Legislative Mischief

by Shirl McArthur

Congress seems incapable of letting an opportunity for mischief go by. The "30th anniversary of the reunification" of Jerusalem in June was such an opportunity. Both the Senate and the House passed similar concurrent resolutions congratulating the people of Israel on the anniversary, which by itself would have been an inappropriate meddling into a sensitive subject. However, they made matters worse by including a preamble referring to, among other things, the 1990 concurrent resolution, agreed to by both Houses, declaring that Jerusalem "must remain an undivided city," and to the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 "which states as a matter of United States policy that Jerusalem should remain the undivided capital of Israel." In addition, this year's resolutions also declare that the Congress:

"strongly believes that Jerusalem must remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected as they have been by Israel during the past 30 years
"calls upon the President and Secretary of State to publicly affirm as a matter of U.S. policy that Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of the state of Israel
"urges U.S. officials to refrain from any actions that contradict United States law on this subject." (That is from the Senate version. The House version says, " that contradict this policy.")

Such statements in a concurrent resolution are not binding on the executive branch, and in any case, the last provision is so vague as to be meaningless.

The Senate bill, which was introduced by Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) and co-sponsored by 88 other senators, was passed unanimously by the Senate on May 20, and sent to the House on May 21. The 11 senators who did not co-sponsor the Moynihan bill were Sens. Spencer Abraham (R-MI), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Dale Bumpers (D-AR), Robert Byrd (D-WV), John Chafee (R-RI), Wendell Ford (D-KY), James Jeffords (R-VT), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), William Roth (R-DE), and Craig Thomas (R-WY).

The House bill, which was introduced by Rep. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and eventually attracted 185 other co-sponsors, was referred to the House International Relations Committee on April 10, and passed by the full House on June 10, under "suspension of the rules"(which limits debate and is normally used for "non-controversial" bills). The vote in the House was 406 for, 17 against, with one person, Rep. Herbert Bateman (R-VA), voting "present." the 17 voting against the resolution were Representatives David Bonior (D-MI), Eva Clayton (D-NC), John Conyers (D-MI), Ronald Dellums (D-CA), John Dingell (D-MI), Lee Hamilton (D-IN), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Jim McDermott (D-WA), David Minge (DFL-MN), Jim Moran (D-VA), David Obey (D-WI), Ron Paul (R-TX), Thomas Petri (R-WI), Nick Rahall (D-WV), John Sununu (R-NH), James Traficant (D-OH), and Melvin Watt (D-NC).

Some Aid for Israel and Egypt May Go to Jordan

It has been widely assumed on Capitol Hill that the Clinton administration plans to seek Israeli and Egyptian cooperation to provide aid to Jordan and to finance the start-up of the Middle East Development Bank. This was all but confirmed by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright testifying before the Senate foreign operations appropriations subcommittee. Subcommittee chairman Mitch McConnell (R-KY) asked Albright about reports that the administration plans to provide $100 million to Jordan from the $3.1 billion in U.S. foreign aid to Israel and $2.2 billion in foreign aid to Egypt. She did not give a direct answer, but simply said that the administration has been looking for ways to give substantial aid to Jordan.

This plan would overcome the long-standing objection of House foreign aid appropriations subcommittee chairman Sonny Callahan (R-AL) to spending any more aid money in the Middle East. Last year Callahan said that he supported funding for the Middle East Development Bank (MEDB), but that the money would have to come out of other Middle East aid funds. Callahan's position has not changed, and he says it is supported by a solid majority of his committee. This year the administration is apparently trying to get both Israel and Egypt to agree to divert some of the aid funds earmarked for them to finance both the MEDB and the $100 million for Jordan. Egypt would probably agree, since the administration could offset the money with debt forgiveness.

However, Israeli intransigence may scuttle the plan. Although Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said during his election campaign that Israel should reduce its dependence on U.S. aid, he apparently has changed his mind and now believes that any reduction of U.S. aid to Israel would have great symbolic significance. He might be right. If he chooses to pick a public fight with the administration, he can probably count on the support of Israel's congressmen in both the House and the Senate. However, even Netanyahu must be able to see that this course of action could carry more potential long-term risks than gains.

Palestinian Aid Threatened?

President Arafat's clumsy action during May in arresting television journalist Daoud Kuttab for televising the proceedings of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and the PA's reiteration of the death penalty for any Palestinian selling land to Jews, succeeded in shifting world attention away from Prime Minister Netanyahu's torpedoing of the peace process. These actions, especially the threats of execution, also drew the predictable response from members of Congress. Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) and Bep. Benjamin Gilman (R-NY), chairmen of the Senate Foreign Relations and House International Relations Committees, respectively, wrote to Secretary of State Albright saying that they would oppose any direct assistance to the PA until it revokes its call to execute Arabs who sell land to Israelis. Rep. Jim Saxton (R-NJ) said that the U.S. government was acquiescing in this "most anti-Semitic" law by subsidizing the PA through the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act (MEPFA).

