Kitty Felde
May 05, 2009
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Democratic Congresswoman Jane Harman of El Segundo is fighting to clear her name. Unnamed sources say she was overheard on a wiretapped phone conversation agreeing to intervene in an espionage case in exchange for help landing a plum Committee chairmanship. Yesterday, Harman told KPCC's Washington Correspondent Kitty Felde, "Never in my long career ever have I intervened for leniency in some act of prosecution on behalf of anybody anywhere. So that never happened." Harman continues the conversation about lobbyists, her future in politics, and her relationship with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Kitty Felde: Congresswoman Jane Harman's alleged wiretapped conversations were about former employees of AIPAC – the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a prominent pro-Israel lobby.
AIPAC is holding its annual conference in Washington, and Harman joined a long list of political figures – including L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa – who addressed the group this week. The congresswoman said that doesn't mean she's only listening to one side.
Congresswoman Jane Harman: AIPAC is a group I know well. It has long been active with respect to the U.S. and Israel relationship. But there are other groups out there that I also happen to talk to. At the Brookings Institution and elsewhere. I'm quite an active reader.
I'm also an active traveler. I visited the Middle East region as a member of Congress almost two dozen times to see for myself. I meet with all kinds of groups.
In the last two visits that I made to Israel, I also spent time on the West Bank meeting with Palestinians. That's something I always do because I want a fair picture of this.
It is surely not against the law for members of Congress to talk to advocacy groups. From anywhere. It's not against the law for members of Congress to talk to ambassadors from anywhere. And foreign visitors from anywhere. And I do.
But if now, all of a sudden, what's happening to me can happen to any member of Congress, that sets up a chilling effect on the activities we routinely do and diminishes our ability to get a fair and accurate picture of what's going on in the world.
Felde: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has publicly defended Harman and pooh-poohed the idea that AIPAC was lobbying in exchange for favors. That said, there are reports of strained relations between the two California congresswomen.
Harman belongs to the middle-of-the-road Blue Dog Coalition. Pelosi leans more to the left. But Harman denied that the two are hostile, despite Pelosi's decision to grant the House Intelligence Committee chairmanship to someone else.
Harman: Oh, we have a cordial and professional relationship. I made it clear that I was disappointed not to become chairman of the House Intelligence Committee three years ago. But I have moved on.
And I chair the Intelligence Subcommittee of the Homeland Security Committee and it's very active and I'm very active. And I can't imagine again why people want to go back and allege problems with relationships that are not a problem.
Felde: The eight-term Congresswoman says she's not entertaining plans to retire.
Harman: One of my classic lines is I couldn't stay in politics if I wasn't an optimist. My optimism has been challenged by what's happened in the last several weeks.
But I believe that the place where I can add the most value is in the public policy arena. And sadly, I don't want young people to be discouraged from this line of work. I want politics to be seen as a positive activity, not a combat sport.
And I'm just hopeful that when I win this little skirmish with unnamed "national security officials" that the message will go out loud and clear that members of Congress will fight back against efforts to chill our contact with advocacy groups and to do legitimate work in our daily lives that we hope will make us better informed to make the best public policy decisions we can.
Felde: Democratic Congresswoman Jane Harman says she places priority on security issues – protecting the ports and keeping Southland law enforcement in the loop about threats to national security.
Kitty Felde/KPCC
