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Best and Worst of Congress in 2008

Best

THE GRASSROOTS BLOCKED THE BLOCKADE

In May of 2008, Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) introduced yet another bill meant to punish Iran, which would undermine any attempt at serious diplomacy to resolve tensions between the US and Iran. H. Con. Res. 362, however, was worse than previous sanctions bills because it essentially called for a naval blockade on Iran--an act of war. Representatives eager to look tough on Iran clamored to put their names on the bill, and it eventually gained 280 cosponsors, more than half of the entire House.  An aide to the Democratic leadership was quoted as saying the bill would pass "like a hot knife through butter."

As soon as the full implications of this bill's language became clear, thousands of Peace Action supporters fought back. They flooded congressional offices with letters, emails and phone calls and set up meetings with their representatives to express their concerns about the bill. The effect of the grassroots backlash was palpable on the Hill, and Reps. Danny Davis (D-IL), Steven Cohen (D-TN), Tom Allen (D-ME), William Lacy Clay (D-MO), and John Lewis (D-GA) removed their names from the bill in response to pressure from their constituents. Many representatives issued statements of concern about the language and expressed a desire to see it changed. In the end, the bill that was going to breeze through Congress died in committee because the public outcry made it too controversial to vote on.

CONGRESS TO ADMINISTRATION: WHAT PART OF "NO NEW NUCLEAR WEAPONS" DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?

After Congress refused to fund the Bush administration's thinly disguised new nuclear weapon, the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW), in 2007, the Department of Energy got sneaky and split up RRW money so it wouldn't be such an easy target. Key leaders in Congress, like Reps. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) and Pete Visclosky (D-IN) and Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND), made sure that the US was sending the right message to the international community by cutting funding in their committees.

Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) made an attempt to reinstate funding for the RRW on the floor of the House, but it was soundly defeated, with 44 Republicans joining Democrats in voting no. Now Congress must take the next proactive steps to reduce the nuclear threat and work toward a nuclear weapons free world.


Worst

CONGRESS WAS MIA

As you can see from the number of votes featured in our scorecard, Congress did not take as much action this year on peace and security as in the past.  This was apparent in how Congress dealt with the war in Iraq--we graded Congress on 15 Iraq war votes in 2007, but only 4 votes in 2008. In the mere 118 days Congress was in session, they did not mount a spirited, sustained challenge to a highly unpopular foreign policy.

This is mainly because members of Congress spent much of their time campaigning instead of legislating. Congress adjourned in the early fall before the election and did not take any major votes on foreign policy in the short lame duck session that followed. There was also a sense that because a new president was coming in, challenging Bush on his foreign policy was a waste of time.  In the meantime, however, we continued to lose lives and money in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and addressing major foreign policy challenges was pushed off to the next legislative session.

NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION: DO AS WE SAY, NOT AS WE (AND OUR FRIENDS) DO

The nuclear trade deal between the US and India bent the international community's rules on nuclear trade and increased India's capacity for building nuclear weapons.  These rules prevent proliferation and reward countries that abide by the international nonproliferation regime. The Bush administration set a dangerous precedent by making an exception for nuclear-armed India, and sent a contradictory message to the international community by deciding it could bend the rules based on shortsighted concerns while opposing nuclear development in other countries.

Despite the fact that strong relations with India could have been built in a number of more productive ways, Congress went along with the Bush administration's dangerous plan and overwhelmingly passed the deal (see scorecard grid).

SPINELESSNESS AND POSTURING OVER IRAQ FUNDING

Early in 2008, the House and Senate stuck by their strategy of attaching a timeline to the administration's funding requests for the war in Iraq. But when threatened with Bush's looming veto pen, they once again backed down and passed the funding with no strings attached. Not content to simply pass the funding, a group of 132 Republicans decided to wage their own battle around the bill.  


They voted "present" to cause the war funding to fail in an attempt to make Democrats look weak on defense.  This bit of theatrics didn't have much impact.  In the spring, Congress went beyond funding the war for 2008, approving an additional $165 billion to fund it through the middle of 2009 to avoid controversial votes on Iraq close to the election (see scorecard grid).