A previous attempt to pass a similar Hinchey bill narrowly lost in the House on a 194-214 vote.

Passage now of the Hinchey amendment would go a long way in helping bring to a lawful conclusion those human rights court cases that were first set into motion by the late President Raul Alfonsin's "mini-Nuremberg" trials against the military junta leaders, who overthrew an elected government and presided over state terrorism.

As famed Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges once noted, his country's brutal and corrupt dictatorship, an increasing number of whose members face trial today, sought to end terrorism by engaging in state terrorism, something Borges and others have noted was akin to trying to put an end to cannibalism by eating the cannibals. 

Since Wednesday, Representative Hinchey's office has been trying to enlist endorsements for his effort from other Members of Congress, but many apparently have not yet begun to consider what provisions the Intelligence bill should contain. 

By contacting your Representative, you can help Rep. Hinchey get the legislation (attached to this NewsWeek edition) passed in the lower House.

As previously noted in NewsWatch--which celebrates conservative Republican political appointee and then U.S. Ambassador Robert C. Hill's all-out but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to pressure the Argentine generals onto a path of lawfulness (this before President Jimmy Carter took office)--bipartisanship in Washington is key to helping Argentina finally put to rest its awful past.

Because Mr. Hinchey effort is still in its preliminary stages, your contacting your Member of Congress may help not only to keep this non-partisan effort alive.

It can also help those in Argentina who seek to ensure--against so-called "populist" pressure from their own hyper-politicized government in Buenos Aires--that a full disclosure about that country's tragic history brings with it a better understanding that "cannibalistic cannibals" characterize the conduct of individuals and organizations of both of the far Left and the far Right.

Please write your Representative this weekend, and let her/him know of the importance of Mr. Hinchey's work to Argentina's troubled democracy.