Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March 1998, Pages 22, 77

Congress Watch

Mending Political Fences, Foreign and Domestic

By Shirl McArthur

Most congressmen used the two-month recess between congressional sessions to mend political fences at home and begin preparations for the 1998 elections. However, many also took the opportunity for foreign travel (see separate article). Two new bills of interest were introduced during the closing days of the last session, and for several congressmen mending fences included issuing letters and press releases to remind the Israel lobby of their unwavering support for Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in his current standoff with President Bill Clinton.

Two New Bills

Iran Missile Protection Act. In the final days of the congressional session, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) introduced identical bills that, contrary to grammatical logic, are not designed to protect Iran's missiles. Instead, they are to "authorize additional appropriations for the Department of Defense for ballistic missile defenses and other measures to counter the emerging threat posed to the United States and its allies in the Middle East and Persian Gulf region by the development and deployment of ballistic missiles by Iran." The bill is co-sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX); the House bill has 109 co-sponsors.

As with the pending bills mandating sanctions on countries supplying missile technology to Iran (see "Congressional Preview," p. 33), this bill seems aimed as much against Russia as against Iran. It directs Defense Department officials to meet with Russian officials to determine the extent of Russian cooperation and assistance in developing Iran's ballistic missile capability, and to determine the extent and technical nature of that capability. It further prohibits the obligation of $3 million in FY- 98 cooperative ballistic missile defense projects with Russia until the U.S. president certifies to Congress that Russia is cooperating fully in providing this information. The bill also authorizes additional appropriations for specified missile defense systems, radars, networks, and related activities, and it directs the secretary of defense to report to Congress on the Iranian ballistic missile threat in the Middle East and Persian Gulf regions. Finally (and perhaps this is the hidden motivation for an otherwise seemingly non-controversial bill), it authorizes appropriations for the Defense Department to conduct the necessary research, development, testing, and evaluation "for support of the Israeli Arrow tactical ballistic missile defense system to be used to protect a U.S. ally in imminent peril." (U.S. Defense Department officials have always made it clear that U.S. forces have no use for the Israeli-developed, U.S.-funded Arrow in their own strategic plans.)

It is too early to say what the prospects are for passage of this bill. Reportedly, in mid-December U.S. satellite reconnaissance detected an engine test just south of Tehran of a new generation of intermediate-range ballistic missiles. Clearly, additional reports of further development of Iran's ballistic missile capabilities will increase the chances that the Kyl/Weldon bill, or similar legislation, will pass with strong backing from the Israel lobby.

Silk Road Strategy Act. On Oct. 30, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), who is chairman of the Near East and South Asia Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced this bill (S. 1344) to "focus the attention of U.S. policy on the need to play an active and positive role in reviving the economies of the countries of the ancient silk road," which the bill defines as the South Caucasus and Central Asia countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Specifically, the bill proposes to amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize humanitarian assistance, economic and technical assistance, infrastructure development assistance, security assistance, and assistance for the development of democratic institutions in these eight countries, six of which are predominantly Muslim.

However, the first two sections of the bill, the "findings" (seven paragraphs that say that the countries of the South Caucasus and Central Asia are important) and the statement of policy (six statements that say that the U.S. should help these countries and support U.S. business efforts in the region), were incorporated verbatim into the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act that was passed in November. Therefore, it is unclear what will happen to the remainder of the bill.

Furthermore, the bill specifically does not include Iran, although Persia was a major part of the ancient "silk road." Brownback has been an outspoken critic of Iran, especially in the context of Iran's human rights record and efforts to gain advanced ballistic missile capabilities, and he has said that one of his objectives is to help these countries gain economic and political independence from Russia and remain free from the influence of Iran's "radical fundamentalism." His office refused to answer our question whether, given the behavioral safeguards included in the bill, and given Iranian President Khatemi's recent overtures toward improving relations with the West, Brownback would be prepared to include Iran in the bill as an encouragement to Khatemi. Presumably the silence means "no."

Three Letters...

Prior to the Jan. 20 visit of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Jan. 22 visit of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to Washington, the tide of pro-Israel congressional letters subsided somewhat during the congressional recess. Three such letters, however, were worthy of mention.

On Nov. 14, six senators and 18 representatives, all Republicans, signed a letter to President Clinton complaining about the removal of Syria and Lebanon from the annual "Majors List" of drug-producing and -trafficking countries. The letter claimed that the arguments advanced in Clinton's letter transmitting the list to the Congress "seem to be based on assumptions supported neither in the relevant law or by the facts." The letter was signed by Sens. Kit Bond (MO), Paul Coverdell (GA), Alfonse D'Amato (NY), Charles Grassley (IA), Orrin Hatch (UT), and James Inhofe (OK), and Reps. Kevin Brady (TX), Saxby Chambliss (GA), Randy Cunningham (CA), Michael Forbes (R-NY), Tillie Fowler (FL), Jon Fox (PA), James Gibbons (NV), Asa Hutchinson (AR), Ron Lewis (KY), David McIntosh (IN), Mike Pappas (NJ), Chip Pickering (MS), Jim Ryun (KS), Jim Saxton (NJ), Gerald Solomon (NY), Jim Talent (MO), J.C. Watts (OK), and Jerry Weller (IL).

More outlandish was the Dec. 17 letter signed by 20, mostly junior, Republican congressmen to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu telling him of their "support for your government in its efforts to resist pressures to cede even larger portions of Judea and Samaria to the Palestinian Authority." The letter concludes by saying that the signers recognize "the dangers that Israel would face by expanding its concessions to the PA," and claims that "Congress would support you on this critical issue." The letter was signed by Reps. Chambliss, Tom DeLay (TX), Forbes, Fox, Gibbons, Sue Kelly (NY), Steve Largent (OK), Bill McCollum (FL), McIntosh, Pappas, Pickering, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL), Ryun, Matt Salmon (AZ), Chris Smith (NJ), Mark Souder (IN), Talent, Todd Tiahrt (KS), Watts and Weller.

House International Relations Committee Chairman Benjamin Gilman (R-NY) wrote a less naively worded letter in the same vein to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Dec. 22, urging the administration not to pressure Israel into making hasty concessions. He said that he is "concerned that the U.S. is placing undue pressure on Israel to make critical decisions swiftly irrespective of the important ramifications for Israel's security," and "it is obvious that U.S. pressure on Israel is viewed by the Palestinians as an opportunity to backtrack on negotiated agreements in order to demand much more from Israel."

...and a Press Release

The successful last-minute efforts, described in our previous issue, by responsible members of the House and Senate appropriations committees to support the Middle East peace process by including in the foreign aid appropriations bill provisions amounting to a renewal of the "Middle East Peace Facilitation Act" (MEPFA, which allows official contacts between U.S. and Palestinian officials and allows U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority), embarrassed Rep. Michael Forbes, a strong supporter of Israeli Likudist policies, because on Oct. 7 he had declared victory in his fight to prevent MEPFA's renewal. Even before the final vote on the appropriations bill, Forbes issued a press release lashing out at what he called this "behind-the-back," "back-room deal." Since it would have been unseemly to publicly berate fellow members of Congress, he placed full blame on the White House, saying that "this is another example of the administration's duplicitous attempts to thwart the will of Congress."