From Washington with love
p. 30 · Read in the full issue
WHEN United States Congressman Stephen Solarz took a holiday recently, he decided to fly down to Papua New Guinea to raft the Watut River. Given Solarz’s prestigious standing in American politics, his choice was a surprise in more ways than one. The 51-year-old New York representative is one of the few national political figures in the US savvy enough to consider such a far-flung Pacific destination.
While the South Pacific barely registers on the radar of most Washington power brokers, Solarz’s unique and avid interest in the region has turned it into a discernible blip. But Solarz himself was surprised when he, his wife, Nina, and a group of colleagues on the rafting trip including the US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Richard Solomon were accosted by an apparently fierce group of tribesmen, their spears at the ready.
“It turned out to be the welcoming party of the village. It reminded me of the reception I receive before some of the Democratic clubs in New York,” Solarz said. Despite, or perhaps because, of such unpredictable Pacific intrigues, Solarz has become increasingly involved in the concerns of the island states since first dealing with legislation for Micronesia’s Compact of Free Association with the US in 1985.
He is not the only congressman with a special interest in the region Senator Daniel Innouye from Hawaii and American Samoa delegate Eni Hunkin Faleomavaega, are both fulltime Pacific activists. But Solarz enjoys a unique status in Washington as one of the few congressmen who has a significant impact on a variety of foreign affairs policies. He can command a one-on-one meeting with virtually any foreign leader in the world, including the Pope. He played a key role in the downfall of Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos. His personal imprint is evident on the recent Cambodian peace settlement.
And as a member of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, and particularly as chairman of the subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs, he has been able to elevate island concerns out of the Pacific backwater.
“We’re very lucky to have him,” said one regional diplomat.
“We only have positive feelings about his role and what he does he is an activist and he is thoughtful. Because of him we’ve been able to tackle some real problems that we may not have been able to if someone like him was not in charge.”
Solarz took the first congressional delegation on a compre hensive regional tour in 1989, he supervised the first congressional review of US foreign policy toward the island states which criticised Washington’s benign neglect of the region and was accorded the rare honour, especially since he is a Democrat and President George Bush is a Republican, of having his policy recommendations largely adopted by the White House.
His considerable influence can be seen in US opposition to driftnet fishing, the unprecedented access South Pacific leaders have to the White House and the summit that President George Bush held with Pacific leaders earlier this year. He also had US$5 million earmarked to build a new parliament house in the Solomon Islands. He has urged President George Bush’s administration to drop its ban on political contact with the New Zealand government (which it did) and to ratify the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty (which it did not).
Solarz “is the staunchest friend we’ve got in Washington,” said a South Pacific island diplomat. “He is pivotal.”
Given the gentle rhythm of South Pacific culture, it may confound some of Solarz’s congressional colleagues to hear such lavish praise about a man they often regard as too abrasive.
None of them doubt Solarz’s effectiveness but given the enormous respect he generates for his diplomatic achievements, it is ironic that the most oft-cited criticism from his colleagues is that Solarz lacks personal diplomacy. They have accused him of being condescending and aloof, someone who prefers talking to listening and is at times
downright rude.
Perhaps in a bid to humanise his image and reconcile his detachment from people with his devotion to intellectual excellence, Solarz revealed to The Washington Post earlier this year that as a child he was abandoned by two mothers including his biological mother, who left his father shortly after his birth, and his beloved stepmother, who
left him when he was 10 years old.
Solarz was then raised by an aunt. With the single-minded determination which became his hallmark, Solarz tracked down his real mother, whom he had assumed was dead, when he was 19. He conceded that his childhood trauma “probably created a need on my part to enhance my own sense of self esteem ... I was always running for some office or other.”
He was president of his junior high school class and vice president of the student body at Brandeis University. In 1968 he was elected to the New York State Assembly. In 1974, he was elected to the House of Representatives where he has served ever since including as a member of four committees Foreign Affairs, Merchant Marine and Fisheries, Intelligence and the Joint Economic Committee.
But the drive to prove himself because of maternal abandonment was “superseded by other motivations which have more to do with what I feel obligated to do with my life to leave the world a better place.” Fie was also philosophical about his colleagues’ complaints. “I think there are some members who are respected and there are others who are liked.
It would be nice to have both respect and affection. But if I were to make a choice, I would rather respect.”
Part of that respect is born of his prodigious work schedule which carried over even to his rafting trip in Papua New Guinea where he was frustrated to find he could not tune in a radio to find an international news service. He had to switch off the radio but not himself. Back in Port Moresby, he spent several hours discussing the region and the world with Prime Minister Rabbie Namaliu. “He is one of the most constantly curious people I’ve ever met. He has made a concerted effort to get out and know the region,” says a South Pacific diplomat.
These days Solarz and his committee are pushing to resolve the financial problems that have stalled the establishment of the Joint Commercial Commission designed to enhance business development in the Pacific; continue to argue for more aid and diplomatic representation to the region including opening a United States embassy in Vanuatu and establishing a US$2 million South Pacific scholarship fund; and continue to argue that the US administration should sign the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty.
Says another official from the region: "He spends a disproportionate amount of time on the South Pacific given the scope of his committee and all his other work. That’s a great thing for us.” □