1795, in addition to Ackerman, are Reps. Robert Andrews (D-NJ), Ken Bentsen (D-TX), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Howard Berman (D-CA), Eric Cantor (R-VA), Brad Carson (D-OK), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Phil English (R-PA), Lane Evans (D-IL), Bob Filner (D-CA), Benjamin Gilman (R-NY), Van Hilleary (R-TN), Joseph Hoeffel (D-PA), Steve Israel (D-NY), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Tom Lantos (D-CA), Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), Michael McNulty (D-NY), Connie Morella (R-MD), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Charles Pickering (R-MS), Todd Platts (R-PA), Jim Saxton (R-NJ), Edward Schrock (R-VA), Pete Sessions (R-TX), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Ted Strickland (D-OH), John Sweeney (R-NY), Zach Wamp (R-TN), Henry Waxman (D-CA), and Anthony Weiner (D-NY).

GAO Investigating Israeli Use of U.S. Weapons

As a result of a formal request by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) following Israel’s use of F-16 aircraft against Palestinian targets on May 18, the General Accounting Office (GA0) has begun an investigation of Israeli use of U.S. weapons against Palestinian civilians. Conyers complained that this use of the F-16s violated the terms of their sale, which limit their use to “legitimate defense.” Conyers wrote to President George W. Bush in early June informing him of the request for an investigation.

Among the GAO’s duties is conducting investigations or audits of government departments or agencies at the request of members of Congress. Interestingly, the GAO agreed to Conyers’ request for an investigation after determining that no other government agency had carried out a similar investigation and that it was within the GAO’s jurisdiction to do so. This in spite of earlier reports, going back to February of this year, that the State Department was looking at Israel’s use of U.S.-made munitions and weapons against the Palestinians for possible violations of the Arms Export Control Act.

Delinking of Economic Sanctions Against Iraq Urged

On June 14, Rep. David Bonior (D-MI), along with 44 other representatives, wrote to Secretary of State Colin Powell urging that in re-evaluating U.S. sanctions policy Powell also consider “the humanitarian crisis that has afflicted the Iraqi people as a consequence of sanctions.” While emphasizing the importance of keeping pressure on Iraqi President Saddam Hussain to prevent him from developing weapons of mass destruction, those signing the letter pointed out that “10 years of the most comprehensive economic embargo imposed in modern history have failed to remove Saddam Hussain from power or even ensured his compliance with his international obligations.” They said that “the time is right to turn a new page in our dealings with Iraq,” and urged Powell to take this opportunity to delink economic sanctions from the military sanctions against Iraq.

Those signing the letter, in addition to Bonior, were Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Rick Boucher (D-VA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), William Clay (D-MO), Eva Clayton (D-NC), Bob Clement (D-TN), Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Danny Davis (D-IL), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Sam Farr (D-CA), Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Filner, Earl Hilliard (D-AL), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Dale Kildee (D-MI), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Bill Luther (D-MN), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), Carrie Meek (D-FL), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Jim Oberstar (D-MN), John Olver (D-MA), Ron Paul (R-TX), Donald Payne (D-NJ), David Price (D-NC), Nick Rahall (D-WV), Lynn Rivers (D-MI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jose Serrano (D-NY), Pete Stark (D-CA), Ted Strickland (D-OH), Bart Stupak (D-MI), John Tierney (D-MA), Mark Udall (D-CO), Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA).

Meanwhile, the Humanitarian Exports Leading to Peace (H.E.L.P.) bill (H.R. 742), introduced in February by Conyers and described in the May/June issue of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, appeared stalled pending the outcome of U.N. Security Council negotiations over a new sanctions regime on Iraq proposed by the U.S. and Great Britain. The new sanctions regime was supposed to liberalize and simplify the list of items allowed for sale to Iraq, while tightening the restrictions on prohibited items, and would have largely fulfilled the aims of the H.E.L.P. bill. Now that the U.N. negotiations have broken down over Russia’s refusal to agree to a plan unacceptable to Baghdad, and the old “oil-for-food” program has been renewed for at least five months, the H.E.L.P. bill may gain new impetus.

H.R. 742 has picked up some new co-sponsors. They are, in addition to Conyers and the 13 named in the May/June issue, Reps. Thomas Barrett (D-WI), Blumenauer, DeFazio, Farr, Karen McCarthy (D-MO), Meeks, Rahall, Rivers, Stark, Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), and Woolsey.

