wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Most Presbyterians in Congress backed war

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Note #7472 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Most Presbyterians in Congress backed war resolution
02401
October 16, 2002

Most Presbyterians in Congress backed war resolution

At least one legislator was swayed by PC(USA) policy on Iraq 

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE - In the recent debate in Congress over giving President Bush
authority to use force against Iraq, Rep. Eva Clayton, a North Carolina
Democrat who also is a Presbyterian elder, turned to her church for guidance.
  

Members of Clayton's staff included in her briefing materials a statement of
the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s position on Iraq, which calls for restraint
and opposes a pre-emptive military strike.   

Clayton, a member of Cotton Memorial Presbyterian Church in Henderson, NC,
said the denomination's view was an important factor in her decision to vote
against the controversial measure on Oct. 10.				     
							  
"It was certainly a part of my deliberation," Clayton told the Presbyterian
News Service by phone a few days later. "It was part of my reflection, and I
appreciate it. I'm delighted where we are called to overcome 'evil with
good.'" 
Last summer the General Assembly of the PC(USA) called on the U.S. government
to exercise restraint. Last month the General Assembly Council endorsed "A
Call to Prayer and Action," urging Presbyterians to oppose a precipitate U.S.
attack on Iraq and Bush's "new doctrine of pre-emptive military action."

"It was strengthening to me as a Presbyterian to see where my church was,"
Clayton said. "I was reassured by that."

Despite her vote against the authorization bill, it was approved in the House
by a vote of 296 to 133, giving Bush authority to attack if Iraqi leader
Saddam Hussein refuses to give up weapons of mass destruction as demanded by
United Nations resolutions. Hours later, the Senate approved an identical
measure, 77-23. 

Of the 43 Presbyterians in the House and Senate - 26 Republicans and 17
Democrats - only 10 voted against the resolution. 

Of the House's 33 Presbyterian members, 24 voted in favor of the
authorization bill, among them John Linder (R-GA), Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY)
and Jim Ryun ( R-KS). Those who voted against included John J. Duncan Jr.
(R-TN), Thomas M. Reynolds (R-NY) and Lynn C. Woolsey (D-CA).  

In the Senate, nine of 10 Presbyterians - seven Republicans and two Democrats
- voted for the resolution, and only one voted no: Mark Dayton (D-MN). Among
those who voted for the measure were Christopher Bond (R-MO), Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
and John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV). 

The Bush administration claims that Saddam has kept a stockpile of chemical
and biological weapons and continued his efforts to develop nuclear weapons,
in violation of U.N. resolutions. 
Those who opposed the use-of-force authorization cited a host of reasons,
including doubts about Iraq's nuclear potential, fear that military action
would divert attention and resources from the war on global terrorism, and
their constituents' opposition to war.

Presbyterian Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), the ranking Republican on the Senate
Intelligence Committee, voted for the resolution, saying, "I support this
resolution because the threat posed by the brutal dictatorship of Saddam
Hussein is real, immediate and growing."

He said the Iraqi leader has a deadly array of conventional, chemical and
biological weapons, and is "doing everything in his power" to acquire nuclear
arms. 

"Saddam has developed the ability to deliver his poisons and pestilence by
unmanned aerial vehicles that can easily be smuggled into the United States,"
said Shelby, a member of First Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa, AL. 
Shelby said his position regarding the resolution was not influenced by
PC(USA) policy.

A spokesperson for Presbyterian Rep. Ken Bentsen (D-TX), who voted for the
measure, said he agonized over his decision but concluded that Congress
should "speak with one voice."
"He felt that this was the appropriate course of action, although not the
best way to go," said Dominic Nguyen, Bentsen's assistant for foreign affairs
and defense issues. "He feels that for the sake of national resolve, he
should support the president on this."

Bentsen, a member of First Presbyterian Church in Houston, TX, has "grave
concerns" about the administration's "proclivity for unilateral action,"
Nguyen said, but is hopeful that it will "pursue every diplomatic option and
venue available" before going to war.

Nguyen said he didn't know whether the congressman's religious beliefs
affected his decision.

Dayton, the only Presbyterian in the Senate to vote against the resolution,
told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that he had "no illusions" about the threat
posed by Saddam Hussein's arsenal, and no doubt that an attack might one day
be necessary, but had heard nothing during a weeklong debate to "persuade him
that the Senate needed to act in advance of any specific military plan."

Here's how all the Presbyterians in Congress voted on the measure:

      U.S. House of Representatives

Yes - Ken Bentsen (D-TX), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Howard Coble (R-NC),
Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), Bobby R. Etheridge (D-NC), Porter J. Goss (R-FL), Jim
Greenwood (R-PA), Robin Hayes (R-NC), Joel Hefley (R-CO), Sue W. Kelly
(R-NY), Jerry Lewis (R-CA), John Linder (R-GA), Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY),
Mike McIntyre (D-NC), George Nethercutt (R-WA), Earl Pomeroy (D-NC), Deborah
Pryce (R-OH), Thomas M. Reynolds (R-NY), Jim Ryun (R-KS), John M. Spratt Jr.
(D-SC), Cliff Stearns (R-FL), William M. Thornberry (R-TX), Wes Watkins
(R-OK), Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) 

No - Eva Clayton (D-NC), Diana DeGette (D-CO), John J. Duncan Jr. (R-TN),
Nick Joe Rahall II (D-WV), Victor F. Snyder (D-AR), Thomas C. Sawyer (D-OH),
Melvin Watt (D-NC), Lynn C. Woolsey (D-CA), David Wu (D-OR)

		U.S. Senate

Yes - George Allen (R-VA), Christopher Bond (R-MO), Thomas Carper (D-DE),
Mike Enzi (R-WY), Bill Frist (R-TN), James M. Inhofe (R-OK), Jon Kyl (R-AZ),
John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV), Richard Shelby (R-AL)

No - Mark Dayton (D-MN)

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