Uncle Carl Gets Mad

Carl Vinson, 78, of Milledgeville, Ga.has spent 45 years influencing military legislation in the House of Representatives, where he is known fondly as "Uncle Carl," "The Admiral" and "The Swamp Fox." Since World War II, Chairman Vinson of the Armed Services Committee has been doing a slow burn while Pentagon leaders under Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy refused to use money voted by Congress for specific projects. Examples: construction of a Navy supercarrier in 1949; ordering additional Air Force B-525 in 1961. Last week Uncle Carl finally lost his temper over the issue of how much control Congress should have over the executive branch in determining policy. "It is eminently clear," he wrote in a stinging committee report, "that the role of the Congress in determining national policy, defense or otherwise, has deteriorated over the years." At issue was the Air Force's RS-70 reconnaissance-superbomber, formerly known as the B-70. The RS-7O was designed to fly at three times the speed of sound--and has yet to get off the ground.

Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara wants to spend the comparatively modest sum of $180 million next fiscal year (beginning July 1) to develop three prototypes of the bomber. McNamara reasons that missiles like the Minuteman are the weapons of the future, not manned bombers. But General Curtis LeMay, the Air Force's tough Chief of Staff and an old bomber pilot, made a strong plea to Vinson's committee for rapid development of the full RS-70 weapons system.

Vinson sided with LeMay against McNamara. His Armed Services Committee, which he dominates as chairman like a benevolent first sergeant, proposed spending an additional $491 million on the RS-70 in fiscal 1963. But far more important was the form of the proposal. To make sure that McNamara would spend the extra $491 million on the RS-70, Vinson's committee set a precedent: it urged that the Administration be "directed, ordered, mandated and required" by Congress to build the bomber.

Constitutional Case. "More and more," said Vinson's report, "the role of Congress has come to be that of a sometimes querulous but essentially kindly uncle Who complains while furiously puffing on his pipe but who, finally, as everyone expects, gives in and hands over the allowance, grants the permission or raises his hand in blessing, and then returns to his rocking chair for another year of somnolence."

The report acknowledged that the President is the Commander in Chief, but then went on to note that Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution empowers the Congress "to raise and support" military forces. Stated the report: "Might we not liken the function of the President to that of a general who has complete command over his forces but who cannot dictate the precise weapons with which his forces will be armed? The decision as to the kind of rifle, the type of tank, and the configuration of the airplane has already been decided by other authority and the material furnished him for his use.

"Perhaps this is the time, and the RS-7O the occasion, to reverse this trend. The committee submits that it, after hearing full and free discussion of a military matter, is itself reasonably competent to form a judgment which warrants consideration. When this is backed by the vote of the whole Congress, it is a mandate. If this constitutes a test as to whether Congress has the power to so mandate, let the test be made."

Parochial Danger. At his press conference last week, President Kennedy opposed the Vinson report. He pointed out the enormous expense of the superbomber program. "It was proposed by the Air Force that they would have 140 B-705, which would cost $10 billion, which would be ready by 1970 or 1971." Kennedy argued that it was senseless for Congress to vote excessive funds for the plane before the prototype was tested. "But in the final analysis," said the President, "this is a matter on which I have relied very heavily on Secretary McNamara, in whom I have the greatest confidence."

In the past Carl Vinson also has had great faith in McNamara, but there was evidence last week besides the RS-70 squabble that he might be having some second thoughts. In a speech to the Reserve Officers Association, Vinson warned against the trend of consolidation that McNamara had set in motion in the Pentagon. Said Vinson: "The three military departments, with their department secretaries and their separate services, assure us of collective wisdom. They protect us against the adoption of a one-sided defense concept, which might well be based on a then-prevailing parochial attitude."

Table Talk. With this kind of trouble coming up, Bob McNamara quietly set about mending his fences on Capitol Hill. He made plans to appear before Congress again to restate his position on the RS-70s. He conferred with Chairman Clarence Cannon of the House Appropriations Committee. He even met privately and peaceably with Carl Vinson to talk over their impasse.

It is far from certain that the House and the Senate will go along with Vinson's attempt to direct the Administration to build the RS-70s; it is even less certain that the President, under the Constitution, would be required to obey. But Carl Vinson is too powerful, and too good a friend of the military and the Administration, to offend with impunity.

"We don't want to run the Department of Defense," Vinson said last week. "We just want to sit at the table and get across an idea once in a while." And that doesn't mean sitting in a rocking chair.

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