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Why Jim McDermott Thinks Global, Disdains Local

Seattle's nine-term representative in the House seems more like an appointed ambassador of leftist good will than the elected representative of a Pacific Northwest city.

Comments (8) By Aimee Curl Wednesday, Oct 10 2007

Harley Soltes

Seattle’s ambassador of liberalism, with a scarf given to him by the Dalai Lama.

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Click here for Rep. McDermott's comments on the troop surge in Iraq.

Click here to see pictures of McDermott with Angelina Jolie and some other famous friends.

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The annual August recess is bread-and-butter stuff for D.C. politicians. Even those in the farthest-flung districts head back, staff in tow, to shake hands, kiss babies, and give a general "what's up" to the folks back home.

Dave Reichert cut ribbon in Auburn; Jay Inslee pitched biotech in Woodinville; Brian Baird hosted town halls on the Iraq war; Patty Murray talked No Child Left Behind in Tacoma; Maria Cantwell and Norm Dicks (and Murray) helped open a biofuel plant in Grays Harbor; and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers broke bread with seniors in Spokane.

Where was Seattle's Jim McDermott? Being knighted by the king of Lesotho, a monarchy about the size of Maryland located in the middle of South Africa.

McDermott has now joined the Most Dignified Order of Moshoeshoe (named for the kingdom's founder). King Letsie III recognized McDermott for his work on the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which helped make Lesotho Africa's No. 1 exporter of apparel to the United States and created 50,000 new jobs in the country, according to McDermott's office. (A few weeks later, the king issued another decree, asking his populace to spend the next three Sundays praying for rain.)

It was standard M.O. for McDermott, whose district extends south to SeaTac and north to Shoreline. While many members of Congress stay busy filling potholes (or the equivalent), Seattle's nine-term representative in the House can more often be found trotting the globe, visiting the world's most impoverished, ignored, or outcast countries, seeming more like an appointed ambassador of leftist good will than the elected representative of a Pacific Northwest city.

Data from D.C.-based research service LegiStorm (which tracks the trips paid for by private and public interests) indicate that, since 2000, only six of the 535 members of Congress have traveled more than McDermott. His prewar trip to Iraq in 2002—where he declared, "I think the president would mislead the American people"—made national headlines. And in 2006, he became one of the first U.S. lawmakers to set foot in North Korea. This year he's been to Germany and has checked in with heads of state in Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia. Later this month, he'll travel to Cuba to research its health care system (recently celebrated in Michael Moore's Sicko).

His legislative agenda is similarly internationalist in scope. This spring he introduced a bill to prevent the deportation of a California resident who'd been convicted in Bangladesh of murder in connection with a 1975 coup in Pakistan. And this session he is again the co-chairman of the Congressional India Caucus, which advocates for issues important to India and Indian Americans.

Is this the representation Seattle actually desires? Or are Seattleites no more active or engaged than the voters in countless other districts who lazily return their incumbents year after year, regardless of their record?

With the Democrats back in control of the House, McDermott now a subcommittee chairman on Ways and Means, and a growing list of local needs, at least some in Seattle are starting to wonder if they still prefer a representative more in the mold of Bono than Warren Magnuson.

Being knighted wasn't actually on McDermott's August itinerary; it was just a happy surprise. He had gone to Africa on his own dime to see his wife, Therese, a Seattle trial lawyer who is currently living there and working to promote AIDS awareness. The couple went whale watching off the coast of South Africa, saw gorillas in the jungles of Rwanda, and sampled wine at South African vineyards. McDermott also took time out for more serious pursuits, including an informational visit to eastern Congo, where the AIDS epidemic and battles over natural resources have claimed millions of lives in the past decade. The call to be knighted came as he was in Lesotho to celebrate the one-year anniversary of a medical clinic run by Paul Farmer, an American doctor known for his efforts in Africa. Unprepared for an audience with the king, McDermott says he had to borrow a shirt and jacket.

Over coffee last month at his favorite downtown cafe—Senso Unico, though McDermott calls it Mario's, after the owner—McDermott says it was hard to return to the States, particularly since he roamed Africa untethered by e-mail or the Internet after his BlackBerry charger broke. "You hear people talk about culture shock," McDermott says, his grandfatherly features settling into a soft smile. "It was being away from this, seeing the problems of AIDS, poverty, all that's going on, and then coming back to Washington [D.C.] and realizing you could pick up the paper and it was almost like the day you left."

