-Caveat Lector- (Voters who support this Communist scum, and his colleagues, do so only for the protection of their benefits and/or subsidies. These are the people who are enslaving us, our children, and their children. DON'T YOU GET IT? THE REAL WAR: The one of Civil Rights against Constitutional Rights!) WEDNESDAY MAY 19 1999 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ Conyers and the 'Merchants of Death' ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- By Jerome Zeifman � 1999 Jerome Zeifman In the name of humanitarianism, NATO continues to bomb Yugoslavia. At home, Congressman John Conyers, ranking Democrat of the House Judiciary Committee, is waging a "culture war" against the National Rifle Association. Recently, Conyers joined with Hillary Clinton to honor NATO and our president at a political love-in. In the name of the victims of Columbine, Conyers denounced the defenders of the Second Amendment as "Merchants of Death" -- as the First Lady smiled in approval. That Conyers has become a spear-carrier for NATO and our morally flawed commander-in-chief saddens but doesn't surprise me. I first met John Conyers more than 30 years ago when he became a freshman member of the House Judiciary Committee. During the Watergate era I was proud to consider him as both a friend and as a political ally against President Nixon. In 1974 I sat close to John during the Committee's impeachment debate. I also supported his unsuccessful effort (and that of the Congressional Black Caucus) to persuade the Judiciary Committee to adopt an article of impeachment for Nixon's bombing of Cambodia "in derogation of the sole power of Congress to declare war." Sadly, over the years a rift developed between us. I now attribute our differences in part to the congressional seniority system. I still recall John's joking remark to me when he first became the chairman of our Subcommittee on Crime. He lit a cigar and said, "I used to hate the seniority system -- but the longer I stay here the more I like it." My quarrels with Conyers began in 1989. He had become the Chairman of the House Committee on Government Operations. I was then the general counsel of the National Council for Industrial Defense -- a non-profit organization comprised mostly of some 22 AFL-CIO unions and the American Engineering Association. NCID had brought a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense. I was pleased that Judge Norma Holloway Johnson was assigned to the case. She is a black woman from Louisiana's Cajun country, who had been appointed by President Carter. She was also a friend of Conyers. (A decade later she was to preside over the prosecutions brought by Kenneth Starr.) Our lawsuit was an attack on the military industrial complex that was providing weapons for NATO countries. The Bush administration had argued that we had presented "non-justifiable political issues." On April 20, 1989 Judge Johnson refused to dismiss the case. In deciding in our favor, she wrote: The National Council for Industrial Defense (NCID) is challenging the enforcement by the Department of Defense (DOD) of the Buy American Act, 41 U.S.C. 10, and other "related measures." Generally, Buy American laws impose restrictions on DOD in purchasing foreign-made defense products. ... NCID alleges DOD is failing to enforce these restrictions. Specifically, NCID asserts, inter alia, that the Secretary of Defense has exceeded his statutory authority in providing blanket waivers of the Buy American Act on a country-by-country basis. ... The fact that plaintiff's claims involve agreements with other countries does not require the Court to dismiss this case. ... Under the Constitution one of the judiciary's characteristic roles is to interpret statutes, and we cannot shirk this responsibility merely because our decision may have significant political overtones. One political overtone was that DOD was entering into agreements with foreign countries which allowed American defense contractors to export American jobs abroad. The agreements gave each such country a blanket waiver of Buy American laws that had previously been vigorously enforced under President Eisenhower -- who had warned of the dangers of the military industrial complex. Under the new agreements (which were not approved by Congress), American companies could buy foreign-made components. They could even move their factories to foreign countries and still sell weapon systems to the United States. In so doing, some were also able to avoid federal income taxes. Still another political overtone was the subject of a memorandum which I submitted to NCID's board of Directors on Jan. 11, 1989 titled "Inter-relationship between Buy American laws and restrictions on foreign military sales." At that time I had some evidence that some American companies were selling weapons to our cold-war communist enemies as well as to our own government and NATO allies. My memorandum of a decade ago had stated: I have come to suspect that in some cases procurement from foreign sources is either encouraged by DOD or actively pursued by prime contractors as a means of circumventing the spirit and purpose of congressionally imposed restrictions on foreign military sales. In 1989 the late William G. Phillips was the founder and president of NCID. Bill was a combat veteran of World War II. He had belonged to the United Auto Workers, became the first director of the liberal Democratic Study Group, had been in charge of legislation for the War on Poverty, and had also served on the staff of the Government Operations Committee. Bill later became a lobbyist for the Metal Trades Department of the AFL-CIO. Like me, he had known Conyers since John's first days in Congress. As NCID's lobbyist, Bill was anxious for us both to brief Conyers personally on Judge Johnson's decision and the politics of DOD's new buy-foreign program. Indeed, John was then the single most important member of Congress with respect to the Buy American Act -- which was in the jurisdiction of the Conyers-chaired committee. But sadly, John would never schedule an appointment for us. Eventually, we learned why we had lost what lobbyists call "access" to Conyers. He had become a spear-carrier for the military industrial complex. Late one night on the House floor, without prior notice, Conyers quietly slipped in a "technical" amendment to a complex end-of-session bill. It authorized the very type of agreements with foreign countries that our lawsuit before Judge Johnson would have overturned. It demolished the underpinnings of our case. Bill first learned about the amendment the next morning. For the next few weeks he was depressed and angry. One Saturday morning, we had arranged to meet in NCID's office. When I got there I found Bill slumped in his desk chair with his eyes open. He had died of a heart attack. A week later his ashes were interred in Arlington cemetery. Bill Phillips was very well known and popular on Capitol Hill. Although a life-long Democrat, he had won the respect of members of Congress and their staffs on both sides of the political aisle. Thus Conyers' staff later arranged for a memorial service in the hearing room of the Government Operations hearing room. But John did not attend. These days, I understand why some of my fellow Democrats still look with disfavor on such gun manufacturers as Colt, Remington, and Winchester. At the time of the Wild West they sold guns to cowboys and sheriffs -- and at the same time sold rifles and "firewater" to Indians. But today, the evil profiteers are those who do more than sell guns to sportsmen and hunters. The real "Merchants of Death" are the multinational missile and bomb manufacturers whose stock rose when we starting bombing Yugoslavia -- and rose even higher when we bombed the Chinese Embassy. Not surprisingly, Conyers and the Clintons are now encouraging American defense contractors (many of whom do business in Russia and Communist China) to give six digit campaign contributions to the "new" Democratic Party. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Jerome Zeifman was the House Judiciary Committee's chief counsel during the Nixon impeachment proceedings. A lawyer turned author, he was formerly a Professor of Law at the University of Santa Clara. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- � 1999 Western Journalism Center ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Bard Visit me at: The Center for Exposing Corruption in the Federal Government http://www.xld.com/public/center/center.htm Federal Government defined: ....a benefit/subsidy protection racket! DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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