Leading roles
Hehir, J. Bryan
WORLDWATCH ________J. Bryan Hehir________ LEADING ROLES THE STATURE OF SCHROEDER & NUNN The decisions of Senator Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) and Representative Pat Schroeder (D-Colo.) not to seek the...
...as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the most respected voice within his party on defense issues, Nunn has the capacity to shape most issues and the ability to stop some dead in their tracks...
...Congressional: tion is limited to debate and deci: about appropriations...
...The potenc Nunn's role on this question is '. bolized by his threat to delay ratific...
...The objection misses a fundamental fact: from Vietnam to Lebanon to Nicaragua the record illustrates that "micro" decisions have macro-implications...
...Both Nun'n and Schroeder play well defined and important roles in the U.S...
...From Senator Vandenberg's support for the Marshall Plan to Senator Fulbright's opposition to Vietnam and finally to the han-contra hearings this summer, the need for an engaged congressional role and the cost of disregarded congressional opinion is evident...
...Congress...
...Nunn scarcely be accused of being ret about projecting U.S...
...But this year he has staked out two dissenting positions from the president...
...Nunn was the choice of the "Scoop Jackson Democrats," at least on foreign policy positions...
...the Congress...
...Both candidates evoked interest beyond the Democratic party...
...The Constitution give president the clear initiative on foi and defense policy...
...Few people get elected to Congress on a foreign policy agenda and even fewer on the basis of foreign policy expertise...
...An INF treaty without Nunn's su] means a major ratification fight ir Senate with a very uncertain outco Equally explosive is Nunn's op] tion to the tactic of reflagging Ku' tankers in the Persian Gulf...
...power, but h< doubts about the short-term utility long-term wisdom of the admini tion's decision to reflag...
...He opposes, root and branch, the administration's design to reinterpret the ABM Treaty, invoking a "broad interpretation" to allow extensive testing for SDI...
...Nunn Schroeder remaining in the Conj should not be equated with a spe issue or where they stand on it...
...Some consideration should be given to the already demonstrated talent individuals like Nunn and Schroeder have for providing legislative wisdom and decisive leadership in their present roles...
...In the aftermath of the Iran-contra hearings, defenders of the executive branch complained of a congressional desire to "micro-manage" foreign policy...
...While sc senators share Nunn's concerns, voice and his stature give this chall unique weight...
...For the most part Nunn has been a supporter of President Reagan's defense policy...
...Both have established their reputations in the foreign policy arena...
...At times of crises the whole Congress is involved in the foreign policy debate...
...We shouldn't, however, let the presidency dominate our idea of what is useful, indeed essential, public service...
...but relatively few members have a sustained interest and specific expertise in foreign and defense issues...
...Ui Nunn, she cannot by herself be dec on an issue...
...Congress is ii ently in a reactive position on foi policy issues...
...her views...
...the se can be coercive, but all acknowledge an imprecise instrument...
...While they represent very different political positions, a case can be argued that Nunn and Schroeder have made the best decision for their party and the political process in the United States by declining to run for the presidency...
...Four issues today highlight the significance of the congressional role in the foreign policy process: arms control, Central America, the Persian Gulf, and the defense budget...
...Nunn and Schroeder take different positions on most of these issues, but both play key roles in shaping congressional opinion...
...of an INF treaty with the Soviets unt Reagan administration agrees to a " interpretation" of the ABM T ty...
...She can, however, influ the direction of Democratic debat defense and foreign policy questioi The significance of...
...The first is an i lectual and moral influence...
...Schroeder has neither a comm chairmanship nor the same breadt support within the Democratic part...
...The ability to select those key choices which are systemic in their implications and to engage the Congress vigorously in these questions requires some members who by position in the House and Senate, as well as by inclination and training, are willing to act as the custodians of the congressional role in foreign policy...
...This case hangs on the relationship between individuals and institutions...
...On all four, deep divisions exist between the White House and the Congress on how the United States should act...
...George Will spilled as much ink trying to persuade Nunn to run as he die1 trying to get Robert Bork confirmed...
...Schroeder attracted support from independent voters, especially among women...
...He reflected their profound skepticism about Soviet intentions, and their commitment to aid the contras and support spending for defense...
...But her tenure on the H Armed Services Committee and her ingness to address in detail the bu< ing, strategic, and political implica of defense policy have guaranteed I platform within the Democratic part...
...646...
...Pat Schroeder combined a well articulated position on the left of the Democratic party with the possibility of being the first female nominee for the presidency...
...not to seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 caused disappointment at both ends of the party...
...The pen proclivity of members often reinfi the secondary role of Congress in foreign policy...
...value lies in providing the Congress a capability it needs...
...Supporters of both Nunn and Schroeder have emphasized their presidential qualities...
...Nunn's role is both more visible and more decisive than Schroeder's...
...Precisely because congressional capabilities are reactive and often sporadic in nature, there needs to be in both houses a core of people who can provide coherence and direction to a long-term, sophisticated congressional interest in the foreign policy process...
...On contra aid and del spending she is to the left of Nunn, b the House she speaks for and with otl Often she stakes out a position ahei her colleagues, and usually more HI than the Democratic consensus...
...Yet the history of the policy debate since World War II shows the key role the Congress can play in foreign affairs...
...Nunn's opposition is both substantive and procedural: he sees himself defending the original intent of the treaty and protecting the Senate's role ir foreign policy process...
...The office of the presidency dominates the American political landscape, but it does not exhaust the political process...
Vol. 114 • November 1987 • No. 20
