(3 of 3)
So far Nixon has resisted all attempts to rebuild congressional power over foreign policy. Last November, Congress passed a military authorization bill with a watered-down version of the Mansfield amendment, which simply called for setting a date for the withdrawal of American forces from Viet Nam as soon as the prisoners of war are released. The President signed the bill into law while describing the amendment as being "without binding force or effect."
Yet Congress, properly informed, could be as much ot a help as a hindrance to the President, particularly in this time of travail over Viet Nam. By being brought into policymaking, Congress could share the responsibility as well as the blame for what happens there. Rather than rebuffing them, the President might welcome congressional efforts to formulate a peace offer to North Viet Nam. The Church-Case amendment omits a cease-fire as a condition for the withdrawal of American forces, but it does embody Nixon's offer of a total withdrawal in four months after the P.O.W.s are freed. Though Nixon dislikes congressional interference with his prerogatives, some such congressional resolution would increase his bargaining strength with North Viet Nam. It would demonstrate that Congress, the source of so much antiwar sentiment, is behind him.
No less than previous Presidents, Nixon has underestimated what Congress can do for him. It can, under certain circumstances save him from himself. The Senate, in particular, remains the repository of a worldly-wise skepticism—a quality not always found in the Executive bureaucracy, which defends to the death policies that it has initiated. The Administration has had to keep escalating in Viet Nam to protect its original position If the President had been required to report regularly to Congress, he might have found alternative strategies. To some degree the President has become the captive of the huge Establishment that has grown up around him. "A strong President," says Senator William Fulbright, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, "has been regarded as not one who strengthens and upholds our constitutional system as a whole but as one who accumulates and retains as much power as possible in the presidential office itself." It is time not to weaken the President, but to make the U.S. stronger by sharing the abundant power of the presidency with Congress.