Posted on 12/03/2002 5:57:37 PM PST by Luis Gonzalez
(CNSNews.com) - Two Florida Republican lawmakers, both Cuban exiles, have sent a letter to President Bush requesting the re-nomination of Otto Reich as assistant secretary of state for western hemispheric affairs.
Reich lost his post recently because his recess appointment expired when the 107th Congress adjourned for the year. He was then appointed a special envoy for Latin American affairs by Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), along with some members of anti-Castro Cuban exile groups and other Hispanic organizations, are laying plans to pressure Bush to re-nominate Reich.
A planned Monday news conference is being re-scheduled, though the time frame is uncertain, according to officials with Diaz-Balart's office.
So far, the White House has been mum on whether Reich will be re-nominated; the White House did not return phone calls last week seeking further comment on the situation.
At the State Department last week, spokesman Richard Boucher wouldn't comment about Reich's re-nomination. ''That's a White House question,'' he said.
But Ros-Lehtinen and Diaz-Balart are not giving up.
"It is very important that you state your intention to resubmit Ambassador Reich's as soon as possible, and that Ambassador Reich's name be resubmitted to the Senate at the earliest possible date," the lawmakers' letter said.
Their correspondence called Reich "a superb public servant who has carried out your policies toward Latin America with expertise, effectiveness and loyalty," and applauded his handling of Cuba policy.
The Miami Herald, in a recent editorial called for Bush to confirm Reich, saying, "U.S. relations with the Americas need leadership and continuity, and Mr. Reich's performance has been exemplary."
However, the Herald quoted some Senate Republicans, especially some from grain-belt states, as opposing the hawkish posture of Reich and the White House toward Cuba, and they have reservations about U.S. trade and travel restrictions with the Fidel Castro regime.
Sen. Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming and other Republicans from farm states want President Bush to ease the U.S. embargo of Cuba to permit greater U.S. agricultural sales there.
Reich, a Cuban-American and a strident anti-Communist, has irritated Democrats including former Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), because of Reich's support for the Cuban economic embargo and the Nicaraguan Contra rebels in the 1980s, who fought against the Sandinista government which was later deposed.
Dodd said recently in a statement that he would continue to oppose Reich as assistant secretary of state if he is re-nominated. "We would hope the president would select a nominee with bipartisan support, which clearly Mr. Reich doesn't have," he said.
The likely chairman of the foreign relations committee, Sen. Richard Lugar, (R-Ind.), said through a spokesman that he would give Reich a nomination hearing if asked by the White House.
Sources told CNSNews.com that Bush will probably re-nominate Reich for his old job and he will probably win Senate confirmation when the 108th Congress convenes in January because of the new GOP majority.
Reich has previously served as the assistant administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development and as a special advisor to former Secretary of State George Shultz in the Reagan administration. During that time, he established and managed the interagency Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean.
From 1986 to 1989, Reich was the U.S. ambassador to Venezuela and received the State Department's Exemplary Service Award and Superior Honor Award.
Some things should never be forgotten President Bush.
If Bush was willing to put him there via recess appointment and Reich has done an "exemplary" job, this should be a piece of cake.
I hope GW re-nominates Otto Reich. He is an asset to his administration, and he has the qualities and the temperament to meet excellent standards of truthfulness and ethical behavior.
I hope you had a great Thanksgiving as well.
Dodd favors nominees with a communist bent.
Our heroes - seduced by those all too willing to exploit them by pointing out "injustices", perceived slights and imperfections - are being toppled. From the 911 firefighters who spent time with Terry McAuliffe and the DNC-Union heads in Las Vegas shortly after 911 and suddenly announced that they - to a man - no longer supported our President because they discovered suddenly that their two-way radios were faulty on 911 (a claim later proved to be false), or our Veterans, to our seniors, to "human rights" workers, and the thousands of special interest groups that refused after 9-11 to put the country ahead of their own needs....our one-time heroes have fallen...one more Communist goal fulfilled.
"President Bush decides to suspend Title III provision of Helms-Burton sanctions law for a six month period, effective August 1, 2001 - if not suspended, Title III would allow U.S. citizens to sue those trafficking in property confiscated by Fidel Castro's regime in Cuba - since it's passage in 1996, Title III has been waived every six months, primarily to avoid a confrontation with the EU."
Bush is continuing Clinton's policy.
This law was passed as a reaction to the shootdown of the Brothers to the Rescue pilots.
There is increasing, open travel to Cuba, laws are not being enforced there.
Business with Fidel is growing, in spite of promises of no change in policy without changes in Cuba.
The RNC is advocating lifting the embargo.
Bad things my friend. People who fought (some literally) for Bush are starting to feel betrayed.
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