The Burton Blog

Lot's of weekend coverage

We saw a lot of positive weekend coverage.  In Front Page Magazine they applauded Dan Burton for his strong approach to dealing with "Code Pink", the far left anti-war crazies who shut down Marine Recruiting offices in Berkely and attempted to shut down the Petraeus hearings.

Read the article here.  It was also reprinted on Free Republic here and on another blog here.

The chamber's action contrasted greatly with that of the hapless House chairman Ike Skelton, D-MO, during the Petraeus hearings last fall. Then, too, Code Pink demonstrators in full apparel burst out screaming at regular intervals. Skelton gravely intoned, "Let me make this announcement: that those who have caused unlawful conduct and improper conduct, who have, who are, and who will throughout the remainder of this hearing will be prosecuted...under the law. This is untolerable. We will not allow it." Yawn. He repeated this mantra every few minutes, only to be greeted by more howling.

Urging a wiser course, Rep. Dan Burton, R-IN, had tried to have the protesters expelled preemptively:

Burton: I see a number of people in the audience that I anticipate will be making a disturbance, and if this occurs during the testimony by our honored guest, I hope you will be very firm and get them out of here.
Skelton: You don't have to lecture me. They'll be gone. Don't -
Burton: Well, I still see them out there.
Skelton: Don't worry about them. We've done this before. Alright, those who are displaying a sign, out they go.

Duncan Hunter, seated to Skelton's immediate left, tried to clue him in:

Hunter: Here's their strategy...There's about ten of them, so they're going to sacrifice one about every five minutes. If they do that, I'd remove the whole identifiable group out.
Skelton (testily): How do you do that?
Hunter: Well, because they're all in the same dress, the pink people. They're an association...I'd say have people take their group out.

(Another reason Duncan Hunter would have made a great president.)

Dan Burton: Stay tough on terrorism in Iraq

The Indianapolis Star took some time away from childish editorializing to actually do some reporting today.

Reps. Dan Burton and Mike Pence warned Wednesday against the United States leaving Iraq too soon.

"What would happen if we had a very precipitous pullout, or if we hung in there to win this battle?" Burton, R-Indianapolis, asked at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.

Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador in Iraq, responded that a change in the administration's approach to troop reductions "as conditions permit" could "risk failure in Iraq."

"My judgment is that where conditions are at this time, that you would see a spiral down," Crocker said. "And that would lead to expanded sectarian conflict at levels we probably have not seen before. It would bring the neighbors, especially Iran, into the fight. And it would create space for al-Qaida to root itself on Arab soil."

Burton said it's important for the public to hear that because the war is unpopular, and the country is about to pick a new president who could change policy.

Dan Burton editorial in Miami Herald

TBB noticed that the Miami Herald printed this great editorial authored by the Boss.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are once again making major headlines -- this time with what appears to be backing by the Venezuelan and Ecuadorean governments. The FARC is well known for a large array of activities, including bombings, murder, mortar attacks, narco-trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, hijacking, as well as guerrilla and conventional military action against Colombian political, military and economic targets.

These actions are indefensible on any grounds and, when carried out by armed insurgents in such a manner, are acts of terrorism. In 1997 the FARC was added to the State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations, securing a spot on the original FTOs list along with such organizations as Hamas and later joined by al Qaeda. Which is what makes the comments by Presidents Rafael Correa of Ecuador and Hugo Chávez of Venezuela as reported in the press -- expressing outrage in response to Colombia's successful attack on a top FARC rebel leader and a large group of his guerrilla lackeys -- such an odd reaction, as well as quite telling.

Leaders across the world who aid, abet and defend terrorism work only to crush their people's hopes and dreams of a peaceful, prosperous future. Leaders who choose to promote peace and democracy over terrorism and war should be applauded and rewarded. This is why the U.S. Congress' decision to hold up the Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, which was renegotiated to include additional labor and environmental regulations to appease influential groups in the U.S. Congress, is also an odd reaction.

The FARC has been terrorizing the Colombian people for more than 40 years, executing their missions with alarming precision while maintaining their prevalence and ability to garner around $1 billion in yearly income; feeding the insecurity in Colombia while fueling the drug war that the FARC perpetuates. The FARC's public mission is to overthrow the Colombian government and establish a communist-agrarian state.

