The Associated Press
By JIM ABRAMS
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two Cuban-American lawmakers resigned from the House Hispanic caucus Wednesday to protest a recent visit to Havana by the newly elected caucus chairman, Rep. Xavier Becerra.
Becerra, D-Calif., was chosen earlier in the day to head the caucus, which bands together Hispanic lawmakers to coordinate actions on legislation related to Hispanic Americans. With the defections, 17 of the chamber's 21 Hispanics belong to the caucus.
Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, both Florida Republicans, said Becerra showed ``insensitivity'' by traveling to Cuba and meeting Cuban President Fidel Castro at a time he was campaigning to be the next caucus chairman.
``I was personally insulted that he undertook this trip,'' Ros-Lehtinen said. ``If you want to be a caucus chairman of a group composed of people with diverse ideas,'' she said, ``you shouldn't be undertaking a controversial trip of this kind.''
Diaz-Balart said he would not contribute membership dues to the caucus until Becerra ``demonstrates minimal respect for the right of Cubans to be free and calls for free elections for that oppressed island.''
The caucus has long been divided between those such as Ros-Lehtinen and Diaz-Balart who want to further tighten sanctions on Cuba to bring about Castro's downfall and others, including Becerra, who have argued that the U.S. embargo has hurt the Cuban people.
Becerra, in a statement, said he planned to involve all caucus members ``in identifying critical policy issues where we see bright lines of consensus, and to rally the caucus behind the particular interests and concerns of each member when possible.'' He succeeds Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Ariz.
In a display of political candor rare for the Capitol, a senior senator had some public advice Wednesday for the next chairman of a subcommittee that oversees the troubled District of Columbia: Don't do it.
``It's not something that plays out well in Peoria,'' said feisty Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, new chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
At a news conference, Stevens said he made the suggestion to conservative Sen. Lauch Faircloth, R-N.C., who will head the District of Columbia panel. Faircloth replaces the more moderate Sen. James Jeffords, R-Vt., who will chair the Senate Labor Committee.
Stevens said chairing the subcommittee often demands daily attention, and is a time-consuming task for a senator such as Faircloth who is up for re-election in two years.
``If I were him, I'd find a way not to do it,'' Stevens said. He added that ``there aren't a lot of volunteers'' to head the panel.
The appropriations committee is a highly sought assignment because it controls more than $500 billion in spending annually, some of which gets distributed to committee members' states. But its District of Columbia subcommittee has the fewest plums and oversees a city with staggering financial and management problems.
But Faircloth, who lives in the District when Congress is in session, will take the job, said spokesman Peter Hans.
``He's been warned about the potential political downsides,'' Hans said. ``But he has never backed away from tackling a tough job.''
Stevens also seemed to indicate that he wants to shield his committee's programs -- nearly one-third of federal spending -- from virtually any budget cuts, which could upset some of his conservative colleagues.
He said defense spending has reached ``rock bottom, as far as I'm concerned.'' And he said he ``doesn't expect to cut'' domestic spending. The only other programs the committee controls is the $10 billion or so spent annually for foreign aid.
In the last two years, budget-balancing plans written by Republicans and the Clinton administration have envisioned savings of about $100 billion through 2002 from appropriations committee programs.
AP-NY-01-08-97 1745EST
Copyright 1997 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.