Secretaries of state defend Berman against Sherman
Secretaries of state from both political parties weighed in today on the heated congressional race between Reps. Howard Berman (D-CA) and Brad Sherman (D-CA), defending Berman’s overseas travel while he was the chairman and now ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "During Howard Berman’s 30 years in Congress, he has taken 163 junkets ...
Secretaries of state from both political parties weighed in today on the heated congressional race between Reps. Howard Berman (D-CA) and Brad Sherman (D-CA), defending Berman's overseas travel while he was the chairman and now ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Secretaries of state from both political parties weighed in today on the heated congressional race between Reps. Howard Berman (D-CA) and Brad Sherman (D-CA), defending Berman’s overseas travel while he was the chairman and now ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
"During Howard Berman’s 30 years in Congress, he has taken 163 junkets and missed 1 out of every 12 votes cast," reads a mailer Sherman sent out to residents of the newly created congressional district that he and Berman are competing to represent following a June open primary when they finished first and second, respectively. "Howard Berman has one of the worst attendance records in Congress."
Another flier says that Berman missed 1,380 votes over those years and lists some of the votes his missed. A third flier criticizes Berman for using taxpayer money to upgrade plane tickets to first class and using taxpayer money to pay to lease and fuel up a personal car.
"Just about no one in Congress takes more luxury junkets than Howard Berman," one mailer reads.
The Sherman campaign is playing upon a popular theme this year of criticizing lawmakers who have senior foreign-policy posts for devoting time and effort to that responsibility, allegedly at the expense of their own constituents. The tactic was used earlier this year in the primary defeat of Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking Republican Richard Lugar (R-IN).
But according to Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and George Shultz, Sherman is not being honest with Californians about the trips.
"As former Secretaries of State for Presidents Reagan and Clinton, we want to set the record straight on Congressman Howard Berman’s overseas travel during his service in the U.S. House of Representatives," they wrote in a letter Thursday. "In so doing, we urge you to reject Rep. Brad Sherman’s misleading campaign tactics around this subject and hope that voters in the 30th Congressional district will instead appreciate, as we do, the tremendous service that Howard Berman has done for his constituents and for all Americans during his public career."
Sherman is underestimating the voters by demonizing the trips, which are necessary and in the national interest, they wrote:
"When Rep. Berman has traveled, he has done so in service to our nation’s security and best interests. As Chairman and now the senior Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, he has worked closely with both Republican and Democratic colleagues and administrations to keep America strong and the American people safe," wrote Albright and Shultz. "And take it from us — to do that effectively, international travel is required.… Nothing could be more misleading, in this global era, than to suggest that members of Congress should not travel when there is important work to be accomplished."
Sherman has only taken three overseas trips during his 16 years in Congress, according to his campaign’s literature. Sherman’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the Albright-Shultz letter.
Josh Rogin covers national security and foreign policy and writes the daily Web column The Cable. His column appears bi-weekly in the print edition of The Washington Post. He can be reached for comments or tips at josh.rogin@foreignpolicy.com.
Previously, Josh covered defense and foreign policy as a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, writing extensively on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, U.S.-Asia relations, defense budgeting and appropriations, and the defense lobbying and contracting industries. Prior to that, he covered military modernization, cyber warfare, space, and missile defense for Federal Computer Week Magazine. He has also served as Pentagon Staff Reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper, in its Washington, D.C., bureau, where he reported on U.S.-Japan relations, Chinese military modernization, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and more.
A graduate of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Josh lived in Yokohama, Japan, and studied at Tokyo's Sophia University. He speaks conversational Japanese and has reported from the region. He has also worked at the House International Relations Committee, the Embassy of Japan, and the Brookings Institution.
Josh's reporting has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, CBS, ABC, NPR, WTOP, and several other outlets. He was a 2008-2009 National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow, 2009 military reporting fellow with the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the 2011 recipient of the InterAction Award for Excellence in International Reporting. He hails from Philadelphia and lives in Washington, D.C. Twitter: @joshrogin
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