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APN Legislative Round-Up - January 26, 2007

1. Final Update on Committees/Subcommittees 2. New bills and resolutions 3. On the Record

APN Legislative Round-Up for the week ending January 26, 2007

1. Final Update on Committees/Subcommittees
2. New bills and resolutions
3. On the Record


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1. FINAL UPDATE ON COMMITTEES/SUBCOMMITTEES
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House and Senate Subcommittee assignments are now complete. Key assignments are:

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House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC)
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Chair: Lantos (D-CA) Ranking: Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)

HFAC Full committee members list: http://www.internationalrelations.house.gov/member s.asp?committee=full&subnav=subcommittees

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HFAC Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia (MESA)
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Chair: Ackerman (D-NY) Ranking: Pence (R-IN)

Subcommittee Members:

Majority: Berman (D-CA) Scott (D-GA) Costa (D-CA) Klein (D-FL) Sherman (D-CA) Wexler (D-FL) Engel (D-NY) Carnahan (D-MO) Jackson Lee (D-TX)

Minority: Chabot (R-OH) Davis (R-VA) McCotter (R-MI) Wilson (R-SC) Barrett (R-SC) Fortenberry (R-NE) Inglis (R-SC) Mack (R-FL)

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House Appropriations Committee (HAC)
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Chair: Obey (D-WI) Ranking: Lewis (R-CA)

HAC full committee members list: http://appropriations.house.gov/members110th.shtml

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HAC State-Foreign Operations Subcommittee
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Chair: Lowey (D-NY) Ranking: Wolf (R-VA)

Subcommittee Members:

Majority: Jackson Jr. (D-IL) Schiff (D-CA) Israel (D-NY) Chandler (D-KY) Rothman (D-NJ) Lee (D-CA) McCollum (D-MN) Obey (D-WI) (ex officio)

Minority: Knollenberg (R-MI) Kirk (R-IL) Crenshaw (R-FL) Weldon (RFL) Lewis (R-CA) (ex officio)

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Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC)
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Chair: Biden (D-DE) Ranking: Lugar (R-IN)

SFRC Full committee members list: http://www.senate.gov/~foreign/about.html

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SFRC Subcommittee on the Near East and South and Central Asian Affairs
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Chair: Kerry (D-MA) Ranking: Coleman (R-MN)

Subcommittee Members:

Majority: Dodd (D-CT) Feingold (D-WI) Boxer (D-CA) Cardin (D-MD) Minority: Hagel (R-NE) Sununu (R-NH) Voinovich (R-OH)

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Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC)
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Chair: Byrd (D-WV) Ranking: Cochran (R-MS)

List of full committee members: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Senate_ Committee_on_Appropriations [note: the official SAC website has not yet been updated for the 110th Congress].

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SAC State-Foreign Operations Subcommittee
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Chair: Leahy (D-VT) Ranking: Gregg (R-NH)

Subcommittee Members:

Majority: Inouye (D-HI) Harkin (D-IA) Mikulski (D-MD) Durbin (D-IL) Johnson (D-SD) Landrieu (D-LA) Jack Reed (D-RI)

Minority: McConnell (R-KY) Specter (R-PA) Bennett (R-UT) Bond (R-MO) Brownback (R-KS) Alexander (R-TN)


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2. NEW BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS
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(ISR-PAL PEACE) HR 663: Introduced 1/24/07 by Rep. Blumenauer (D-OR) and 4 cosponsors, "to redeploy United States Armed Forces from Iraq and to establish a new direction for United States policy toward Iraq." Sec. 301(e) of the bill is entitled "Israeli-Palestinian Peace" and states that "It is the sense of Congress that United States support for progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is an important factor for the United States to regain credibility and influence in the Middle East." This section also states that "The President, acting through the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, shall undertake a renewed effort towards securing Israeli- Palestinian peace by encouraging negotiations aimed at the establishment of an independent and contiguous Palestinian state living alongside a secure Israel in peace, on a basis similar to the parameters for peace presented to Israel and the Palestinian Authority by former President Bill Clinton in December 2000 and the unofficial Geneva Accords of 2003." Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Armed Services.

(MIDDLE EAST PEACE) H. Res. XXX: On 1/22/07 Rep. Davis (D-CA) circulated a Dear Colleague seeking original cosponsors on a resolution calling on the President to appoint a Special Envoy for Middle East Peace. The resolution has not been introduced as of this writing.

(IRAN/SYRIA) S. Res. 39: Introduced 1/24/07 by Sen. Byrd (D-WV), "expressing the sense of the Senate on the need for approval by the Congress before any offensive military action by the United States against another nation." Referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. [see Section 3, below, for excerpts from Sen. Byrd's statement introducing this resolution].

(IRAN) 2.387: Introduced 1/25/07 by Sen. Wyden (D- OR, "to prohibit the sale by the Department of Defense of parts for F-14 fighter aircraft." In his remarks introducing the bill, Sen. Wyden clarified that the intent of the measure is "to end the Iranian government's acquisition of sensitive military equipment by blocking the Pentagon's sale of F-14 fighter jet parts." Wyden explained that "U.S. customs agents have discovered F-14 parts being illegally shipped to Iran by brokers who bought F-14 surplus equipment from Department of Defense auctions. Other than the United States, Iran is the only Nation to fly the F-14. The U.S. allowed Iran to buy 79 F-14s before its revolution in 1979. Fortunately, most of Iran's F-14s are currently grounded for lack of parts. We know that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons capability. We know that the Department of State has identified Iran as the most active state sponsor of terrorism. We know that the sale of spare parts for F-14s could make it more difficult to confront the nuclear weapons capability of Iran. And yet F-14 parts are still being sold by the DoD...Our country should be doing everything possible to deny the brutal regime in Tehran access to spare parts for their F-14 fleet.Additionally, my bill would prohibit the export of any F-14 parts that have already been sold. This prevents the parts from ending up in Iran through even the most roundabout route." Referred to the Senate Arms Services Committee.

