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If
Only Moses Knew..."
10/10
2003
28
Washington Watch
Compromise Bill
Long-sought bill on Syria sanctions is gaining.
JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent
ongressional supporters of a
long-stalled Syria sanctions
bill are hoping White House
opposition is softening, now
that President George W. Bush has
endorsed Israel's weekend raid of a
terror training camp in Syria.
But Washington sources say the
administration continues to have
reservations about the legislation;
instead of fighting it, the White
House will now seek changes that
could limit its impact. And most
backers of the Syria Accountability
and Lebanese Sovereignty Act will go
along with modest changes in the bill
as the price of ending the logjam.
"We've done some tweaking," said
Rep. Ileana Ros-
Lehtinen, D-Fla.,
chair of the Mideast
subcommittee and a
key backer of the
sanctions bill. "But
there's been nothing
major."
Other supporters
Ros-Lehtinen
say they'd be willing
to accept a slight
expansion of the administration's
waiver authority in return for quick
passage.
The measure was scheduled to be
marked up by the House
International Relations Committee
on Wednesday, and backers expected
no major problems — despite the
unwillingness of Rep. Henry Hyde,
R-Ill., the committee chair, to move
the bill.
Late last week, House Majority
Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., signed on
to the bill, which already has some
271 co-sponsors but has had a con-
spicuous lack of support from top
GOP leaders.
Key backers of the bill, which was
offered initially by Rep. Eliot Engel,
D-N.Y., say they plan to update the
measure to reflect recent develop-
ments in the region — including an
administration official's recent
acknowledgement that Syria contin-
ues to allow terrorists to cross the
Syria-Iraq border to attack U.S. occu-
pation forces.
Jewish groups generally praised
President Bush for confirming Israel's
right to self-defense and his unprece-
dented statement that "Israel must
not feel constrained in terms of
defending the homeland."
On Tuesday, leaders of the Anti-
Defamation League wrote to Bush,
thanking him. But several Jewish
leaders said the administration has yet
to tip its hand about its plans for
Syria. "Will they continue to treat
Syria like another country we do
business with, or as a chief terror sup-
port and threat to regional stability? "
one asked.
"The president's comments about
Israel's action this weekend were nice,
but it's not at all clear if U.S. policy
toward Syria is about to change. One
big tip-off will be their response to
the Syria Accountability Act."
But Ros-Lehtinen said the apparent
decision by the White House not to
actively fight the bill was enough,.
Anti-War Rally
Jewish groups are keeping a wary eye
n the next big anti-war demonstra-
tion slated for Washington, promoted
by a group that has turned previous
anti-Iraq war marches into Israel
bashing festivals.
The "Mass March on Washington,
scheduled for Oct. 25, is being
organized by International Answer.
While the focus is on ending the
occupation of Iraq and "U.S. mili-
tarism, we must also oppose the daily
threats against the people of
Palestine, Afghanistan, Iran, Korea,
Cuba, the Philippines, Colombia,
Liberia, Zimbabwe, and all others
that are targets of the Bush adminis-
tration," according to the group's
Web site.
"Answer," created by the World
Workers Party, a radical communist
offshoot, is possibly the only
American group that defends the
despotic government of North Korea.
The list of endorsing organizations
includes numerous fringe groups (the
Church of Rock and Roll and the
Marxist Voice of Labor and Youth are
amonc, them), but also numerous
mainstream Christian clerics.