Washington (special) -- Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-San Diego) says President George W. Bush can reestablish the close working relationship his father's administration developed with moderate Arab nations without endangering Israel.

In a recent chance interview aboard a commercial airplane flight from San Diego to Dallas, the six-term congressman also said he believed he would be able to work closely with Democratic Congresswoman Susan Davis of San Diego, but does not trust Congressman Bob Filner. Asked what he expected Bush's policies toward Israel would be, Cunningham, who won distinction as an ace Navy fighter pilot during the Vietnam War and now serves on the Defense Appropriations

U.S. REP. RANDY CUNNINGHAM

subcommittee, focused in his reply initially on military relations:

"First of all, we are not going to stand by and watch Israel beaten up by the surrounding countries," he said. "Second, we are going to invest in not only research and development but in making sure that Israel is secure militarily; just like I think we will for Taiwan. And then we will negotiate with the Arab nations... 

"Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait are moderate nations," the congressman added. "Their threat is not from the United States. It is not from Israel. It is from Saddam Hussein (of Iraq). It is from Syria. It is from Iran." He recommended that the United States let such nations know that "we will come to their aid and help them in their time of need, and yet will not tolerate them uniting with those other Arabs like (terrorist leader) Osama Bin Laden, or fostering terrorists." 

Such a policy is different than that pursued by former President Bill Clinton, he said. "Any time that another country made waves, we backed off, both in trade agreements and in peace agreements." 

Bush will tell other nations, in effect, "'hey guys, this is where we are going to draw the line.' ... I think that is a strength, because now it's like your kids; if your kids don't know what policy you have; if they don't know where those lines are, they are going to run over them and then things run amuk. If they know where the discipline is, if they know where the lines are drawn, if they know what the responsibilities are, then I think it is going to make it easier for ... all sides to negotiate. I think it is a healthy atmosphere and one more conducive to peace."

Neither Clinton nor Bush had foreign policy experience when, as former southern governors, they took office as President of the United States, Cunningham noted. But in choosing an experienced Vice President and Cabinet officials--many who had worked in his father's administration--Bush chose more wisely than did Clinton, in Cunningham's view.

"In my opinion, Bill Clinton had people like Strobe Talbott so far left that it would have been difficult for him to do any good; he had people in there like (former Labor Secretary) Robert Reich; read his book sometimes if you want to scare yourself.... He's got things in his books like there should be no business for profit, it should only be for the well-being of the employees. I mean that is Mao.You look and you see that he says no doctor or lawyer should earn more than a certain amount; you know that is socialistic. 

"The people around the president (Clinton) that he had advise him in those different areas didn't do him service, because he didn't have the background himself, so he was relying even more on the people around him to make those decisions." 

In Bush's administration, Cunningham said, "you have got some solid, hard-core people who know how to handle (their roles). Bill Clinton didn't; some of his failures I don't attribute all to himself; I attribute to the people around him."

The congressman described Israel as America's "aircraft carrier" in the Middle East, a place from which United States forces can protect the entire region from aggression. Further, he said, Israel is important to him as the place where Jesus was born.

His support for Israel, he stressed, comes despite what he described as political opposition to him and other conservative Republicans from the majority of the Jewish community, which tends strongly towards the Democratic party. 

"I believe in Israel, I support it," he said. "It doesn't mean it hasn't made me mad; it doesn't mean the Jewish community hasn't made me mad with their Democrat votes, but we reach out to them, and I think President Bush is really going to reach out to the Jewish communty, and he is going to ask them to reach back. 

"I had talked to AIPAC and they wanted me to do some things and I said 'why should I? Look at the Jewish community, every time I have a (hostile) letter to the editor, it is 'Rothstein,' or a Jewish surname in it." AIPAC, he said, pointed out to him that "when you take a look, you do have a lot of supporters in the Jewish community, both Republican and people that want to reach across."

Cunningham made a special point of praising as his good supporters Sandy and Phyllis Cohn, who are active Jewish Republicans in San Diego.

Asked to describe his working relationship with the two Jewish Democrats serving San Diego as part of its congressional delegation, Cunningham recalled how Susan Davis on the day of her swearing-in as a congresswoman earlier this year made a point of walking over to the Republican side of the aisle to seek out him and such other Republican colleagues from San Diego County as Duncan Hunter and Darrell Issa.

"I felt and was very touched by her even coming over," Cunningham said. "Brian Bilbray (the Republican incumbent whom Davis defeated) was a very close friend, and I think the politics and the things that went on with the money spent by the labor unions, and the trial lawyers and all the interest groups was wrong, but at the same time, if you're a professional, you've got to say: 'why am I there? This is not about Duke Cunningham, this is about what can we do about ship repair or about houses and schools and health care within our community. I have to reach back to Susan Davis. 

"I did not like her ... blasting Bush on the energy crisis. She (as a former member of the state Assembly) was part of that problem; she and (California Gov.) Gray Davis deregulated energy at a time when the environmentalists have shut down us building power grids, nuclear -- they are trying to tear down hydro-electric dams in California, oregon and Washington -- and now she is blasting Bush. That is part of politics, I guess, but we get by that. I think I can work with Susan Davis. 

"She has been described to me, as (someone who) comes across as a soccer mom that is partisan and doesn't have very many new thoughts herself; if that is the case, she will have a hard time. If she will actually work with us on different issues, she will (be successful)," Cunningham said.

"Bob Filner, on the other hand, will come across to you and try to work with you, but I am always checking my back to make sure I don't have a knife in it. I don't trust Bob Filner, and on many occasions Brian Bilbray learned the same thing. Bob has a hard time of that.

"When he protested when Bob Dole came out (for the 1996 Republican National Convention in San Diego, it was) totally unprofessional; he shut himself off. I know that Bob Dole told me and so did (U.S. Senate Majority Leader) Trent Lott that 'any bill Filner's in that you don't support, I will make sure it doesn't pass.' That kind of stuff makes it pretty hard for the constituents of San Diego," Cunningham continued. 

"Bob Filner had been a problem when he was on the (San Diego) City Council, and he is not well trusted or respected by our side because you can't trust him to work with you," Cunningham said. "I hope Susan Davis isn't like that because I will open up, I will work with her. There are certain areas of cooperation, like we support the east-west train, things like that; but when it comes to partisan, stab-you-in-the-back politics, I won't do that to Susan Davis until she does it to me, and if she does I will go after her with everything I have."

Cunningham is perhaps best known for his work in Congress in behalf of San Diego's large military population and related industries. He says he also is working closely with San Diego School Superintendent Alan Bersin to increase the flow of federal funds to local school districts. Also, as a survivor of prostate cancer, he says he has also been working to increase the amount of funds available for medical research.