Monday, January 16, 2006
AIPAC Sponsored Trips Should be Made Illegal
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TRAVEL SPONSORED BY LOBBIES UNDER ATTACK
Congressional Trips to Israel Sponsored by AIPAC Should be Made Illegal
January 13, 2006
Terry Walz
CNI Staff
House Republicans, according to the January 11, 2006 New York Times, are considering a lobbying proposal that would ban all travel paid for by lobby organizations. The proposal is being drawn up by David Dreier (R-CA), chairman of the Rules Committee, and has been endorsed by Dennis Hastert, the Speaker. They are now approaching Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the Democratic Minority Whip, for his support.
If the proposal succeeds, Hoyer’s almost annual trips to Israel could come to an end, since the cost of such trips would have to come out of the Congressional budget. During the recent congressional break (December 2005-January 2006), AIPAC “Update” reported that the American Israel Educational Foundation, “a supporting organization of AIPAC,” took Reps. Judy Biggert (R-IL), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) on a trip to Israel. Update commented, “American lawmakers routinely travel to Israel, saying that trips to the Jewish state give them an in-depth perspective of the security challenges it faces.”
Usually the group meets with the prime minister and a high official in the Israel Defense Ministry. The December/January group called at Hadassah Hospital to wish Ariel Sharon well from his massive stroke.
In November-December 2005, AIEF sponsored another group of lawmakers, including Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Thomas Carper (D-DE), Rep Ellen Tauscher (D-CA). During the August recess, they took out 16 Republicans and 14 Democrats on separate trips. The Republican group was led by Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO), who is now running for Tom Delay’s position, and Deputy Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA), and the Democratic group was led by Steny Hoyer and Democratic Caucus Chairman Robert Menendez (now the new senator from New Jersey, filling the place of Jon Corzine, who was elected governor). This was Menendez’s second expense-paid trip, having been a member of the Democratic group that went to Israel in August.
Both Steny and Blunt outdo themselves in their support for Israel. As Ron Kampeas pointed out in a recent article in the JTA, “Working with Rep Steny Hoyer….Blunt has initiated pro-Israel resolutions that are guaranteed overwhelming passage, and he leads a trip to Israel every two years for Republican freshmen.”
The August Republican group, led by Blunt and Cantor, included Rob Bishop (UT), Henry Bonilla (TX), Jo Bonner (AL), John Carter (TX), Thelma Drake (VA), John Doolittle (CA), newcomer Virginia Foxx (NC), newcomer Bobby Jindal (LA), newcomer Randy Kuhl (NY), Dan Lungren (CA), Kenny Marchant (TX), Tom Price (GA), Deborah Pryce (OH), and Paul Ryan (WI). Ilena Ros Lehtinen, who also manages to get to Israel once or twice a year, admitted in an article published on the Republican Jewish Coalition website, that she would “go to mat on Israel issues.” Indeed, she regularly does. Two years ago she became head of the Middle East Subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee, which spearheads many pro-Israel resolutions.
The August Democratic group included, in addition to Menendez and Hoyer, John Barrow ((D-GA), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Russ Carnahan (D-MO), Jim Costa (D-CA), Steve Israel (D-NY), James Langevin (D-RI), Michael Michaud (D-ME), Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD), John Salazar (D-CO), Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), Henry Waxman (D-CA), and Lynn Woolsey.
According to the group’s published agenda, the representatives called on Ariel Sharon, Simon Peres, “and other top government officials, visit[ed] the Golan Heights, Israel’s border with Lebanon, strategic overlooks in the West Bank,” Massada National Park, the Dead Sea, Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, and Mevasseret Immigrant Absorption Center, “among other security and cultural sites.” On the Palestinian side, only an appointment with Palestinian Authority, the Finance Minister Salam Fayad was announced.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported at in 2005 some 103 members of Congress visited Israel and that Congress took 15 resolutions for the benefit of Israel.
The rigid pro-Israel bent of Congress is too much for even President Bush, who’s embrace of the Ariel Sharon’s unilateral policies have been a mark of his administrations. David Dumke, who has followed congressional attitudes toward the Middle East for many years, believes the differences have complicated Bush’s Middle East positions.
The overreaching of lobby groups such as AIPAC and the power it exerts on US foreign policy prompts a need for regulation and transparency. The Council for the National Interest is promoting a Foreign Lobby Registration Act, and those interested in signing the act may read it on CNI’s website.
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