Pitts in Syria before Pelosi
But county’s U.S. rep. draws less criticism
By Dave Pidgeon, Staff
Intelligencer Journal
Published: Apr 03, 2007 1:43 AM EST
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - While U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's upcoming visit to Syria has caused the White House to bristle, a little-publicized rendezvous took place Sunday between Syria's president and Lancaster County's congressman.
And though Bush administration officials have been criticizing Pelosi, it's not clear what role the White House and the U.S. Department of State played when U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts and two other Republican congressmen met with Syrian President Bassar Assad.
Pitts is a Chester County Republican who represents Lancaster County.
Gabe Neville, Pitts' chief of staff, said Monday the conference between Assad and the three Republicans was intended to be "low profile."
"It was done in cooperation with the administration," he said.
However, White House spokesman Alex Conant said Monday the Bush administration — as a blanket policy — "discourages all of (Congress') visits" to Syria, a country believed by the White House to sponsor terrorism.
The House Speaker's office criticized the Bush administration for focusing their criticisms — until Monday — on Pelosi, the top House Democrat, for leading a congressional delegation to meet with Assad later this week.
"There's a Republican trip going before her, and no one is criticizing that," Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said. "So clearly the White House's motives here are in question."
Details about Pitts' trip to Syria, including when the White House learned of it and whether and how the Department of State was involved, were not available from Neville, who said, "I'll let (Pitts) answer that when he gets back."
Neville also declined to divulge Pitts' return date, citing security concerns.
The Republicans' conference with Assad was first reported by The Associated Press in a story about Pelosi. Pitts' office made no public announcements preceding the Damascus visit.
The Bush administration has accused Syria of supporting terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah in their efforts against Israel, meddling in the affairs of nearby Lebanon and allowing foreign fighters to cross the Iraqi border to engage U.S. forces.
Administration critics from both political parties and the recent bipartisan Iraq Study Group have recommended open talks with Syria to resolve these issues.
Pelosi, in published reports, characterized her planned meeting with Assad as a "fact finding" mission through which her delegation can "hopefully build the confidence" between the United States and Syria.
Pelosi is leading a seven-member congressional delegation that includes six Democrats and one Republican through the Middle East with planned visits to Israel and Lebanon, as well as Syria.
Sunday, White House counselor Dan Bartlett said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that "most Americans would not think that the leader of the Democratic Party should be meeting with the heads of a state sponsor of terror."
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, who last week called Pelosi's planned meeting with Assad a "bad idea," told White House reporters Monday she did not talk about the trio of Republicans in Syria because she was asked specifically about Pelosi.
Visits by high-profile American officials, like one conducted years ago by then-Secretary of State Colin Powell, do not deter Syria, Perino said.
"Syria uses these opportunities to flaunt photo opportunities around its country and around the region and around the world to say that they aren't isolated, that they don't need to change their behavior," she told reporters. "And it alleviates the pressure that we are trying to put on them to change their behavior."
E-mail: dpidgeon@lnpnews.com |