He's in town now to attend the wedding of a staff member and to speak in Bellevue at the annual dinner of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Explaining his globe-trotting ways, he says, "You can sit at home and vote your prejudices, but it always helps to go and see what's going on. A major part of the reason for travel is so that Americans can understand what the impact of their behavior is on the rest of the world."

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Comments (8)

Dan R Parfait 10/15/2007 7:06:03 PM

I've lived in Seattle for most of my life and am appalled at the Good Congressman. I don't doubt his good works but he seems to be more anxious to do them at the taxpayers expense and I just don't understand why people continue to put up with that. When he wants the U.S. to be more diplomatic and respectful of dictators while calling his own President a liar, I don't think that is very diplomatic. Instead it is sucking up to a political base, making merchandise of his constituency. I have decided to run against him and will do so without sucking up to anyone. To prove it, I will accept donations from NO ONE. Not one cent. I hope you'll hear more about me later but I'm just a regular working stiff so I won't have a knighthood to brag about and the only scarf I have is .... wait a minute, I don't have a scarf. parfait4congress.googlepages.com/home
Segue Fischlin III 10/15/2007 2:15:07 PM

Jim McDermott has been representing me for over 15 years, and I couldn't be happier. Even though I have not had the honor of meeting him personally, I have had email correspondence with him and have paid attention to how he votes on issues. He alone of all the politicians who pretend to represent my interests has earned my admiration and trust. In the age of internet, I don't feel that his physical absence signifies a deficiency of attention to the issues that are relevant to our region. Keep it up Jim McDermott. Travel, or do whatever you feel best serves us locally and globally. You have my vote.
Jason B 10/13/2007 11:09:13 AM

She said "535 members of Congress". Congress has two chambers. 435 in House, 100 in Senate. It's pretty accurate.
Appalled Reader 10/11/2007 9:19:19 PM

If a journalist cannot get the number of U.S. Representatives right (we have 435, not 535), how are we to credit much else that she writes? And at no place did she even mention that before he represented us in Congress, McDermott was a physician, which makes his travel to AIDS-victimized countries more understandable. I, for one, wish more Congressional representatives had the broad outlook--not provincial, not chauvinistic--of Congressman Jim McDermott. Your fact=checkers and proofreaders should be ashamed of themselves, not to mention the author herself.
Ted Diamond 10/11/2007 10:43:25 AM

The closest I have ever gotten to an elected representative to the federal government was when Jim McDermott marched with me and tens of thousands of his constituents to prevent the invasion of Iraq. I don't need potholes fixed. I don't need another Cantwell. I need my government to stop using my money to coerce and kill abroad in my name.
Hal 10/10/2007 1:57:19 PM

What a joke of a congressman. I'm sorry I guess I'm naive, I want my congressional representative to represent my community's interest. Sadly on the issues where it counts for Seattle, we have to rely on Rep. Norm Dicks or Rep. Jay Inslee....anyone but our own Congressman Jim McDermott. Let's see he's not trying to get more money for our vets health care, he's not trying to more money for sound transit, he's not trying to get money for infrastructure. Congressman McDermott is the where's waldo of the US congress. Yes Congressman Waldo on the issues affecting Seattle where are you?
Madora Lawson 10/10/2007 1:12:09 PM

Yes, Jim McDermott's is exactly the type of representation I desire. At least with supporting Jim McDermott, I can feel that I have a trusted antidote to Bush's insanity. Don't others wish they had listened to "Baghdad Jim"? For the record, there was no question in my mind that Jim McDermott was spot on from the start of this Iraq war fiasco.
Sally Neary 10/10/2007 1:03:48 PM

I had no idea that Jim McDermott had done so many good things. Am I right in thinking that the author has criticized him for his lack of pork-barrel spending? I would think that was positive. And for accepting an honor in Africa, while on his family vacation? Isn't he entitled to do what he wants on vacation? I wish that my representative were as forward-thinking as Congressman McDermott.

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