Post-Election: Who Will Guide Our Foreign Policy in Congress?

With Republicans expected to take the House of Representatives, attention will soon be turning to who on Capitol Hill will be calling the shots on defense and foreign policy. Foreign Policy magazine offers a summary of who’s-who. An excerpt:

• Foreign Affairs: Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Florida). A Cuban-American, Ros-Lehtinen has long been a vocal critic of the Castro regime, and will be in a strong position to scrutinize and resist any potential softening by the Obama administration on Cuba. But Cuba is by no means her only issue. Ros-Lehtinen is a savvy, experienced legislator who would likely focus on ways to strengthen anti-WMD proliferation policies, increase pressure on rogue regimes such as Iran, Syria, and Sudan, and elevate democracy promotion efforts. She is also a strong supporter of Israel.
• Appropriations Subcommittee on State-Foreign Relations: Kay Granger(Texas). As obscure as this subcommittee may be outside the Beltway, it is essential for keeping the lights on at the State Department and U.S. embassies around the world, not to mention funding America’s $52 billion foreign assistancebudget in the “150 account.” Granger, an internationalist who is co-chair of the House Anti-Terrorism Caucus and also serves on the board of the International Republican Institute, will likely maintain a robust commitment to foreign assistance, including support for democracy and human rights promotion, even during a time of fiscal austerity. She won’t be cutting blank checks, however, evidenced by her skepticism towards the Karzai government’s corruption and concerns about insufficient oversight of civilian assistance funds for Afghanistan.
• Armed Services: Howard “Buck” McKeon (California). McKeon is a vocalopponent of the “declinist” foreign-policy school, and has been critical of what he sees as the White House’s half-hearted support for victory in Afghanistan. With expertise in defense budgeting and procurement processes, he is a strong supporter of an increased Pentagon budget and long-term investments in weapons research. In 2011, he will also bring considerable scrutiny to the administration’s stated plans to begin a troop drawdown from Afghanistan in July.
• Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: Elton Gallegly (California). On homeland security issues, Gallegly has focused more on illegal immigration than on intelligence; retiring ranking member (and former chair) Pete Hoekstra has been the most visible House Republican on intelligence issues. Nevertheless, Gallegly has shared most of Hoekstra’s critiques of many of the Obama administration’s counterterrorism policies, particularly its (now dormant) plans to close the Guantánamo Bay detention facility, occasional Mirandizing of terrorism suspects, and curtailing the use of coercive interrogation techniques. As chair, Gallegly would subject the administration to much more scrutiny than it has experienced under current chairman Silvestre Reyes (Texas).
• Ways and Means: Dave Camp (Michigan). Ways and Means gets the mostnotoriety attention for its role as the committee in charge of writing tax law, but its jurisdiction over international trade policy makes it a key player on foreign policy as well. Unlike the current protectionist Chair Sander Levin (D-MI), Camp is a committed free trader. Along with likely Trade Subcommittee Chair Kevin Brady (Texas), Camp can be expected to make a priority of ratifying the FTAs with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama, which have heretofore been stalled — primarily due to opposition from the Democrats’ labor union base.

If the GOP takes control of even one house of Congress, the Obama White House will face serious obstacles to its domestic agenda, and will probably follow the tried-and-true pattern of focusing more on foreign policy for the remaining two years of its term. Starting on November 3, the administration’s national security team would do well to reach out and get to know the members listed above.”