Originally this week was scheduled to be a recess week to observe Yom Kippur, but Congress is back this week to welcome Pope Francis to town. Incidentally, the Pope’s visit to DC is just one of series of high profile visitors. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain were in town last week for a state visit (they went to Mt. Vernon and Georgetown -he’s an alum), and it garnered very little media attention. This week, however, the Pope will land Tuesday and take off Thursday from Joint Base Andrews and everyone is paying attention. President Obama and the First Lady will be on hand to welcome Pope Francis when he lands, which is big deal. Presidents and their spouses do not normally go to the airport to help welcome guests and it speaks volumes as to the importance of the Pope’s visit and the weight the Administration is giving that visit. When the Pope heads back to Andrews, he will pass China President Xi Jinping, who is coming to DC Thursday. The Chinese president lands in Washington DC for two days after spending time in Seattle and Tacoma earlier in the week.
Pope Francis
Residents of the DC-Maryland-Virginia area are girding their loins for the Pope’s visit this week. It’s expected to bring thousands of people to the area and cause major traffic issues. Roads are closed for the Pope’s welcome, travel to meetings and parade. In fact, the federal Office of Personnel Management is encouraging federal workers to telecommute for the entirety of the visit and treat it like three snow days.
The big agenda item for Congress is when the Pope addresses a joint session on Thursday morning. After the joint session, the Pope will address the crowd on the West Front of the Capitol, in what will be inauguration-like set up. The joint session could be a somewhat uncomfortable situation for Congressional Republicans since Pope Francis has delivered an encyclical calling for increased action against climate change, denounced the role of global capitalism in increasing poverty, and enthusiastically supported the new nuclear accord with Iran (which the House and Senate both worked on derailing last week). Now the Pope, whom American Catholics overwhelmingly support, arrives as Republicans wrestle with their opposition to these issues and with perceptions of intolerance.
One sliver lining is that Republicans are hoping the visit will help emphasize recent antiabortion efforts in the House. For over ten hours last week, the House debated a two bills designed to curtail abortions after 20 weeks and end Planned Parenthood’s access to federal funds for one year. The measures passed largely by party lines. The Senate will begin procedural motions to consider the legislation this week. The two bills were:
- HR 3504, the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act
- HR 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015
The elephant in the room is a concern on optics of a potential government shutdown on October 1st, just days after the Pope will likely deliver a message of tolerance, charity and love. A short-term continuing resolution is looking increasingly unlikely. The Planned Parenthood funding controversy has put the Administration and Congress at odds as the White House will veto any bill that defunds the group and Congressional Republicans do not have the votes to override a veto. Additionally, the dispute between the political parties over military and domestic funding has so far been impossible to negotiate. Democrats want both military and domestic spending increased while Republicans have proposed an increase for the military but a reduction in domestic programs…Stay Tuned.
The Washington Post has all things Pope Francis related.
Politico has a long piece on the Pope and his politics.
President Xi
As the Pope leaves, Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in town for several days in Washington, DC in what could be a somewhat tense meeting. Xi will be in the United States all week, with a stop first in Seattle on Tuesday and Wednesday where he will visit Boeing and Microsoft company facilities. Xi will travel to Washington on Thursday for an official state visit and meeting with President Barack Obama on Friday. The two are expected to discuss a wide range of issues, including cyber attacks and climate change, and could cover economic issues like biotechnology approvals and bilateral investment treaty negotiations.
The broad goal for China is to improve relations with the United States, while asserting the nation’s role as a superpower. It’s a complicated visit in the midst of recent turmoil in Chinese markets and economy. China’s economy has slowed more abruptly than policy makers have appeared ready for, alarming investors around the world. The government overestimated its ability to keep stock prices aloft, spending billions to bolster the Chinese markets.
Top on the agenda for the Administration are issues related to cyber security to stem the tide of private sector trade-secrets and intellectual-property thefts linked to China’s government and the People’s Liberation Army and the South China Sea issue.
Administration officials began anonymously threatening targeted sanctions against offending Chinese businesses in advance of the summit. While Chinese attacks on private businesses have gone down in recent days, it’s unclear if this reduction is a cease-fire or an effort to make nice before the leaders meet. In addition, US officials are hoping to ink a first-of-its-kind cyber arms deal during Xi’s visit – essentially an agreement that neither side would move first to destroy the other’s critical infrastructure by cyber means, according to a New York Times story. If completed, the deal would square with a series of peacetime cyber norms the US has been pushing at the United Nations and elsewhere. The China deal would lend significant credibility to the US’s larger diplomatic mission in cyberspace, but it would do little to address genuine points of cyber conflict between the nations.
The US is worried about freedom of navigation in one of the busiest commercial waterways in the world, the South China Sea, and has told China to stop building artificial islands and to halt construction of military facilities on those islands. China considers itself to have sovereign rights over about 80 percent of the South China Sea. It is unlikely that the two sides will bridge their differences, but they may agree to try to manage them.
The meeting is an important first between the two leaders. It should be noted, however, that Xi is incredibly popular in China and expected to easily serve the next seven years, while Obama has 16 months left. It is unknown how much the two leaders can agree on at this meeting.
The New York Times has Xi’s full schedule and agenda.
Lighter Reading