WASHINGTON — German-American relations, frayed in the aftermath of the American invasion of Iraq, are mending, and the country generally remains pro-American.

So says Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, who along with a delegation of three other Republican and two Democratic congressmen, just returned from a weeklong visit with German lawmakers.

"The Germans were very much impressed with the elections in Iraq," Bishop said. "They did not think it could be pulled off, but when it was, that changed a lot of attitudes."

The new talks were much more cordial than they were two years ago, he noted.

"Our goal was to make it very clear that the natural ally of the European Union is the United States and vice versa," Bishop said. "If they move out of that concept, it becomes very dangerous. We have a lot of common interests and common goals in how to deal with the rest of the world."

Bishop said Germany is a key player economically and politically as the European Union moves forward, and "we want to make sure there are close ties between Germany and the United States. It is in both our interests."

This was Bishop's third trip to Germany as a congressman participating in the German Study Group/Bundestag Parliament Seminar, a privately funded program that arranges exchange visits for German and American lawmakers.

The trips, which have been going on for 22 years, are designed to promote greater understanding between the two countries, something that was strained with Europe's opposition to the Iraq war.

Bishop found that Germans are generally pro-American and willing to move beyond the disagreements over the Iraq war. And Germany will soon participate in the training of Iraq policeman, although the training will occur in Germany, he said.

Bishop said this year's visit focused predominantly on the European proposal to lift the arms embargo against China that has been in place since the Chinese government cracked down on Democratic reformers.

The American delegation strongly encouraged the Germans to leave the embargo in place and said that lifting it would send the wrong message to the Chinese government.

"We brought it up at almost every meeting, and we kept hammering the point," he said. "And we saw some backpedaling. I don't think the German parliament is crazy about (lifting the embargo), and hopefully they will have some second thoughts."

There is growing pressure from some European Union members, particularly France, to lift the arms embargo and let economics foster democratic change, Bishop said.

"Most members of parliament don't want to trade with China either, and most are supportive of what we want to do, he said.

The American delegation also discussed Germany's NATO commitments and trade, among other topics.

And the Americans, who return to Washington, D.C., to engage the debate over Social Security reforms, got a lesson in population demographics. Germany is in a population decline, and there are not enough children in the system to pay for the benefits of aging German workers.

Sometime over the next few decades, the number of American workers will not be sufficient to pay Social Security benefits for the larger number of Baby Boomer retirees. And American policy-makers need look no further than Germany to see what will happen down the road, Bishop said.

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