However, despite all of these obstacles and more, Colombia has progressed by leaps and bounds over the past eight years. Roads are now open, displaced farmers are returning to their lands and economic growth topped more than 6.8 percent in 2007, the highest in eight years. The observance of human rights has improved, standards of governance have been enhanced and the fight against narcotics trafficking and illegal armed groups continues unabated. Citizens and foreign travelers alike have gained some precious security in their mobility.

Yet the FARC remains practically unscathed. In March 1999, the FARC executed three U.S. Indian rights activists in Venezuelan territory after it kidnapped them in Colombia. In February 2003, the FARC captured and continues to hold three U.S. contractors, and it killed one other American and a Colombian when their plane crashed in Florencia, Colombia. Besides kidnapping for ransom, the FARC has well-documented ties to the full range of narcotics trafficking activities, including taxation, cultivation and distribution.

The U.S. Congress cannot continue to sit idly by while threats of military action are pursued by Ecuador and Venezuela against a true visionary leader and ally as is found in President Alvaro Uribe. We are asking our allies around the world to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us to fight terrorism, and we must not abandon the people of Colombia, who are doing this very task.

There is something that can prove more powerful and lasting than acts of terrorism and war, and that is inclusion in the international arena. It is time for U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to stop delaying a vote on the ratification of the Colombian Trade Promotion Agreement. Chávez has clarified that either the United States must bolster true leaders in the region who have stood up for freedom and democracy, or we will be left to watch the southern portion of our hemisphere crumble into disarray before our eyes. It is now up to the leadership in the U.S. Congress to choose our path.

U.S. Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., is ranking member of the International Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.

Helms-Burton still stands for Cuban freedom

Many of our loyal TBB readers know about the Helms-Burton act, passed in 1996, that stood strong against Fidel Castro. It's been back in the news last week now that the dictator Fidel has stepped down to pass power to his dictator brother, Raul. The Winston-Salem Journal has a good article on the issue. You can also check out Congressman Burton on Hardball discussing it.

From the Winston-Salem Journal:

A 1996 law championed by then-Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C, keeps the United States’ hard-line stance toward Cuba intact until the country has a Democratic government that “does not include Fidel Castro or Raul Castro.”

Policy specialists on Cuba widely expect that Castro’s brother, Raul Castro, will be named president next week.

“It turned out to be sort of prescient, that legislation,” said Roger Noriega, a former foreign-affairs aide to Helms and now a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. “It’s clear now that 18 months after Fidel Castro turned over control of the government to his brother ... Raul shows no more interest in opening up (Cuba) than Fidel did.”

As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee in the mid-1990s, Helms was perhaps Castro’s most forceful opponent in Washington.

In 1996, he and Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., co-wrote the Helms-Burton Act, which strengthened trade and travel sanctions against Cuba, for the first time penalizing foreign companies that did business with both Cuba and the United States.

The legislation forms the basis for the nation’s current posture toward Cuba. The Bush administration made clear yesterday that the departure of Castro by itself would not lead to the removal of travel or trade bans.

“The changing of the guard is not significant of and by itself,” The Associated Press quoted Tom Casey, a deputy spokesman for State Department, as saying. “The general analysis is that Raul Castro is ‘Fidel lite.’ He is simply a continuation of the Castro regime, of the dictatorship.”

Julia Carson's Passing

TBB is sad today with the passing of Julia Carson. Despite being on opposite sides of the political spectrum, Dan has always reserved the best of compliments for Rep. Carson. She was a delight to work with and a tireless advocate for the people of her district. She will be missed.

Our prayers are with Julia Carson

TBB was sad to hear about Rep. Julia Carson's cancer. Dan knows first hand the challenges of dealing with cancer. His first wife lost a long bout with the disease several years ago.

He issued the following statement recently.

I was shocked and saddened by Congresswoman Carson’s announcement. Despite the fact that we are from different political parties, I have always enjoyed working with Julia to serve central Indiana and I hold her in high regard. She is a kind, wonderful woman and I ask all my colleagues, Republican and Democrat, to pray for her and her family at this very difficult time.

I hope you all join TBB in praying for Rep. Carson's health.