(IRAN) H. Con. Res. 43: Introduced 1/23/07 by Rep. Paul (R-TX), currently having 10 cosponsors, "Expressing the sense of Congress that the President should implement Recommendation 9 of the Iraq Study Group Report." The "Whereas" clauses in the resolution note that "immediately after the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, the Government of Iran signaled to the United States a willingness to cooperate in the effort to find and capture the perpetrators of that attack;" and "immediately after the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Government of Iran sent a message to the United States Department of State proposing a broad dialogue with the United States, suggesting a willingness to cooperate on nuclear programs, accept the State of Israel, and terminate Iranian support for Palestinian militant groups." The "resolved" clause states that the President "should implement Recommendation 9 of the Iraq Study Group Report, which states: 'Under the aegis of the New Diplomatic Offensive and the [Iraq International] Support Group, the United States should engage directly with Iran and Syria in order to try to obtain their commitment to constructive policies toward Iraq and other regional issues. In engaging with Syria and Iran, the United States should consider incentives, as well as disincentives, in seeking constructive results.'." Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.


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3. ON THE RECORD
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Excerpt from statement made by Sen. Byrd (D-WV) 1/24/07 to introduce S. Res. 39:

"...Although Congress should have learned important lessons from the Vietnam war, there are now ominous indications that a path to a new military confrontation is being created right before our eyes. Just this month, the President announced his intention to 'interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria'' into Iraq.

"What does this saber-rattling comment really mean? Hear me. Does the President seek to expand the ongoing war beyond Iraq's borders? Does he? Does this comment really mean that? Or are we already on a course to another war in the Middle East? Are we? Will Syria or Iran be the Cambodia of a 21st century Vietnam? Will Syria or Iran be the Cambodia of a 21st century Vietnam?

"In the State of the Union Address last night, the President called out Iran no less than seven times. Was the speech the first step in an effort to blame all that has gone wrong in the Middle East on Iran? Was the focus on Iran during the President's address an attempt to link Iran to the war on terrorism, and, by extension, start building a case that our response to the 9/11 attacks must include dealing with Iran?

"I fear--and I hope I am wrong--that the machinery may have already been set in motion which may ultimately lead to a military attack inside Iran or perhaps Syria, despite the opposition of the American people, many in Congress, and even some within the President's administration.

"Wise counsel from congressional leaders to step back from the precipice of all-out war in the Middle East is too easily disregarded. To forestall a looming disaster, Congress must act to save the checks and balances established by the Constitution.

"Today I am introducing a resolution that clearly states that it is Congress--the Congress, the Congress, not the President--that is vested with the ultimate decision on whether to take this country to war against another country.

"This resolution, which I hold in my hand--here it is--this resolution is a rejection--hear me--a rejection of the bankrupt, dangerous, and unconstitutional doctrine of preemption. Let me say that again. This resolution, which I hold in my hand, is a rejection of the bankrupt, dangerous, and unconstitutional doctrine of preemption, which proposes that the President--any President--may strike another country before that country threatens us, before that country threatens us. That is the doctrine of preemption: We may strike, we may attack, we may invade another country before it threatens us.

"Now, this resolution, which I am going to introduce, returns our Government to the inspired intent of the Framers, God bless them, of the Constitution who so wisely placed the power to declare war in the hands of the elected representatives of the American people.

"If there exists a reckless determination for a new war in the Middle East, I fear that the attorneys of the executive branch are already seeking ways to tie this war to the use of force resolution for Iraq, or the resolution passed in response to 9/11. But the American people need only be reminded about the untruths of Iraq's supposed ties to the 9/11 attacks to see how far the truth can be stretched in order to achieve the desired outcome.

"If the executive branch were to try to prod, stretch, or rewrite the 9/11 or the Iraq use of force resolutions in an outrageous attempt to apply them to an attack on Iran, on Syria, or anywhere else, this resolution of mine is clear-- clear as the noonday Sun in a cloudless sky--this resolution is clear: The Constitution says that Congress--we here and those over there on the other side of the Capitol--the Constitution says that Congress, not the President, must make the decision for war or peace. The power to declare war resides in Congress--resides here--and it is we--we, the elected representatives of the people- -who are the 'deciders.'

"Congress has an obligation to the people of the United States. With so many of our sons and daughters spilling their blood in one costly war, Senators and Representatives have a moral duty to question whether we are headed for an even more tragic conflict in the Middle East. But in order to question this administration--in order to fulfill the duties entrusted to us by the Constitution, to which we have sworn to support and defend--Congress must first insist that the powers given to this body--the Congress, the Senate and the House--are held sacrosanct. We must insist that these powers, including the power to declare war, are not usurped by this President or any other President who will follow.

"The resolution, Mr. President, which I am submitting today, is an effort to protect the Constitution--an effort to protect the Constitution--from the zeal of the executive branch, whose very nature is to strive for more and more power during a time of war.

"It is time now for Congress to put its foot down and stand up for the Constitution. Our Nation did not ask to be put into another Vietnam. Let us not deceive ourselves that we are somehow immune to another Cambodia. Let us stop a reckless, costly war in Iran or Syria before it begins by restoring the checks and balances that our Founders so carefully--so carefully--designed."


For more information, contact Lara Friedman, APN Director of Policy and Government Relations, at 202/728-1893, or at lfriedman@peacenow.org.