Who's Watching Congress?

...Just the opposite...

...Perhaps this is because media power has expanded in this town at a time when the old centers of authority and leadership are diffused and diminished...

...In the same cavernous, marbled chamber where the Ervin Committee investigated Watergate, for example, Senators Henry M. Jackson (D.-Wash...

...They had accused the FEA of refusing to cooperate with their inquiry into suspected overcharges on imported fuel sold to the utility...

...Congressional committees commit other abuses of power which, if not illegal, nonetheless corrode the fundamental fairness that is an essential underpinning of our democracy...

...And with the press rarely looking into the way Congressional committees perform, or for its own purposes ignoring what is taking place, there is virtually no limit to what he can do...

...Worse, they had claimed the Federal agency tried to impede grand jury investigations, a charge amounting to obstruction of justice...

...Yet my difficulty with the press, viewing the situation from the inside, lies not in what is written, but in what is overlooked...

...Few are covered...

...Nonetheless, Moss, a longtime critic of reported close ties between the government and the oil industry, indicated both by the tone and content of his opening statement on Wednesday that he had already decided the FEA was guilty...

...Moss, backed enthusiastically by House freshmen, promised vigorously to oversee Federal agencies, something he is now attempting to do in a rather heavy-handed fashion...

...eager to demonstrate their leadership and effect rapid change, have exhibited a growing tendency of late to overstep the already indistinct line that separates the proper exercise of authority from its misuse?while the press has been looking the other way or simply not looking at all...

...At that point, some of the members of the committee, joined by several newsmen, left the chamber, and the television cameras were turned off...

...The Californian reached his present position by staging a coup d'etat last January that ousted Representative Harley O. Staggers (D.-W...

...A white-haired Washington veteran who leads the full Commerce Committee as well, Staggers had let the Investigations Subcommittee grow dormant...

...Meanwhile, the subcommittee investigator who brought the letter to the FEA sought even faster action by asking for immediate delivery to him of materials from its files, but FEA lawyers demurred, insisting at least on the limited time granted by the written request...

...He simply declared that he was responsible "to the full committee, to the House of Representatives and ultimately to the electorate" for his conduct...

...The opportunity for a dramatic confrontation had been lost...

...Customs Service and the State's Attorney's office in Jacksonville, and of the Jacksonville Electric Authority...

...The newsmen of Washington, as they travel in a flock from one press conference to the next, neglect a good deal that is going on outside the barnyard...

...attempted this past summer to compel a number of oil executives to testify as a group on gasoline price increases—despite their vehement protests that this procedure would deny them access to counsel and reinforce the impression of an oil conspiracy...

...I am certain that officials of the FEA . will have explanations for their less than vigorous cooperation with state and Federal law enforcement officials," he said, adding that he would reserve "final" judgement until all the facts were in...

...Why the haste...

...After sorting out the accusations, the Moss staff questioned lower-level FEA officials about the matter...

...In an unusual display of committee infighting, several senators objected strenuously, forcing Jackson and Stevenson to relent and allow the executives to appear separately...

...The heat of summer has scarcely stifled the local passion for attacking newsmen...

...Correspondents appear to have become so close to committee staff members, and so dependent on them for the occasional "exclusive" story, that they are quite willing to ignore improprieties taking place before their eyes...

...One of his first endeavors was to look into the Federal Energy Administration's (FEA) handling of a Jacksonville, Florida, oil-price case...

...In fairness, it should be noted that Moss is not alone on Capitol Hill in disregarding the rights of those being subjected to public scrutiny...

...In recent years his only accomplishment as its head was to hold hearings on alleged bias in The Selling of the Pentagon, the CBS television documentary about the Defense Department's public relations activities...

...The House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is a case in point...

...No reason emerged that day or in a subsequent interview with Moss...

...That same afternoon, Moss announced a public hearing for Wednesday to consider the evidence...

...Whatever the cause, journalists are being called upon to justify their performance at almost every turn...

...As the networks and papers continue to bask in the often only reflected glory of their Watergate achievement, the critics are pouncing at the slightest provocation...

...Procedural reforms in the House, moreover, though they have led to the weakening or removal of some older, slower-moving committee chairmen, seem to have aggravated the problem by making it possible to install more aggressive members in influential positions...

...Much more important, even when a committee is given attention, no heed is paid to how its hearings are conducted or how unscrupulous its investigative methods might be...

...To prepare for hearings, the subcommittee's staff interviewed officials of the U.S...

...Moss was allowed to hire his own staff and was provided with a budget of $600,000, an unusually large sum for a House subcommittee...

...Then, as the subcommittee's investigation neared its culmination, Moss sent a hand-delivered letter one afternoon to the FEA demanding all the documents in the case at the agency's "earliest convenience but no later than 12 o'clock noon, Tuesday"—the very next day...

...And the overwhelming domination of Congress by Democrats this year, rendering Republicans virtually impotent at the committee level, has greatly increased the potential for such mischief...

...as chairman...

...Although he left his accountability at that, the California Congressman knows that these potential controls are not only tenuous indeed, but almost never exercised...

...Under the leadership of Representative John E. Moss, an outspoken, tough-minded, 60-year-old liberal Democrat from California, this subcommittee has emerged over the past few months as the most forceful investigative body in the lower chamber...

...Or perhaps the reason is that reporters, in their zeal to maintain the Watergate momentum, are stretching things a bit...

...Some of the documents had to be sent by telecopier from the regional office in Atlanta...

...The group has also been empowered to issue subpoenas...

...This was the first formal indication received by top FEA officials that the subcommittee was focusing on the Jacksonville case in its investigation of the agency's practices...

...Infused with fresh blood, it was given an enlarged mandate to examine the whole range of Federal regulatory agencies by its parent, the House Commerce Committee...

...Energy Administration authorities summoned to the public hearing were not interviewed in advance, nor were they informed of the charges to be presented against them...

...These men, Stephen Nordlinger is a Washington reporter for the Baltimore Sun...

...and Adlai E. Stevenson III (D.-IU...

...BY STEPHEN NORDLINGER Washington Conversations at Washington parties these days seem to turn inevitably to the question of accountability as it applies to public servants, elected officials and the press, especially the press...

...Watergate was about the unlawful abuse of power in the Executive branch...

...Use of the money is subject only to his panel's approval, a process that is strictly pro forma since two-thirds of the members are Democrats...

...This is most pronounced, I believe, in the reporting on Congressional committees...