The seduction of lott
BARNES, FRED
The Seduction of Lott by Fred Barnes The Clinton White House thinks it has lured Senate majority leader Trent Lott into supporting the chemical-weapons ban. The tactic: engaging in extensive...
...At least they figure they've put him in a position where blocking the pact would be awkward and perhaps politically damaging...
...You've got to throw a bone to countries who didn't get everything they wanted in the treaty," the official said...
...Renegotiation, especially of the sharing provision, is exactly what Helms wants...
...For one thing, there was the question of China, not a member of the Australia Group but a chemical exporter...
...If China sold chemicals that could be used militarily, wouldn't France and other countries join in...
...By making concessions to Lott—and to Sen...
...But his leverage with Lott is diminished...
...This time, the man with the empty bag may be Clinton...
...Lott was not visibly impressed...
...Lott said his biggest concern was the "sharing" provision, which is supposed to give countries access to all permissible chemicals and chemical technology...
...i'm concerned that some of the people like Iran that may be a part of this treaty [will] use it to get more chemical-weapons information and more information about how to deal with defensive activities...
...The White House has already made so many concessions—including ones to Lott easing the ban on tear gas and forcing foreign inspectors to get warrants from American judges to search American chemical plants—that any more might vitiate the treaty...
...For a while, it appeared the White House was right about Lott...
...Before agreeing to that, the White House would probably yank the treaty from Senate consideration, as it did last September...
...Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, a Lott ally, by seeking to satisfy both Clinton and his Senate colleagues...
...Republican senators worried he was preparing to vote for the treaty or let it pass while quietly voting no...
...Robert Bell of the National Security Council thanked Lott publicly for his cooperation in adding conditions to the treaty and called him "a very tough negotiator...
...The tactic: engaging in extensive negotiations with Lott over Senate modifications of the treaty...
...All 30 countries in the Australia Group declared, at the Clinton administration's instigation, that they would maintain the controls...
...Besides, a White House official said, the provision granting full exchange of chemicals among treaty-signing countries was innocuous boilerplate and non-binding...
...Right now," he told Chris Matthews on CNBC on April 15, "the form this treaty is in, even with the conditionalities that have been agreed to . . . is not in our best interest, and i will be opposed to it...
...I've stuck my neck out [for the president] on a couple issues and basically wound up with an empty bag," Lott says...
...Wouldn't that lead to "reverse engineering," which makes it possible for rogue countries like Iran to concoct ways to evade America's chemical defenses...
...Even Lott's staffer, Randy Scheune-mann, was lauded by Bell...
...And what about the exchange of defensive technology, which the treaty promotes...
...And what about changes in governments, bringing in officials who hadn't promised to maintain export controls...
...If those could be and are addressed, I'll vote for it...
...Clinton doesn't relish this...
...Lott was said to think so...
...Weyrich's point was that Baker's presidential chances were hurt, while those of Ronald Reagan, who opposed the treaties, were enhanced...
...We've pushed the envelope as far as it can go without renegotiating the treaty," says a Senate aide...
...He's been trying to play this too cute," complains Sen...
...Fred Barnes is executive editor of THE WEEKLY STANDARD...
...Jesse Helms, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee—President Clinton's aides believe they've given Lott a stake in the treaty...
...To keep Lott mollified, Clinton aides have also love-bombed him...
...Helms is another story...
...It would, of course, kill American participation in the treaty for now...
...Lott also pleased the White House by insisting the treaty be voted on by April 29, the date it goes into effect worldwide, and not be bottled up in Helms's committee...
...They could still deny Iran or anyone else access to "dual-use chemicals" that might be used to produce weapons of mass destruction...
...Major chemical-manufacturing countries, collectively known as the Australia Group, would not be required to weaken their export controls under the treaty, according to a new modification...
...These are major flaws with this treaty...
...And Lott later reacted irritably to a lobbying effort by several dozen conservatives, including treaty critic Frank Gaffney...
...The White House offered more concessions the next day, notably one on sharing...
...Pressured by Santorum and other senators, Lott has changed his tune...
...When conservative leader Paul Weyrich warned him against playing the facilitator role for the Chemical Weapons Convention that Howard Baker played in the passage of the Panama Canal treaties two decades ago, Lott scoffed...
...That creates a problem...
...If they're not, I will vote against it, and I will speak against it, and I will fight it...
...These questions will have to be dealt with adequately to get Lott's support, or at least keep him from leading the fight against the treaty...
Vol. 2 • April 1997 • No. 32