Secret Evidence Repeal Bill Has 81 Co-Sponsors

The Secret Evidence Repeal bill, H.R. 1266, introduced by Bonior on March 28, now has 81 co-sponsors, in addition to Bonior. However, on June 7 Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), introduced a watered-down secret evidence bill, limited only to permanent resident aliens or those with unexpired visas, which may derail progress on Bonior’s bill. Those co-sponsors of H.R. 1266 not named in previous issues are Reps. Thomas Allen (D-ME), Becerra, Rod Blagojevich (D-IL), Boucher, Dave Camp (R-MI), Julia Carson (D-IN), Danny Davis (D-IL), DeFazio, William Delahunt (D-MA), Michael Doyle (D-PA), Farr, Filner, Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), John Lewis (D-GA), Luther, Jim Matheson (D-UT), Patsy Mink (D-HI), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), Ed Pastor (D-AZ), Platts, Price, Mike Rogers (D-MI), Joe Scarborough (R-FL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Christopher Shays (R-CT), Hilda Solis (D-CA), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), and David Wu (D-OR).

ILSA Appears Headed for Renewal

Companion bills aiming to renew the Iran Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) for another five years have now been introduced in both the House and the Senate, and each has more than half of the respective members as co-sponsors. ILSA penalizes foreign firms that invest in Iran’s and Libya’s energy industries. The House bill, H.R. 1954, was introduced by international relations Middle East subcommittee chairman Gilman on May 23, and reported out by the full committee on June 22. It now has 244 co-sponsors, in addition to Gilman. The bill must also go through the Financial Services, Government Reform, and Ways and Means committees, but that does not appear to be a problem. The Senate bill, S. 994, was introduced by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) on June 7 and was referred to the Banking Committee, which held hearings on June 28. It has 77 co-sponsors, in addition to Schumer.

During the House International Relations Committee mark-up session, two interesting amendments were proposed. The first of these, offered by Lantos, lowers the dollar threshold from $40 million to $20 million in one year to trigger sanctions against foreign companies investing in Libya’s oil sector (the threshold for Iran was already $20 million), and it clarifies that amendments to contracts existing prior to the passage of ILSA (which were considered “grandfathered”) shall be considered as new contracts. This amendment passed by voice vote. The second amendment, proposed by Representative Paul, would extend ILSA for two years, rather than five, which the Bush administration had indicated it would prefer. The Paul amendment was defeated by a vote of 9 to 34. Those voting for the amendment were Reps. Doug Bereuter (R-NE), Blumenauer, John Cooksey (R-LA), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Hilliard, Amo Houghton (R-NY), Paul, Rohrabacher, and Nick Smith (R-MI).

Sense of Congress on Behalf of Israelis Held in Lebanon

The Senate and the House have passed separate resolutions expressing the sense of Congress that Lebanon, Syria and Iran should call upon Hezbollah to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit three Israeli soldiers and one “businessman” captured (the resolutions say “abducted”) by Hezbollah in October 2000. On its face, this does not seem objectionable; international law and practice indicate that the Red Cross should be allowed to visit prisoners, and, in fact, several of the Arab Americans in Congress voted for the resolution.

A deeper look, however, reveals some inconsistencies, not to mention downright hypocrisy. First, Israel and the resolutions say that the soldiers were abducted from Israel. But several sources state they were captured in the disputed Shebaaregion, which Lebanon claims, but which Israel says is part of the Israeli-occupied Golan. In either case—southern Lebanon or Golan—the soldiers were part of an occupation force in another country’s land. Furthermore, the “businessman,” Elchanan Tannenbaum, is a reserve colonel and intelligence officer who previously has been detained and expelled by Switzerland for activities on behalf of Israel.

The hypocrisy lies in the fact that, though the Israelis were captured by Hezbollah (not the government of Lebanon) while in the line of duty, the Israeli government has held for some 10 years in Israeli prisons 20 Lebanese civilians who were captured—one might even say “abducted”—in southern Lebanon. The current deputy head of Mossad, Amiram Levine, said in mid-March that there is no point in continuing to hold these Lebanese, and that they were captured merely as “bargaining chips.” Yet they are still being held and have not been charged with any crime. Apparently the U.S. Congress does not see this as cause for outrage.

Bush Signs Waiver of Jerusalem Embassy Act

Declaring that “it is necessary to protect the national security interests of the United States,” President Bush on June 11 signed the waiver postponing for six months the relocation of the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In his memo to Secretary of State Powell, however, Bush also said that “my administration remains committed to beginning the process of moving our embassy to Jerusalem.”

Meanwhile, the two bills concerning Jerusalem described in previous issues have gained new co-sponsors. The first, H.CON.RES. 30, expressing the sense of Congress that the embassy should be moved to Jerusalem, has gained Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) as a co-sponsor. The second, H.R. 598, which includes provisions that effectively amount to the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, has gained 32 co-sponsors, for a total of 33.

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