Piqued Plea

Though he is the most celebrated domestic critic of the war in Viet Nam, Senator J. William Fulbright last week chose to attack it only indirectly -- by demanding a more substantive role for Congress in the conduct of foreign affairs in general.

In a "sense of the Senate" resolution, Fulbright, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, declared that national commitments to foreign governments should result only from "affirmative action taken by the executive and legislative branches of the United States Government." Too often, said the Arkansas Democrat, the executive branch has sent troops to countries without prior commitments or proper consultation with the Senate. "This resolution," he explained, "seeks to recover in some degree the constitutional role of the Senate in the making of foreign policy--a role which the Senate itself has permitted to be obscured and diminished over the years."

Negative Influence. Though the resolution was hailed by such disparate Senate leaders as Georgia's martial Senator Richard Russell and Oregon's pacific Wayne Morse, the fact is that U.S. Presidents for 169 years have dispatched troops abroad without the Senate's advice or consent. The first instance was in 1798, when John Adams sent U.S. warships against French naval forces harassing American merchant ships. Since then, Presidents have taken it upon themselves to intervene in foreign crises more than 150 times without consulting Congress or have done so only after the fact. Jefferson did it at Tripoli in 1801, as did Buchanan against Mexican bandits in 1859, Wilson at Vera Cruz in 1914, Roosevelt in Iceland in 1941, Truman in Korea in 1950, Eisenhower in Lebanon in 1958, Kennedy at the Bay of Pigs in 1961, and Johnson in the Dominican Republic two years ago.

The Senate's constitutional powers over foreign relations extend solely to ratification of treaties and, with the House, formal declarations of war. Beyond that, the Senate must rely largely on its negative influence by disapproving the President's appointments of high officials in controversial areas, turning down appropriations requests, and systematically attacking the President's foreign policy, as Fulbright has done. By just such tactics, it made its acute displeasure felt over last month's commitment of three airplanes and a handful of troops to the rebellious Congo. Under Senate pressure, President Johnson last week decided to withdraw the American miniforce.

Advisory for Advice. Always jealous of its prerogatives, real or not, the Senate is wistfully aware that its influence is nil in nuclear crises that demand in stant response, such as the Cuban confrontation in 1962. It is likely to pass the Fulbright resolution when the measure eventually comes up for a vote. While the resolution would have no binding power on the President, its passage would constitute an advisory to Johnson that the Senate would like to advise him more often.

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