Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 1998, pages 21-22

Congress Watch

Congressional Concerns Conflict Over Events in Iraq

By Shirl McArthur

As the 105th Congress wrapped up its final session amid the distractions of a possible presidential impeachment and the haggling over about half of the FY-99 spending bills, several senators and representatives found time to express diametrically-opposed concerns over events in Iraq and apparent changes in the Clinton administration’s Iraq policy. Although these concerns were expressed in competing congressional letters to President Bill Clinton, both houses of Congress agreed, by wide margins, on a bill to give substantial aid and support to Iraqi opposition groups.

43 Representatives Decry Humanitarian Situation in Iraq

As reported in the previous two issues of the Washington Report, Reps. David Bonior, John Conyers and Carolyn Kilpatrick, all Michigan Democrats, have since early May been circulating a letter in the House decrying the humanitarian situation in Iraq and urging that Clinton “de-link the economic sanctions, which have been a complete failure, from the military sanctions, which have had a measured success.”

On Oct. 6, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the Arab American Institute (AAI), and the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) sponsored an “ad-hoc hearing” on Capitol Hill to announce the sending of the letter, signed by 43 members of Congress. The hearing featured Conyers, Phyllis Bennis of the IPS, Dr. Peter Pellet, a nutrition professor who has conducted several surveys in Iraq for the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization, and Dennis Halliday, who had resigned the previous week as the coordinator of the U.N.’s Oil-for-Food program. Halliday was particularly outspoken in his criticism of the U.N. sanctions, saying that he had resigned “to draw attention to the fact that sanctions are a totally bankrupt concept; an indiscriminate, blunt instrument.”

Those signing the letter, in addition to Bonior, Conyers, and Kilpatrick, were Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tom Campbell (R-CA), William Clay (D-MO), Eva Clayton (D-NC), Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Danny Davis (D-IL), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Diana DeGette (D-CO), William Delahunt (D-MA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Sam Farr (D-CA), Elizabeth Furse (D-OR), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Bill Jefferson (D-LA), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), John LaFalce (D-NY), Barbara Lee (D-CA), James McGovern (D-MA), Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), Carrie Meek (D-FL), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Jim Oberstar (D-MN), John Olver (D-MA), Major Owens (D-NY), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Collin Peterson (D-MN), Lynn Rivers (D-MI), Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Pete Stark (D-CA), Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Melvin Watt (D-NC), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA).

Senators Abraham and Wellstone also Concerned about Iraqi Suffering

One day earlier, on Oct. 5, Senators Spencer Abraham (R-MI) and Paul Wellstone (D-MN) also wrote to Clinton about the suffering imposed on Iraq’s civilian population as a result of the economic sanctions. In their letter, they urged Clinton to improve the humanitarian situation in Iraq, specifically to support quick approval of contracts for spare parts for Iraq’s oil industry; support improvements in monitoring and oversight mechanisms for movement and delivery of relief supplies to civilians; and to streamline Treasury Department procedures hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid by U.S. charities and religious groups.

But Other Senators Urge Tougher Action against Iraq

On Oct. 9, 27 senators sent Clinton a letter, initiated by Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI), Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), John McCain (R-AZ), and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), to “express [their] concern over recent developments in Iraq,” especially Iraq’s suspension of cooperation with the U.N.’s weapons inspection program. The letter urges Clinton “to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraq sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq’s refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs.”

In introducing the letter into the Congressional Record, Levin acknowledged the suffering that economic sanctions have caused the Iraqi people, saying it was “most unfortunate.” He also implicitly acknowledged that the sanctions policy has been a failure, saying that the sanctions were imposed to assure that Iraq’s “weapons of mass destruction programs be destroyed and that such destruction be accomplished under international supervision and permanent monitoring,” but that President Saddam Hussain has not complied for more than seven years. Levin and the other signers seemed to be advocating the politician’s prescription for fixing a failed policy: continue with the same policy, but more so.

Signers of the letter, in addition to Levin, Lieberman, McCain, and Hutchison, were Senators Kit Bond (R-MO), John Breaux (D-LA), Alfonse D’Amato (R-NY), Tom Daschle (D-SD), Chris Dodd (D-CN), Pete Domenici (R-NM), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Wendell Ford (D-KY), Chuck Grassley (R-IO), Jesse Helms (R-NC), James Inhofe (R-OK), Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Bob Kerrey (D-NE), John Kerry (D-MA), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Dick Lugar (R-IN), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Rick Santorum (R-PA), Arlen Specter (R-PA), and Strom Thurmond (R-SC).

Meanwhile, “Iraq Liberation Act” Breezes Through

While the conflicting letters described above were being circulated, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) and House International Relations Committee Chairman Benjamin Gilman (R-NY) were orchestrating passage of a bill to reinforce America’s Iraq policy aimed at removing Saddam Hussain and providing military support to Iraqi opposition groups. The bill states that “it should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussain from power in Iraq and to promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime.”

The bill calls upon the president to select one or more Iraqi opposition groups that would be eligible to receive up to $97 million in military equipment and training and $2 million for radio and television broadcasting to Iraq. The bill was introduced in the Senate and the House on Sept. 29, passed by the House on Oct. 5 (with 38 representatives voting against it), passed unanimously by the Senate on Oct. 7, and cleared for the White House the same day.

The only congressman unequivocally speaking out against the bill was Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX). Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-IN) described problems with the bill at length, but then said he would vote for it anyway, because he felt the Iraqi opposition should be supported.

In his floor speech, Paul said that he saw the bill as “a declaration of virtual war. It is giving the president tremendous powers to pursue war efforts against a sovereign nation. It should not be done casually. I think it is another example of a flawed foreign policy that we have followed for a good many decades.” Hamilton cited five specific problems with the bill: (1) the difficulties in trying to select the one or more opposition organizations to receive aid, from the 70 or so known groups; (2) the possibility of raising false expectations among Iraqi opposition leaders that the bill represents an open-ended U.S. commitment; (3) the gap between the objective of removing Saddam and the means to do so; (4) the practical difficulty, or impossibility, of finding a country willing to accept an armed Iraqi opposition group on its territory; and (5) the effect that the bill will have on America’s standing in the world, especially among Arab states and among Security Council members.

Nevertheless, only 38 representatives, many of whom also signed the Bonior/ Conyers/Kilpatrick letter, voted against the bill. They were Reps. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), George Brown (D-CA), Julia Carson (D-IN), Helen Chenoweth (R-ID), Clay, Conyers, Davis (IL), Lloyd Doggett (R-TX), Terry Everett (R-AL), Thomas Ewing (R-IL), Harold Ford (D-TN), Furse, Hastings (FL), Earl Hilliard (D-AL), John Hostettler (R-IN), Jackson, Jefferson, Ray LaHood (R-IL), Lee, John Lewis (D-GA), McKinney, George Miller (D-CA), Patsy Mink (D-HI), Paul, Donald Payne (D-NJ), Richard Pombo (R-CA), Rivers, Rush, Martin Sabo (D-MN), Jose Serrano (D-NY), David Skaggs (D-CO), Ike Skelton (D-MO), Stark, Ed Towns (D-NY), Bruce Vento (D-MN), James Walsh (R-NY), and Waters.

All U.S. Ambassadors to Middle East Confirmed

All four of the new U.S. ambassadors to Middle Eastern countries reported in the September issue of the Washington Report, were confirmed by the Senate. John Craig as ambassador to Oman and David Satterfield as ambassador to Lebanon were confirmed on Aug. 4. Ted Kattouf as ambassador to the UAE and Elizabeth McKune as ambassador to Qatar were confirmed on Sept. 28.