(JP/US)Chicken issue shows how politicians influence government policymaking

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http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20020313wo42.htm

 

Chicken issue shows how politicians influence

government policymaking

 

Yomiuri Shimbun, 13 March 2002

Gaku Shibata

 

At the Japan-U.S. summit held in Tokyo on Feb. 18,

U.S. President George W. Bush, who was pressing the

fight against terrorism and calling for Japan's

economic rehabilitation, suddenly raised the chicken

issue.

 

After lecturing Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on

importance of the disposal of bad loans, Bush glanced

at U.S. Ambassador Howard Baker, who was sitting

beside him, and praised him for doing a good job

dealing with bilateral trade issues. Bush then

expressed hopes that the chicken import issue would be

settled soon. Bush's remark apparently was intended to

show his consideration toward Baker, a former

Republican senator with more political seasoning than

the president himself.

 

Bush's reference to the chicken issue at the summit

was confusing for the Japanese officials present.

Nonetheless, some senior Foreign Ministry officials,

who were in the know about the chicken issue, were

relieved that they had taken the initiative to start

talks with Washington on the issue prior to Bush's

Japan visit.

 

The chicken issue concerns Japan's ban on imports of

chicken from the United States, after chickens

infected with influenza virus were found in

Pennsylvania in January. Tokyo had told Washington

that the ban would continue until the safety of

chickens throughout the United States had been

confirmed.

 

Behind Washington's call for an early lifting of the

import ban was heavy pressure from Jesse Helms, the

veteran Republican senator from North Carolina, who

represents U.S. agricultural interests.

 

At a recent hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations

Committee, the 80-year-old senator, known for his

ultraconservatism, told Secretary of State Colin

Powell that, while Baker was doing a good job, the

United States could not overlook Japan's treatment of

U.S. chickens and would have to take some sort of

action unless Japan changed its stance. Bush could

hardly ignore the influential politician's demands.

 

Since his election to the Senate in 1973, Helms has

worked his way up the congressional hierarchy with his

outspoken remarks and has gained a reputation as a

Capitol Hill hawk. While he served as chairman of the

Senate Foreign Affairs Committee from 1995 to June

2001, Helms threatened to stop U.S. payments of its

U.N. membership fees and stalled the ratification of

the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. He wielded his

strong influence on the domestic and foreign policies

of successive U.S. administrations.

 

Helms has something in common with Muneo Suzuki, the

Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker whose questionable

relationships with the Foreign, Agriculture, Forestry

and Fisheries and other ministries and agencies

involved in diplomatic and agriculture-fishery affair,

as well as his dubious fund-raising activities have

dominated headlines in recent weeks. But Helms'

influence in Washington is incomparable to Suzuki's in

scale.

 

The Foreign Ministry, which was at Suzuki's mercy, was

sensitive to Helms' moves. It worked with the farm

ministry to hasten the confirmation of the safety of

U.S. chicken in an effort to lift the import ban,

except on chicken from Pennsylvania, prior to Bush's

visit.

 

The lifting of the import ban did not come in time for

Bush's arrival in Tokyo, as chickens infected with

influenza were found in Maine on Feb. 15. But the ban

was lifted Feb. 22--the day Bush returned home from

his three-nation Asian trip--after Japan confirmed

that the United States was taking satisfactory

quarantine measures.

 

While the corrupt relationship among politicians,

bureaucrats and businesspeople is once again becoming

the target of public criticism, the suspicious

relationship between the bankrupt U.S. energy company

Enron Corp. and the Bush administration is stealing

the show.

 

Bush and former Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay were old

acquaintances and Enron and its employees donated

about 570,000 dollars to Bush in the 2000 presidential

campaign, topping the list of contributions to the

Bush camp. Vice President Dick Cheney and other

top-ranking Bush administration officials also have

close ties with Enron. Enron reportedly has made cash

donations to more than two-thirds of the U.S.

senators.

 

The sudden collapse of Enron inflicted heavy losses on

the company's 20,000 employees, who had put Enron

stocks in 401(k)-type pension programs, as well as

investors. On the other hand, it transpired that Lay

and other Enron executives hid the company's losses

and pocketed a total of 1.1 billion dollars by selling

their Enron holdings before Enron stock prices

plummeted.

 

Americans began to suspect the Bush administration had

given Enron favorable treatment in working out its

energy policy. The White House, for its part, is

struggling to defend its position by taking various

measures including reform of the discredited U.S.

corporate accounting system.

 

U.S. lawmakers are going all out to evade voter

criticism of their behavior. The House of

Representatives passed a bill in February to amend

federal law on election funds--basically banning soft

money for political parties. Under the old law, no

upper limit was set on cash contributions to political

parties. Lawmakers, mainly Republicans, were initially

inclined to shelve the bill, but they found

restrictions on political funds inevitable in light of

the headline-grabbing Enron scandal.

 

Everywhere in the world, legislators try to make laws

with the aim of realizing their policies, while taking

the interests of their supporters and constituencies,

as well as voters, into consideration. They also try

to expand their influence on government policymaking

by taking advantage of their right to deliberate on

bills and approve personnel nominations.

 

Voters evaluate politicians by making sure:

 

-- Their policies are in the interest of the people.

 

-- They are not promoting the interests of specific

groups at the expense of the interests of most voters.

 

 

-- They are not gaining illegal profits in return for

their favors.

 

Six months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the

political season is returning to Washington with the

midterm congressional elections set for November.

Helms has expressed his intention to retire and not

run in the next election due to his advanced age. But

Helms will not be the last U.S. politician to exert

strong influence on a political world where

legislative, administrative and business interests are

interconnected in a complex Way. There is an endless

succession of politicians who are eager to become the

next Helms by acquiring political acumen on Capitol

Hill. Shibata is a Yomiuri Shimbun correspondent in

Washington.

 

Copyright 2002 The Yomiuri Shimbun

 

 

 

 

 

 

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