Lobby calls for limits on lobbying…
From the The American Council on Middle East Policy
In the wake of the current lobbying scandals, both major political parties are proposing reform legislation that would ban US Congressmen from privately funded travel.
One salutary effect of such legislation would be to curtail the long procession of American legislators who regularly visit Israel, courtesy of private groups, thus opening the door for undue access and influence. “These trips include extensive travel in Israel and meetings with key leaders,” according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA). “Travel has been credited with helping lawmakers see controversial topics - such as the West Bank barrier and Gaza Strip withdrawal — in a light favorable to Israel.”
The American Israel Educational Foundation, an organization that provides funding for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), accounted for the visits of 38 members of Congress in the second half of 2005 alone, and others have undoubtedly travelled there under the auspices of other private organizations as well. Jewish organizations are sufficiently worried by the proposed reforms that they are also considering “ways around the regulations, including taking congressional candidates to the Middle East before they’re elected and subject to congressional restrictions,” the JTA reports.
Although peace in the Middle East is often thought to require the good offices of the United States as an honest broker, the Administration’s lack of even-handedness, routinely echoed by lopsidedly pro-Israel votes in Congress, is widely resented throughout the region.
Congressmen might be exposed to more diverse views and access to them might be more balanced by requiring that all their expenses be paid from the Congressional budget, with strict disclosure to the public.
Makes sense. Consider Washington State’s senator, Maria Cantwell. The democrat with a very little ‘d’ cleansed herself of $17,865 in contributions from various American Indian tribes that had worked with political hustler Jack Abramoff. Basically, she shunned the tribes who had already been ripped off by Abramoff in order to keep away from “‘even a whiff’ of impropriety.“
Travle junkets are a different matter, it seems. This decade thus far, the American Israel Education Foundation has spent $1,032,037.75 on 161 lawmaker trips to Israel to gawk at the huge annexation barrier going up on Palestinian land. In 2002, it paid for Cantwell to spend three days there. Since then, Cantwell has unwaveringly supported the annexation wall, declared illegal under international law. Weird since she thinks the U.S. should keep it’s UN dues up to date, which would seem to indicate she might have some sort of respect for the rest of the world.
Maybe if some Palestinians could scrape together some cash they oculd have Cantwell come over and see what life looks like on the other side of that wall. Until she does, there’s more than “a whiff” of something foul regarding this issue coming out of her office.
Tags: crime, Israel, jack abramoff, occupation, Palestine, politicsBrowse Timeline
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