Congressional Leaders Discuss Foreign Policy with Bush and Rice
(Colombia, Mideast, Afghanistan are topics of discussion) (1040) By Wendy S. Ross Washington File White House Correspondent Washington -- Colombia, the Middle East, Afghanistan and the global fight against terrorism were among the subjects discussed at a private White House meeting March 6 between President Bush and his National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, and the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate Foreign Relations and the House International Relations Committees. They are Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair, Senator Joseph Biden (Democrat-Delaware), Senator Jesse Helms (Republican-North Carolina), House International Relations Committee Chair Henry Hyde (Republican-Illinois) and Representative Tom Lantos (Democrat-California). They spoke with reporters about the meeting as they left the White House. Regarding Colombia, Chairman Hyde said he and Representative Lantos were introducing a resolution in the House of Representatives March 6 that urges a new policy towards Colombia that would support the resistance to the insurgents beyond simply the narcotics issue. Hyde said he presented Bush with a copy of the resolution and the President seemed "receptive" to it. Asked about this at his daily briefing later, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said the Bush administration is talking to Congress "about the whole situation in Colombia. Secretary Powell was on the Hill today testifying about Colombia. And there are laws that constrain what the administration can do to help President Pastrana, and...those laws deal mostly with anti-narcotics efforts. "There are many members of Congress who have some thoughts about whether that law should be changed," said Fleischer. "The administration will talk to those members. I can't indicate to you the administration has reached any conclusions yet, but that's where it stands." Fleischer said the escalating trouble in Colombia as a result of FARC's violence is of concern to members of Congress. "And the President is pleased that he is hearing a bipartisan message that the United States needs to help Colombia. That's his view as well. It's a question of exactly what manner the help can be delivered in most effectively." Regarding the Middle East, Congressman Lantos told reporters he had discussed with President Bush a proposal he had made earlier in the day to Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak. The proposal is for Mubarak to go to Jerusalem to act as an intermediary in explaining the Saudi vision for the Middle East. "I think Mubarak has the gravitas and the experience and the knowledge to do this. He certainly did not immediately agree, but he did not say no. And I very much hope that President Mubarak will consider that he has a historic moment as the downward spiral in the Middle East is so obvious to all of us," Lantos said. Asked about the Lantos proposal, the White House Press Secretary said President Bush "believes that if the leaders in the region believe that would be a helpful step, then that's something that the President would work for and support. But the President met with President Mubarak yesterday, and that was not something President Mubarak indicated. So I think there's also a question of what the President involved -- President Mubarak -- supports." On Afghanistan, Representative Lantos, a Democrat, told reporters that he had just returned from an extensive visit to China, Japan, France and Germany, which had as its purpose to indicate solid bipartisan support for our Afghanistan policy. "In every place, I made the point that the President's support is across the board, across the full political spectrum. And I think some of us who are Democrats have a better opportunity overseas to indicate that the American people and the American Congress are united behind the President in his global war against terrorism. And some of us view these early months of this war as analogous to the beginning of the Cold War under Harry Truman, which lasted two generations. Hopefully this will last a much shorter period of time," Lantos said. "But I think it's important to realize that the Congress is convinced that the war against terrorism must be conducted. And it has to be conducted in all the countries where there are terrorists. It's self-evident." Lantos said that both he and Chairman Hyde "are fully supportive of the President on the substance of the policy. "Speaking for myself," Lantos said, "I was appalled by the European criticism of that policy, calling it unilateral and simplistic. There is nothing simplistic in having moral clarity. And I think this battle against evil, whether it's an axis or not an axis, has moral clarity, and that's why the President has my support. "It's important for the President and his administration to understand that in Senators Biden and Helms and Chairman Hyde and myself he has four fully supportive people on the Hill heading up the two foreign policy committees, and it is in the administration's interests to engage in regular and frequent consultations," said Lantos. Chairman Hyde said President Bush "was listening to us... and resolved to have further and more frequent consultations with the Senate and the House on these matters." Fleischer said the March 6 meeting with the Congressional leaders at the White House "was a follow-up to previous meetings with the same group that's been coming down to the White House just to share ideas and to talk foreign policy. And those leaders, as you heard, welcomed these opportunities. They've had them before and they'll have them again." Asked if members of Congress believe there should be more consultation on policy with the White House, Fleischer replied: "This is an age-old issue, and an important one, between the executive and the legislature. It's nothing new to this administration. And the President, I think, has done a superb job of consulting with members of Congress. "People always want more consultation. The administration does a very good job in providing it, and we'll always work productively with members of Congress. We understand members of Congress will always want as much as they can, and we'll always try to work with them as best as we can." (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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