Takes Key Role on Philippines : Rep. Solarz--a Familiar Face in World’s Hot Spots

Within days of the 1983 murder of Philippine opposition leader Benigno S. Aquino Jr., Rep. Stephen J. Solarz (D-N.Y.) was in Manila to express his condolences to Aquino’s widow, Corazon.

Last summer, as anti-apartheid sentiment grew in Congress and South Africa was rocked by a wave of racial unrest, Solarz flew to Johannesburg on another “fact-finding” trip.

Solarz, 45, a sixth-term Democrat from Brooklyn, regularly spends congressional recess time touring global hot spots and has become a familiar face to world leaders from Central America to the Middle East to Europe and Asia. In the process, he has become one of the most influential and eloquent experts on world affairs in Congress.

“He’s very effective, primarily because of his extensive grasp of the areas in which he deals,” said California Rep. Mel Levine (D-Santa Monica), a colleague on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “He has a real breadth of knowledge and concentrates on more issues than most people.”

Prose Brings Snickers

Although few in Congress question his competence, some privately snicker at his flowery prose and dismiss him as an ambitious publicity hound, constantly mugging for the cameras and searching for the quotable phrase.

For example, in releasing documents seized from former Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Solarz told reporters Thursday that the papers showed Marcos had “plundered” his country and proved that his government was “neither an aristocracy nor a meritocracy but a kleptocracy.”

Asked about possible Democratic challengers for the seat of New York Republican Sen. Alfonse M. D’Amato, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) quipped: “I don’t know whether Solarz will run and give up his job as secretary of state.”

Last year, Solarz played a key role in the fight to impose U.S. economic sanctions on South Africa. He also headed a successful drive to send small amounts of U.S. military aid for the first time to Cambodian rebels. He was at the center of Democratic efforts to block aid to the Nicaraguan insurgents. And he was the initiator of a message to Soviet leaders, warning them that Democrats, despite criticism of parts of President Reagan’s arms buildup, believe that the Soviets need to make arms control concessions.

But nowhere has Solarz’s growing influence on U.S. foreign policy been felt more keenly than in the Philippines, where as chairman of the panel on Asian and Pacific affairs he has long championed the cause of opponents to the Marcos regime.

Probed Marcos’ Wealth

Before Marcos’ downfall last month, Solarz used his powers as subcommittee chairman to press the dictator for reforms. Not long before a pivotal Philippines presidential election Feb. 7, Solarz opened an investigation into allegations that Marcos had salted away in U.S. investments billions of dollars that had been purloined from his impoverished nation.

Conservative critics, chief among them Rep. Gerald B. H. Solomon (R-N.Y.), accused Solarz of staging the inquiry to embarrass Marcos and influence the election, a charge Solarz did not deny. But, after pictures and tales detailing the extent of Marcos’ regal life style poured in from Manila in recent weeks, Solomon readily acknowledged that Solarz was right in pressing the investigation.

“Steve and I are on the opposite ends of the political and philosophical spectrum,” Solomon said. “ . . . But he is a man of the highest integrity, one of the most intelligent and knowledgeable members of Congress.”

Reagan Administration officials, who regularly spar with Solarz on a wide range of foreign policy issues, praised his tenacity and said that he always does his homework before tackling an issue.

Called Hard to Fool

“You cannot pull the wool over his eyes,” lamented one Administration official who deals frequently with Solarz. “In marginal terms, it makes my job harder.”

Friends say that Solarz lives, eats and breathes world affairs. He regularly hosts receptions at his Washington-area home for prominent foreign policy experts and visiting foreign dignitaries. Colleagues say that his trips abroad are not junkets, with Solarz often arranging a schedule of meetings that keeps him working from early in the morning to late in the evening.

“He lives his job,” Levine said. “He has perseverance and staying power. He integrates it into his entire life. . . . He probably is better traveled than any member of Congress and gets more out of his trips.”

Dole’s “secretary of state” joke is not far off the mark. Levine said that Democrats sometimes refer to Solarz informally as “Mr. Secretary,” and Solarz, himself, sometimes jokes about wanting the job.