BERMAN LIKELY TO HEAD HOUSE PANEL VAN NUYS DEMOCRAT IN LINE TO GET FOREIGN AFFAIRS POST.

Byline: Lisa Friedman

Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Howard Berman, the Van Nuys Democrat who voted to authorize the invasion of Iraq and was among the last Democrats to withdraw his support from the war, is expected to be named the next chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The current chairman, Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, has announced that he has cancer of the esophagus and will not seek re-election next year.

Last week, the Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor who has led the panel since 2007 quietly named Berman vice chairman of the committee and Democratic leaders acknowledge he is likely to succeed Lantos.

Critics in Berman's own district have targeted the 13-term Angeleno for his support of the Iraq war. Southern California peace activists said they believe the former labor lawyer who was once arrested protesting South African apartheid has become too conservative for their tastes, and they fear his chairmanship will reflect that.

Foreign policy experts in Washington and elsewhere, meanwhile, said they see Berman, 66, as liberal but pragmatic.

"I think Howard Berman is really from central casting. If you had to design a chair of committee, it would be him," said UCLA political science professor Steven Spiegel.

"He's a careful intellectual who explores issues and unusual on the Hill in that he isn't ideological. He's very devoted to learning about problems and how to fix them."

Berman declined interview requests. His spokeswoman said Berman's thoughts are with Lantos' family and he wants to be as helpful as possible to the chairman.

Lobbyists and others in international policy circles, however, already are preparing for a change of command.

A member of the foreign affairs panel since he entered Congress in 1982, Berman is primarily known as a strong supporter of Israel. Early in his career, he wrote legislation funding joint U.S.-Israeli assistance projects in the developing world, and has worked over the years to increase aid to Israel.

But he also backs a two-state solution, has pressed for democratic and economic reforms in Arab countries and last year worked to ease restrictions on humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

M.J. Rosenberg, director of the Washington office of the Israel Policy Forum, which advocates an active U.S. role in promoting an Israeli and Palestinian peace process, called Berman "fair and open-minded."

"He is one of the most important people on this issue. He is to the right of us on Israel and less critical of the status quo than we are. But he is very intellectually open."

Officials with Arab groups, including the Palestine Liberation Organization Mission to the U.S., agreed that Berman is less hawkish than Lantos, but said they don't expect major shifts in Middle East policy.

On Iran, for example, Emily Blout of the Iranian American Council noted that Berman last year signed on to legislation expanding sanctions against Iran.

The organization has pushed heightened diplomacy.

"He has demonstrated a consciousness of our concerns. I wouldn't say he's not willing to listen," said Emily Blout, the council's legislative director. Still, she said, "I'm not predicting a big change."

But for activists like Jodie Evans of Los Angeles, who co-founded the feminist anti-war group Code Pink, Berman's oft-praised ability to work across party lines is not necessarily an asset.

And when it comes to the Iraq war, Evans said she feels like she barely recognizes the man she has known since Jerry Brown was governor of California.

"I have seen him get more conservative. I mean, we marched with Cesar Chavez together," she said.

Berman voted for the Iraq war in 2002, and said he believed that Saddam Hussein had chemical and biological weapons, and was attempting to obtain nuclear weapons.

He supported the war longer than almost any House Democrat, voting in 2006 to reject a timetable for pulling out of Iraq.

By 2007, Berman's views shifted. He voted against the troop surge that sent about 30,000 more soldiers into Iraq and later authored major legislation giving teeth to original Bush administration benchmarks for the war. The bill became a central Democratic plank.

Evans said she sees Berman's shift as too little, too late.

Still, Evans said, "He's such a lovable guy. I mean, he's funny and smart.

"I just think he used to be smarter."

lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com

202-662-8731

BERMAN ON FOREIGN POLICY

A top congressional critic of the Reagan administration's support of Iraq in the 1980s.

Has worked to increase and defend U.S. aid to foreign countries.

Lead sponsor on legislation reauthorizing sanctions against foreign oil companies that do business with Iran or Libya.

Co-wrote with former Republican Chairman Henry Hyde legislation authorizing sanctions against states that sponsor terrorism.

Helped establish new TV and radio broadcasting to Muslim countries to counter anti-American propaganda.

Authored a provision of a 1988 trade bill that prohibits the president from restricting international trade in cultural materials with Cuba and other countries under embargo.

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Rep. Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys, has been described as liberal but pragmatic.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

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BERMAN ON FOREIGN POLICY (see text)