NEW FOREIGN AFFAIRS CHAIR SHIRKS SPOTLIGHT
By Erica Werner
AP
19 May 08
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Howard Berman keeps a big Thermos behind his
desk. That way, he never has to ask anyone to fetch coffee for him.
The new House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman also picks up his
own dry cleaning and drives his own car.
It is a self-sufficiency that Berman has carefully nurtured over his
13 terms in Congress. Now that he has ascended to one of the most
influential posts on Capitol Hill, he still rejects the trappings of
power, and prefers to keep operating as a behind-the-scenes player.
He even barred an Associated Press photographer from taking his
picture for this story.
"Sometimes the best things are done when the media doesn’t know
about it, because then a lot of other people don’t know about it,"
Berman said. "The media is a conduit of information to the people
who wouldn’t like what I was doing."
It’s not that Berman has anything to hide, friends say.
"He’s much more interested in accomplishing things than being out
front and visible," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who’s known
Berman since their college days at the University of California,
Los Angeles. They presided over a famously effective Democratic
machine in Southern California in the 1970s and 1980s that helped
elect like-minded politicians to local and state offices.
Berman’s committee has oversight over policies in Iraq, Afghanistan
and the rest of the globe’s hotspots. He was in Israel over the weekend
with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on his first overseas trip as chairman.
Outside of Washington, Berman had his fair share of political
scrapes. In 1980, he made a grab for the speakership of the California
Assembly but was outfoxed by Willie Brown, who went on to become
California’s longest-serving Assembly speaker and mayor of San
Francisco. In 2001, he drew ire when his congressional district was
redrawn in a way seen by some Latinos as diluting Hispanic voting
power. Berman was able to emerge from the episode with strong Latino
support due to his long record as a champion of farmworker and
immigrant rights.
In Washington, he’s thrived on an understated, collaborative
approach. His leadership style is far different from that of his
predecessor, California Democrat Tom Lantos, who died of cancer in
February. As Congress’ only Holocaust survivor, Lantos’ personal
history, dignified bearing and eloquent oratory made him one of
Congress’ most recognizable figures.
Berman, by comparison, is unprepossessing. His graying, curly hair
is rumpled. His speaking style is halting and thoughtful. He doesn’t
have a press secretary.
A photo in Berman’s office attests to the fact that he visited a grand
cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia — wearing a Hawaiian print shirt.
"He combined a real passion with a tremendous eloquence," Berman
said of Lantos. "That’s just not my strong suit. I’m more of an
inside animal."
Berman makes up for his lack of style with substance. He’s praised for
a piercing intellect, keen memory and grasp of arcane topics. His
recent legislative efforts included reforms to the country’s
byzantine patent system. He also proposed removing apartheid-era visa
restrictions against Nelson Mandela and expanding President Bush’s
foreign aid program for HIV/AIDS victims.
"He is able to provide creative solutions or additional solutions
if the first don’t work," said Sen. Dick Lugar of Indiana, top
Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "They talk
about show horses and work horses and Howard is clearly in the work
horse category par excellence."
When Lantos was Foreign Affairs chairman, he presided over dramatic
hearings and votes. He denounced Yahoo Inc. executives as moral pygmies
for cooperating with Beijing and he passed a controversial resolution
condemning the World War I-era killings of Armenians as genocide.
Berman’s goals seem dull by comparison: Regularly completing routine
but necessary legislation authorizing State Department programs,
rebuilding support for foreign assistance and public diplomacy,
addressing nuclear proliferation, examining dependence on Middle
East oil.
Berman’s most high-profile outing to date was an April hearing on
Iraq. An early Iraq war supporter who stuck behind it far longer than
most Democrats, Berman tried to draw out his witnesses, Gen. David
Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, on how to effectively
withdraw troops if U.S. voters choose that approach in November.
When Petraeus and Crocker demurred, Berman remarked, "Well, then I’m
not going to beat that horse anymore," and changed topics.
Berman doesn’t support the firm withdrawal deadlines backed by many
of his Democratic colleagues. He says he would never have supported
the war knowing what he knows now, but blames himself, not the Bush
administration, for making an error in judgment.
"The lesson learned for me was challenge yourself and your own
predispositions more on some of these things, and challenge the
evidence more. I wasn’t sufficiently skeptical," Berman said.
Democrats and Republicans say Berman takes a collaborative approach. He
negotiated $20 billion more in foreign HIV/AIDS assistance than the
White House requested, according to Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J. The
proposal passed the House and is pending in the Senate.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said that when Berman approached him about
the Mandela’s visa restrictions, his initial reaction was that the
U.S. should be adding people to the terror list, not taking them
off. Berman talked him around.
"He knows how to negotiate," said Smith. "He’s willing to take half
a loaf rather than a full loaf, and then come back for more later on."