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| US Congress creates Franco-American friendship group
WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (AFP) - The US Congress has created a Franco-American friendship group aimed at re-building ties between Paris and Washington that had been stressed by the war in Iraq, a representative said Wednesday. "It's no secret that relations between the United States and France have been less than ideal lately," New York Republican Amory Houghton told a luncheon at the French ambassador's residence. BizVantage – The NOW newsletters, realtime with your content - for business, investment or technology. "It's time to get on with life and start rebuilding our ties. This thing has lingered too long." He told guests at the luncheon, attended by Edouard Balladur, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the French Chamber of Deputies, that the "Congressional French Caucus" already had some 25 members from both parties and both houses. "The purpose here is to bring people together," said Houghton, whose father was US ambassador to France from 1957 to 1961 under president Dwight Eisenhower. "Both countries need to clear up misunderstandings between our two great nations and, in the process, build up personal and professional relationships between legislators," he said. "Both the United States and France have too much at stake to permit our relationship to deteriorate further," said Houghton, who voted against a congressional resolution authorizing President George W. Bush to use military force against Iraq. Among members of the Congressional French Caucus is Representative Bob Ney, the Ohio Republican who won attention with a resolution passed by Congress last March, at the height of anti-French feeling in the United States, renaming french fries as "Freedom Fries" in House cafeterias. fk/aln/jlp US-France-Congress
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