reported by Kazys Razgaitis
On a beautiful
October Sunday afternoon, Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa) took time out of his busy schedule
to
participate in a town meeting at the Baldwin School in Bryn
Mawr, Pa. The meeting began
as scheduled at 4:30 on Oct 21st in a packed meeting room. The Senator started the meeting
with a short introduction covering a number of current event issues ranging from the
events of Sept 11th to social security to the situation in the Mideast. He then counted
the 58 raised hands of those who wanted to ask questions and immediately started working
through them one-by-one. Although no official count was taken, it seems that at least 40
of the 58 questions dealt with the environment in general and with drilling for oil in the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge specifically. An apparently organized effort by
environmentalists dominated the topics covered during the two hour meeting. My opportunity
came as the 34th in line. My question: "The events of September 11th have undoubtedly
changed the dynamics of international politics. How do you feel that these events have affected the issue
of NATO enlargement and where do you stand with regards to the admission of Lithuania into
NATO?" Senator Specter answered that during the first phase of enlargement, he
expected significant resistance from Russia with regards to the admission of Poland. That
resistance never materialized. He said that he feels that NATO must be expanded, and the
answer to my question is "Yes, I do support Lithuania's admission into NATO!"
This past summer I had unexpectedly met Senator Specter at a local Baskin Robbins and I
had asked him essentially the same question. His answer then was rather ambiguous. He had
said he needed more time to study the issue. Well, now at the Bryn Mawr town meeting, it
sounded as if he had studied the issue and has decided to support Lithuania's admission
into NATO.