Conference Call With Senator Bob Casey

Interview

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SEN. CASEY: Hello?

Q Hello, is this the senator?

SEN. CASEY: This is Bob Casey.

Q Thanks, Senator. Matt Paul, Radio Pennsylvania. How are you?

SEN. CASEY: Good. I know we're a few minutes over -- yeah. So I wanted to get started, and if some are still getting on we can get caught up.

I wanted to -- just to do a brief overview of our trip and then obviously take your questions, and we can add more detail as we go.

Last week I led a congressional delegation of four legislators -- Senator Lautenberg from New Jersey, Senator Kaufman from Delaware, and Representative Tim Walz from Minnesota -- on a congressional delegation trip to both Israel and Turkey.

And that took place between Monday -- I guess we flew on Sunday, but Monday the 25th through Saturday morning of last week.

First, with regard -- just to get an overview of meetings in Israel, we met with Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, Defense Minister Barak, Deputy Foreign Minister Ayalon, as well as the opposition leader, Livni.

Along the way had other meetings, but also had the chance to visit the West Bank -- in particular, in Jericho where we not only were able to see the training camps where you have a joint agreement between the Palestinian Authority, the Israelis and the Americans to have a national security force and a presidential guard, both trained in the West Bank for -- principally for law enforcement and also in the presidential guard, obviously, to provide protection. So that was a good visit.

We also were able to meet with some Palestinian business leaders. We saw a water cooperation project, an NGO which was funded by USAID.

So it was a great visit on both ends of the trip to Israel. We were there pretty much all day Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. And then I -- Senator Lautenberg and I went from there to Turkey. We were joined later by Senator Kaufman and Representative Walz.

I have to say, in Israel the -- one of the main points that I wanted to make with all of their government leaders was the concern that I had about the threat posed by Iran and the concern that I have in particular about Iran's nuclear program and the threat that that poses.

Certainly the Israelis have sounded the alarm on that, first and foremost, across the world. And I believe they have good reason to be concerned, not only for their own security but for the security of the region which, of course, involves our security here in the United States, ultimately.

We also covered a number of issues dealing with the economy, dealing with settlements, dealing with the peace process in general, as well as some of the other challenges that people in the Middle East are facing, and in particular in Israel.

For me, it was a return trip. I had not been there since November of 2005, before I was elected to the Senate. And I was grateful to have the opportunity again to visit a country that we share such an unshakeable bond with, obviously, on issues like democracy and the rule of law and human rights.

Our bond with Israel is something that will ever endure. It will never break. And we'll -- we're going to do everything possible to make sure that in any discussion about a peace process that we speak up for and protect our friendship and our bond with Israel.

We also want to be as -- and as you know, I'm -- as a member of the Senate and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee and as chairman of the Committee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs, I have a responsibility to pay close attention to these issues. And I plan to continue to do that.

And as you know, I'm also a strong supporter of the president. But as a member of a branch of government which is both separate and co-equal, I have my own views and have my own responsibilities as a member of the United States Senate.

I believe, in the end, we can -- our government, both the administration and the Congress can be a constructive force in the peace process. We've done it before; we can and will do it again.

But it's -- we're at a point now where we have tremendous challenges, but we also are at a time of maximum opportunity with the a president who brings a credibility and a strength to these issues that I think has been unmatched in recent American history.

But I don't underestimate the difficulty of achieving peace in the Middle East.

Just very briefly on Turkey, we had a chance at the very end of our visit on Friday of last week to see Prime Minister Erdogan and have a very frank exchange with him about a number of issues.

But Turkey has been a great ally of ours and will continue to be, and a significant player, not only in the Middle East, but -- in the region -- but also even beyond the region into the other region that my Subcommittee does some work in, South and Central Asia.

They have -- Turkey has been and will continue to be a constructive force, both in the battle we're waging in Afghanistan, but also with the regard to the challenge that is posed by what's happening in Pakistan. So we have a lot we can work together with the Turkish government on.

And we need to increase our business relationships with Turkey. There's still a lot more we can be doing economically with them.

But it was great to be able to spend some time with the prime minister, with the -- some of their military leaders, their deputy chief of general command, as well as some of our military leaders and get a briefing.

We also spent a great lunch on Friday with their foreign ministry to talk through not just challenges within the region in the Middle East and Europe, but also even beyond the region.