Indeed, we have heard several rumors that members of Congress, notably including Gilman and Helms, may challenge the State Department's regular six-month report required by the MEPFA and force a vote on whether to suspend aid to the PA. Israeli media reports said that American Jewish lobbying groups are split on the issue, and are gearing up to compete with each other in lobbying Congress over whether or not aid to the PA should continue. In this connection, two groups associated with Israel's Labor Party, the Washington-based Project Nishma and the New York-based Israel Policy Front, have joined forces. They both will operate out of Project Nishma's Washington offices.

More Congressional Letters

The letter originated by Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) urging President Bill Clinton "to prevail upon Israel to refrain from undertaking the construction of the Har Homa settlement on Jabal Abu Ghneim until the status of Jerusalem is resolved through negotiations," which we mentioned in the last issue, provided a bit of light drama during May. The letter was dated May 7 but was not actually mailed until May 14. In the meantime, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Israel's principal lobby in Washington, DC, was busily harassing the 17 representatives (besides Rahall) and one senator who originally co-signed the letter.

Their efforts were partially successful, in that the two Democratic congressmen from Pennsylvania who signed Mike Doyle and Paul McHale both tried to have their names removed. McHale was successful (leaving an obvious hole in the middle of the columns of signatures) but Doyle was not. So Doyle then took the unusual step of sending a follow-up letter to Clinton, dated May 8, saying that the Rahall letter did not "accurately reflect" his position, in that he does "not urge you to oppose the construction" of the Har Homa settlement, which of course was the whole point of the Rahall letter.

Including Doyle, the 17 co-signers were Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-MN), and Reps. David Bonior (D-MI), John Conyers (D-MI), Pat Danner (D-MO), John Dingell (D-MI), Doyle, Elizabeth Furse (D-OR), Earl Hilliard (D-AL), Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL), Ray LaHood (R-IL), William Lipinski (D-IL), Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), George Miller (D-CA), Jim Moran (D-VA), Ralph Regula (R-OH), James Traficant (D-OH), and Mel Watt (D-NC).

By contrast, on April 23 Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) wrote to Clinton urging him to immediately suspend non-humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians because of the PA's "failure to fight terrorism and violence." This letter was co-signed by 15 other representatives, marking one of the few times when a blatantly pro-Israel letter attracted fewer signatures than one urging balance. Those co-signing the anti-Palestinian Engel letter were Representatives Robert Andrews (D-NJ), Dan Burton (R-IN), Randy Cunningham (R-CA), Michael Forbes (R-NY), John Hostettler (R-IN), Sue Kelly (R-NY), Peter King (R-NY), Ron Klink (D-PA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Michael Pappas (R-NJ), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Jim Saxton (R-NJ), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Brad Sherman (D-CA), and J.C. Watts (R-OK).

Rahall Reintroduces Lebanon Sovereignty Resolution

On April 29 Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) introduced House Concurrent Resolution 68, which expresses "the sense of Congress regarding the territorial integrity, unity, sovereignty, and full independence of Lebanon." The resolution, co-sponsored by Representatives John Conyers (D-MI), John Dingell (D-MI), Chris John (D-LA), and William Lipinski (D-IL), calls for the withdrawal of all non-Lebanese forces from Lebanon and calls upon the president to negotiate directly with officials of the Lebanese government on issues pertaining to Lebanon. The resolution also asks the president to consider resolving the presence of non-Lebanese forces in Lebanon without relying exclusively upon a comprehensive peace in the region.

This resolution is similar to one Rahall introduced in the 104th Congress, which died in committee. Given that Gilman remains chairman of the House International Relations Committee, Rahall's latest effort may well suffer the same fate.

Bill Proposed to Establish Second U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem

The Council for the National Interest (CNI), the Jerusalem Fund, and the National Association of Arab Americans proposed at a May 29 press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC a bill to upgrade the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem to embassy status to provide diplomatic relations with Palestine. According to CNI President Gene Bird, the group is working to have similar measures introduced in the House of Commons and other European legislatures.

The move would take place as soon as the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv is moved to Jerusalem, in accordance with the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995. Jerusalem Fund chairman Hisham Sharabi said that enactment of the measure would have great impact in the Arab world and would improve prospects for the peace process. CNI Board Chairman Paul Findley said that friends of Israel should welcome the measure because it would promote cooperation and help clear away the current climate of distrust.

However, Dan Mariaschin, director of B'nai B'rith's Center on Public Policy, said that the mere introduction of this bill would be an "outrageous intrusion into the peace process." All pro-Israel lobbying groups are said to be working to assure that the bill is not even introduced in Congress.