Bridging the Transatlantic Divide on a Legislative Level
April 15, 2003
As some American congressmen plan ways of getting back at Germany and France for their refusal to go to war, others traveled to Berlin over the weekend for a series of meetings with their counterparts.
The topic that headed all the meetings, which will last until Thursday, was healing the rift that has opened across the Atlantic over the Iraq war. Germany, with its staunch opposition to a military invasion, has made many enemies in the White House and U.S. Congress.
As recently as February, some members of the House of Representatives were considering drafting a motion to remove some of the 71,455 U.S. troops stationed in bases all over Germany. Some Americans made public shows of patriotism, announcing they were boycotting some German products.
"We can't act emotionally when we consider our relationship," U.S. congressman Nick Lampson told DW-RADIO. "It's very east for us to say: Well we had a disagreement, therefore I am not going to go and buy the product of such and such company. We have seen that over time sanctions have not worked, and particularly they have not worked between friends - we are friends."
The meeting between 15 German parliamentarians and eight members of Congress marked the 20th time the two sides met. German parliamentarian Hans-Ulrich Klose said that relationships on the Congressional level are much better than those between Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and President George W. Bush.
As head of the parliamentary group responsible for German-American relations, Klose was one the most public critics of his party boss. He said that either Schröder or Bush need to break the ice and talk with one another.
"I wish it were the Chancellor," Klose said.
Following a series of meetings in Berlin, the group is travelling to Heidelberg on Tuesday for more talks on reconstruction in postwar Iraq and the involvement of the United Nations.