So on all these visits, we're grateful for the opportunity to have a frank discussion. And as the chairman of the codel, I'm able to sit closest to the person we're meeting with. So that always helps, to be physically proximately closer, because you don't miss anything when you're that close.

But I wanted to take your questions and, as we go along, provide as much detail as we can.

Q This is Shia ben Yakul (ph) from WHYY.

Can you talk a little bit more about the discussions you had on settlements, and did you echo the president's call for Israelis not to support expanding settlements?

SEN. CASEY: Well, we had a very direct discussion with a number of people. But the one that probably is most significant and most memorable was that with the prime minister.

And I wanted to hear his point of view directly. I didn't want to just have the benefit of accounts of what he has said over the last couple of weeks or even longer than that.

And I was there more to listen and to learn his perspective and learn the perspective of Israel leaders.

I wasn't there to deliver a message to him or to anyone, frankly, because I have -- as a senator, I've got my own responsibilities.

And we can be helpful to the administration on a lot of these issues, but we have -- we're a separate branch of government. I think that's important to emphasize.

I do believe -- and he -- just on the issue itself, he spent a good deal of time walking through his perspective on this. And especially with regard to the question of what do we do about settlemetns in the context of families, and I wanted to hear that perspective.

So there's still a lot of work to do on this. I know that there've been a lot of news articles written, a lot of definitive statements made, or seemingly definitive statements.

But I believe what I think more and more people are saying, which is that there's obviously some conflict with where the prime minister is and where the president is. But I don't think that's insoluble, and I think we're still at a very, very, very early stage in this.

And I think we need to spend, frankly, more time focused on what's happening in Iran and the steps we have to take to deal with that. And also need to spend more time on some other issues as well.

I think settlements is a critically important issue, but it is not the only issue.

One thing I was reminded of in our visit to the West Bank was one of the major issues facing this region, even if there was peace, is something as simple as water -- or lack thereof, or the scarcity thereof -- which reminded me that as much as we don't talk much about --

We talk a lot about where people disagree and where there are conflicts, but we need to broaden the discussion, I think, to a whole series of issues.

So I was happy to have the benefit of his perspective on this, was happy to listen to his point of view.

Q Senator, Matt Paul, Radio PA.

You had mentioned concern over a nuclear Iran. I guess -- can you speak any more as to who should be concerned and what the next steps the U.S. may be able to take would be?

SEN. CASEY: Well, I believe that our government and the American people need to be concerned about this, because this isn't some threat that is only a clear and present danger to Israel and the region.

If you have a nuclear-armed Iran capable of launching a nuclear weapon, that threatens the region. And more instability in the Middle East threatens our security. It has an impact on the whole world, and we have to do everything we can to prevent that from happening.

I do believe that President Obama understands this and has not just talked about it; he's acting. He's, in addition to definitively stating that we have to stop this threat from playing out, he has had, I think, a multi-pronged approach to it.

Obviously, making sure that we're using the relationships we have around the world to develop a -- or, to further develop a coalition against what Iran's trying to do. Secondly, he has also emphasized the importance of diplomacy and engagement, not as an end in itself but as one of the tools, one of the sources of power, a real power that we have, that the United States has on this question, as we do on any issue like this.

I of course have -- as a United States senator want to do everything I can, and that's why I've co-sponsored the Iran Sanctions Act and am the lead in the Senate on the bill that would deal with divestment.

If states want to divest their pension funds, for example, out of companies that are doing business with Iran's energy sector, they should be allowed to do that.

And we want to give states, as well as give the president of the United States, the authority under the Sanctions Act, the other legislation, to be able to use the maximum leverage he can use and our government can use on Iran in terms of economic sanctions.

We may not have to go in that direction, but we want to have those legislative vehicles in place so that we can use that.

So -- whether it's sanctions here and what our government can do, whether it's sanctions that the Security Council can impose, whether it's the power of diplomacy and building an international consensus about this.

So leaving all of the tools on the table and using all of them in a way that is pointed in the direction of preventing Iran from developing this capability.

Q Senator, this is Jim O'Toole with the Post-Gazette.

SEN. CASEY: Hi, Jim.

Q How are you doing?

SEN. CASEY: Good.

Q Going back to settlements, is it -- in your view, is the Obama administration well advised, correct, to press the Israeli government as strongly as they are on that issue?

