howard berman

As expected, the House approved Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s (R-Fla.) resolution condemning South African judge Richard Goldstone’s inquiry for the United Nations into war crimes committed last year in Gaza by Israel and Hamas. The lopsided final vote was 344 in favor to 36 opposed, with 22 “present” votes.

The House will shortly begin debating a resolution to denounce a U.N. report into Israeli and Hamas war crimes in last year’s Gaza war co-sponsored by Rep. Howard Berman’s (D-Calif), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The author of that report, South African Judge Richard Goldstone, wrote last week to Berman and his co-sponsors, [...]

Last week, Richard Goldstone, who investigated Israeli and Hamas war crimes in Gaza for the United Nations, wrote to Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) to say that a resolution co-sponsored by Berman, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, denouncing Goldstone’s report was significantly factually inaccurate. A spokeswoman for Berman, Lynne Weil, told me that [...]

After receiving a letter from Richard Goldstone, the South African judge who investigated Israeli and Hamas war crimes in Gaza, to dispute an impending bipartisan House resolution denouncing his report, staffers for Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) are “conferring” with staffers for bill co-sponsor Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s (R-Fla.). “Chairman Berman is studying Judge Goldstone’s letter,” Berman [...]

Via Michael Goldfarb, the respected former South African judge who investigated war crimes in Gaza has sent a letter to Congress highlighting factual errors in its resolution condemning his investigation. For instance: the resolution condemns Goldstone’s team for
pre-judg[ing] the outcome of its investigation, by one-sidedly mandating the `fact-finding mission’ to `investigate all violations of international [...]

Despite the controversy caused in Pakistan by misunderstandings about the bill, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs just sent out this statement:
Earlier today at the White House, the President signed into law the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009, also known as “Kerry-Lugar-Berman.”
This law is the tangible manifestation of broad support for Pakistan in [...]

If this wasn’t enough, the architects of the Pakistan aid bill — Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) — have issued an “explanatory statement” about what their bill does and does not do. To wit: “The legislation does not seek in any way to compromise Pakistan’s sovereignty, impinge [...]

Speaking of Pakistan, the Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill giving the Pakistani civilian government $7.5 billion over five years has become a fiasco, with the Pakistani military throwing a tantrum over conditions in the aid that Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) insist do not exist.
Although Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi endorsed the bill in [...]

The president on today’s Iran negotiations in Geneva:
First, Iran must demonstrate its commitment to transparency. Earlier this month, we presented clear evidence that Iran has been building a covert nuclear facility in Qom.  Since Iran has now agreed to cooperate fully and immediately with the International Atomic Energy Agency, it must grant unfettered access to [...]

A statement just released by Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee:
The news that Iran has been secretly constructing a second uranium enrichment plant is deeply disturbing and casts a heavy shadow over the negotiations scheduled for next week. Iran’s intention to build nuclear weaponry and its efforts to disguise that [...]