Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 1997, Pages 16-17

Special Report

Interim Middle East Report Card on the 105th Congress

By Shirl McArthur

Since the August congressional recess marked the end of the first quarter of the 105th Congress, we took that opportunity to look at the record in terms of Middle East issues. As usual, however, we found that many of the most mischievous "achievements" of this Congress were done by voice vote, with individual votes not recorded. A major example of this was the so-called "Saxton amendment" to the House foreign aid appropriations bill, which cuts off aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) for three months and makes restoration of aid contingent upon receiving a complex presidential report on Palestinian behavior in six areas. The Saxton amendment was passed by a voice vote on the day after the July 30 Macheneh Yehuda bombing.

Furthermore, and also as usual, the major bills with Middle East significance all involved many issues, so a vote on a given bill may have been more determined by other questions than by any consideration of justice or U.S. national interest in the Middle East. An example of such legislation was the foreign affairs authorization bill, which included several controversial issues not primarily relating to the Middle East, such as funding for family planning and reorganization of the U.S. foreign affairs agencies.

However, we were able to select three issues in the Senate and six in the House (the Senate is much more prone than the House to depend upon voice votes) that seemed indicative of attitudes toward the Middle East. Furthermore, even with the issues selected, some of the votes may have little significance. For example, in the House some members may have voted against HR 748, aimed at Syria and Sudan (see "Congress Watch"), not so much because it picks on Syria but simply because it is stupid legislation in that it removes all chance for executive flexibility and is one more instance of trying to impose unilateral sanctions.

The major issue we found for the Senate was the concurrent resolution congratulating Israel on the 30th anniversary of the "reunification" of Jerusalem and "reaffirming" that Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of Israel. Although it was passed by voice vote, only 11 senators were not willing to co-sponsor the resolution, so we treat the sponsorship as we would a vote.

The second issue in the Senate, the earmarking of aid for Egypt, is slightly misleading, because Appropriations Committee Chairman Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was responsible for removing the earmarked aid to Egypt in the first place. However, he subsequently was persuaded privately by several senators to relent, and he agreed to propose the amendment restoring the earmark, thus assuring its passage.

Finally, we were impressed that in the Senate only Sen. Paul Wellstone (DFL-MN) was prepared to join with 17 members of the House of Representatives in co-signing a letter originated by Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) urging a balanced response to the Israeli contruction on Jabal Abu Ghneim. (From second- or third-hand sources, we heard that the Republicans were under some pressure from party leadership on this issue, which could explain why no Republican senators and only two Republican representatives signed the letter.)

In the House, selection was easier because we were able to find three significant recorded votes. In addition, besides the letter regarding Jabal Abu Ghneim, we also chose a Rahall-sponsored resolution (which is still buried in Rep. Ben Gilman's International Affairs committee) aimed at removing the Israeli and the Syrian presence in Lebanon, because we felt it significant that the resolution garnered seven co-sponsors. Finally, we chose a Rahall letter urging an end to the ban on travel to Lebanon, although nine of its 16 co-signers do not appear elsewhere on the list.

In analyzing the two lists, we see that only Sens. Spencer Abraham (R-MI), Robert Byrd (D-WV), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and McConnell appear in the first two columns, and the inclusion of McConnell has to be questioned for reasons discussed above.

In the House, with more issues to look at it is easier to see who stands out for willingness to ignore the Israel lobby. Rahall is the only congressman whose name appears in all six columns, which is partially explained by the fact that he initiated three of the six items. Three others—David Bonior, John Conyers, and John Dingell (all Democrats from Michigan) appear in five columns, and two—Chris John (D-LA) and Ray LaHood (R-IL)—appear in four columns. On the other end of the scale, 35 names appear only once, causing one to wonder about the extent of their commitment to justice in the Middle East.