Rep. Myrick calls on Rice to clip wings over Hamas-meeting flap
A Republican congressional leader called on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to revoke former President Jimmy Carter's passport in response to his traveling to Syria and Egypt to meet with delegations from the terrorist group Hamas.
Since 1995, the Palestinian organization has officially been designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
"Former President Carter has acted in contradiction of international agreements to isolate Hamas," said Rep. Sue Myrick, deputy Republican whip in the House. "He has acted in defiance of both United States policy and international policy."
After Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections, Washington, along with the United Nations, the European Union and Russia called on Hamas to renounce terror, recognize Israel and recognize the previous agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel as they seek an agreement to make peace. Hamas has categorically rejected these three conditions for more than two years.
Carter met Thursday with Mahmoud Zahar, a top Hamas leader with control over militants in the Gaza Strip, after meeting Tuesday with a high-ranked Hamas politician. Carter reportedly hugged and kissed another Hamas leader Tuesday in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Carter's embrace of Nasser Shaer, a senior Hamas politician, at a closed-door reception organized by Carter's office was reported by several news outlets.
"He gave me a hug. We hugged each other, and it was a warm reception," Shaer said. "Carter asked what he can do to achieve peace between the Palestinians and Israel ... and I told him the possibility for peace is high."
But the heaviest criticism for Carter came over a meeting on Friday and Saturday with Hamas' exiled leader Khaled Meshal. The U.S. has designated Meshal, who is said to be responsible for the deaths of more than two dozen Americans, a terrorist.
Carter also met with Meshal's deputy, Moussa Abu Marzouk, also a fugitive terrorist wanted by the U.S.
In addition, Carter laid a wreath at the grave of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
"His actions reward terrorists lend support, and provide legitimacy to their belief that violence will eventually get them what they want," said Myrick, founder and co-chair of the House Anti-Terrorism/Jihad Caucus.
Congress granted the Secretary of State the power to grant and verify passports. In 1981, the United States Supreme Court held in the case of Haig v. Agee that the Secretary of State has the implied power to revoke passports as well, noted Myrick spokesman Andy Polk. 
Another U.S. lawmaker introduced legislation Wednesday to strip Carter's Georgia-based scholarly institution of taxpayer support.
And a third lawmaker presented a non-binding resolution that would urge former presidents from "freelance diplomacy" in direct response to Carter's visit.
"America must speak with one voice against our terrorist enemies," Rep. Joe Knollenberg, R-Mich., said in a statement. "It sends a fundamentally troubling message when an American dignitary is engaged in dialogue with terrorists. My legislation will make sure that taxpayer dollars are not being used to support discussions or negotiations with terrorist groups."
Knollenberg said the Carter Center has received about $19 million in taxpayer funds since 2001. The Center is housed at Emory University in Atlanta.
Meanwhile, the non-binding legislation was forwarded by Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa.
If adopted, the bill would express the "sense of Congress" that it "disapproves of former President Jimmy Carter's freelance diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, which contradict the stated foreign policy position of the current Administration."
At least two fellow Democrats also frowned on Carter's meetings with Hamas leaders.
Reps. Howard Berman, D-Calif., who is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., chairman of the Foreign Affairs Mideast subcommittee, wrote Carter imploring him not to meet with any more Hamas officials.
"This visit will undermine the Middle East peace process and damage the credibility of Palestinian moderates," they wrote, adding that the "legitimacy and prestige that Hamas will derive from your visit will be seen in the region as a clear demonstration that violence pays.
Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala., told Fox News: "I don't think Israel should try to negotiate with Hamas because Hamas does not recognize Israel's right to exist."
Davis added that Carter's overtures undermined a tradition of support for Israel in America.
On Tuesday, more than 50 House members wrote Carter urging him to not meet with Meshal, calling him the man behind the deaths of 26 Americans.
Carter, speaking briefly with Fox News on Wednesday, said the search for Mideast peace should include reaching out to groups such as Hamas. The former president was the broker of Israel's peace treaty with Egypt three decades ago.
"I'm going to try to get Syria to be constructive in the entire peace process, that would include Iraq and Lebanon, as well," he said.
Carter also laid a wreath at the grave of Yasser Arafat, whom he praised as a man who fought for "just causes" in the world. The Bush administration and many Israelis blame Arafat for the breakdown of peace talks seven years ago and the violence that followed.
President Bush did not visit Arafat's mausoleum in Ramallah when he visited earlier this year.
 Original Source