Off the Record

George Bush isn’t the only one in trouble over Lithuania. Another is Senator Paul Simon (D., Ill.), who led the March 21 floor fight against Senator Jesse Helms’s resolution urging the President to recognize that country’s independence; the measure also criticized the USSR for attempting to “suppress democracy” there. Since the Honorable Mr. Simon is the Senate’s point man on Lithuanian issues, his opposition was critical in bringing about the unexpected 59 to 36 defeat.

What makes Mr. Simon’s move puzzling is that he is up for re-election this year in a state that is home to 160,000 Lithuanian-Americans, many of whom blitzed his office with angry calls and telegrams after the vote. Meanwhile, the Senate, embarrassed by news that Soviet troops had begun moving through Vilnius, quickly came up with a similar resolution the next day, which passed 93 to 0. Mr. Simon explained it by saying that the original proposal gave the President little “flexibility,” though to Cato it looked like another politician trying to have it both ways. His Republican challenger for the Senate, Representative Lynn Martin, has moved in quickly to exploit the blunder.

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George Bush isn’t the only one in trouble over Lithuania. Another is Senator Paul Simon (D., Ill.), who led the March 21 floor fight against Senator Jesse Helms’s resolution urging the President to recognize that country’s independence; the measure also criticized the USSR for attempting to “suppress democracy” there. Since the Honorable Mr. Simon is the Senate’s point man on Lithuanian issues, his opposition was critical in bringing about the unexpected 59 to 36 defeat.

What makes Mr. Simon’s move puzzling is that he is up for re-election this year in a state that is home to 160,000 Lithuanian-Americans, many of whom blitzed his office with angry calls and telegrams after the vote. Meanwhile, the Senate, embarrassed by news that Soviet troops had begun moving through Vilnius, quickly came up with a similar resolution the next day, which passed 93 to 0. Mr. Simon explained it by saying that the original proposal gave the President little “flexibility,” though to Cato it looked like another politician trying to have it both ways. His Republican challenger for the Senate, Representative Lynn Martin, has moved in quickly to exploit the blunder.