Kari Moran
February 23, 2009
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Jack Shaw of Market News International explains why Van Nuys Rep. Howard Berman is criticizing Pakistan; Sen. Dianne Feinstein may have said too much about Pakistan in a recent committee hearing; and Rialto Rep. Joe Baca says he's ready to begin a major push on immigration reform.
Kari Moran: And now, we're going to take a look at what California's congressional delegation is up to. Every Monday, we speak with Jack Shaw, a reporter with Market News International. Good morning, Jack.
Jack Shaw: Good morning, Kari.
Moran: The delegation is deeply involved in efforts to jumpstart the economy, as we know. But lawmakers are also focused on international affairs these days, including the situation in Pakistan.
One of those lawmakers is Van Nuys Congressman Howard Berman. Berman's been very critical of a recent action by Pakistan.
Shaw: That's right, yeah. The Pakistan government, as we know, has released A.Q. Khan, who's a notorious nuclear proliferator. And Berman, who as you say is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was not happy about that.
He issued a statement that, in which he said that he thought this was exactly the wrong signal for Pakistan to be sending to the world. People are still trying to unravel exactly what this network did, in terms of nuclear proliferation.
So, Berman, from Congress, doesn't have a whole lot of sticks, but he has said that his committee will be working on a foreign aid bill, and said that he would be taking Pakistan's behaviors into account as it puts together an assistance package for Pakistan.
He wasn't any more explicit than that, but his signal was that certainly any additional behavior by Pakistan that he doesn't like would cause a significant reduction in that package.
Moran: Now, California's senior senator, Dianne Feinstein, may have recently said too much about Pakistan. What did she say, exactly?
Shaw: Well, it's interesting. She is chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and recently presided over her first public hearing on the main threats facing the U.S.
And I'm not sure that she actually remembered that she was in open rather than closed session, because during an exchange on Pakistan, she noted that American drone planes, which had been attacking militant groups in Pakistan, had actually been launched from American bases in Pakistan.
Moran: And how did Pakistan respond to that?
Shaw: Well, there was a huge debate within the government, because this has been something that a lot of people suspected, but had never really been said explicitly, and to have a senior American lawmaker effectively announce this on Capitol Hill was something that a lot of Pakistan officials didn't like.
There's a huge dispute going on within the government about who actually knew this, and so forth. So this is something that's really caused some tension in Pakistan.
A lot of domestic unrest, in a country that's already struggling with a lot of problems. So, and I'm sure Senator Feintein didn't mean to do, but I think she may have made a bad situation even more complicated in Pakistan.
Moran: Now, one issue, Jack, that could make a return in Congress, is immigration reform. Congressman Joe Backa, or Baca rather, of Rialto, is the former chairman of the congressional Hispanic caucus.
He says he's all ready to begin a major push on the issue this year, but that's making the Democratic leadership uncomfortable. Why is that?
Shaw: Well that's right. As you said, Mr. Baca has said that he wants to give a speech each week in Congress about the need for comprehensive immigration reform. His view is that it's very hard to do, but it doesn't get easier by waiting, and it's time to really try to square up on the issue.
Democratic leaders point out that it's a brutally hard issue, even in times of prosperity, when there's full employment, and when you have, you know, millions and millions of Americans losing jobs, it's an uncomfortable and even a very, very difficult time to debate immigration reform and also try to discuss how to deal with the many illegals who are in the country.
So they're actually urging the immigration reform effort to kind of slow down and maybe resume next year when there's a little bit more prosperity in the American economy.
Moran: Jack Shaw is a reporter for Market News International, and he joins us on Mondays with news of the California delegation. Thanks, Jack.
Shaw: Thank you, Kari.