They've -- it seems that that kind of disagreement, while it's been simmering for years between the U.S. and governments in Israel, the Barack Obama administration has been much more open about the disagreement.

SEN. CASEY: Well, look. I believe if we're going to have peace in the Middle East we have to start the conversation. And this administration, unlike any in recent history, started this conversation literally the first day in office.

The president made a -- several, a round of calls to the leaders in the region. And that wasn't the end of it. He -- that was just the beginning of the discussion.

So A, I believe the administration has been particularly helpful in making sure that this peace process is not something done in year four of an administration or year eight; that he's -- he and his administration, he and the secretary of State, Secretary of State Clinton and other leaders in the administration have made this a top priority. So that's the first point I want to make.

Secondly, we need to get further into the discussion about difficult issues. Settlements are one of them. It's not the only one, but it's one of the difficult issues. And you have to start a conversation about that.

The president said yesterday that -- and his position on this is clear and unambiguous -- he wants a freeze, and he's defined that. I don't think that there's been -- candidly, with all due respect to so many people commenting on this and reporting on this -- hasn't been enough emphasis yet on detail.

And we're -- that's why when I say we're a long way off on this issue in terms of resolving it, there hasn't been a lot of detail yet about terminology and specifics on what we mean by settlements and what various people mean when they assert that there ought to be a freeze, that there ought not to be a freeze, or whatever the prospective is of the -- of those who are commenting.

I don't -- I haven't enunciated a specific position that I hold yet because I think it's early in the process and I want to continue to listen to a lot of points of view on this.

And part of what I'm wrestling with is we don't have a lot of detail. We don't have a lot of detail that's been articulated yet.

I want to make sure that when I'm listening to the administration that we get more detail in terms of where they are. Listening to the prime minister the other day, when he makes the point about keeping families together; I want to make sure we understand what that means for families. What's the reality of that on the ground?

So it's early, and I'm going to continue to listen and continue to try to be constructive in this. But I think that in the last couple of weeks there's been a lot of conclusory statements, or conclusory analyses that somehow, because the prime minister says a couple of things and the president says a couple of things that we've reached a point where it's somehow insoluble.

I think the president, when he spoke yesterday, among many things he said was that it's still early in the process. I think we should have more emphasis on where we are, that's still very early.

STAFF: Anybody else?

Q If we don't have any Mid-East questions, can I ask a political question?

SEN. CASEY: Sure.

Q State Committee meeting this weekend.

What is going to be your message to your fellow Democratic officials about your new Democratic colleague, Senator Specter?

SEN. CASEY: Well, we'll have a couple of messages. One message -- one of the major reasons why I'm going to actually have to leave Washington at some point in time to get to Pittsburgh; it's going to be a difficult scheduling, logistical challenge, but I'll get there.

But one of the main reasons I want to get there is to pay tribute to the late Catherine Baker Knoll. We're going to be doing that Friday, and that's essential.

I think when soemone of her stature and the contribution that she made to the Commonwealth and our party passes away, we have to continually remind ourselves not only of her contribution, but what her life story can serve as, as an inspiration for a lot of young people out there just getting involved in the process and the process of electing people to office and governing.

With regard to the Senate race, I'm -- my message'll be very simple: unity. I hope we can achieve some degree of unity in the short term, meaning the next couple of weeks and months, but especially over the long term between now and next year's election, next year's primary.

I hope we don't have a primary. I'm urging anyone who might be considering or my have already made a decision about that to try to come together and unify.

I support Senator Specter, and have, and I think he'd be the strongest candidate for our party and the strongest candidate to keep a Democratic seat.

At the same time, I don't think we can dictate to people and tell them -- tell people what to do. I just think we have to have an ongoing conversation about -- not only about unity for unity's sake, but unity for what it means for the prospects of keeping that seat in Democratic hands.

It's usually the case that if you don't have a tough, competitive primary, your party does better. There are exceptions to that, but the exceptions are pretty rare.

And so I hope we can, by -- sometime between now and next May achieve enough consensus where we don't have a primary. But I don't think we're there yet.

And people want to -- people in our party have a right to be able to speak their mind and have a debate about it. I just hope the debate ends up, over the next couple of months, to result in no primary.

STAFF: Thank you.

Q Thank you, Senator.

SEN. CASEY: Okay. Thanks, everyone. Appreciate the time.

Q Thank you.

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