Fulbright's Firing Line

For a man who constantly complains that the U.S. Senate is being ignored, Arkansas Senator J.W. Fulbright consistently manages to grab a remarkable amount of national attention. He was at his testy best again last week. He took on the Administration, charging that it had "tailored and even changed facts" in rushing a renewal agreement with Spain concerning the use of U.S. military bases there. He also assailed the television industry for doing as much to expand the powers of the presidency "as would a constitutional amendment formally abolishing the [other two] branches of Government." Both attacks were in line with Fulbright's contention that the Executive Branch dangerously dominates the Government and has usurped powers assigned by the Constitution to the Congress.

Spain. Fulbright said that he had no basic quarrel with the contents of the five-year agreement signed last week by Secretary of State William Rogers and Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs Gregorio Lopez Bravo; in fact, he added, he would probably vote for it if it were submitted to the Senate as a treaty to be ratified. But that had not been done, and that is what irked Fulbright.

In a Senate speech, he argued that the agreement should have been examined publicly by the Senate instead of being worked out in secret, and he noted that it will be submitted for approval to Spain's legislative body, the Cortes. He found it ironic that on this topic "there is more open discussion'' in the restrictive Franco regime than in the U.S. Fulbright wondered why the Administration routinely handles such trivial matters as a cooperative effort with Mexico to help recover and return "stolen archaeological, historical and cultural properties" by Senate-ratified treaty, but makes a consequential deal with Franco by executive stipulation. Fulbright threatened to seek a congressional ban on the use of U.S. military funds in Spain unless they are authorized by treaty. There is little likelihood that he could muster a Senate majority for such a measure.

The State Department contends that the agreement does not constitute any commitment by the U.S. to defend Spain if it is attacked by another nation, and thus is not similar to a mutual-defense treaty requiring ratification. The highly ambiguous language of the agreement includes a promise that each government "will support the defense system of the other" and "will make compatible their respective defense policies in areas of mutual interest." No one seems sure just what that means--which is probably the intent. The agreement will allow the U.S. to continue to use three airbases in Spain (at Saragossa, Moron and Torrejon) and a Polaris submarine and Mediterranean fleet-support base at Rota. The bases are manned by 10,000 U.S. servicemen. In return, the U.S. will provide Franco with at least $300 million worth of military aid, including 36 phased-out F-4C Phantom jet fighter-bombers.

Television. Fulbright's fire at television was prompted by the heavy use of the air waves by President Nixon. He has made 14 appearances in prime time in just 19 months in office. Throughout their presidencies, Lyndon Johnson enjoyed such exposure only seven times, John Kennedy four times and Dwight Eisenhower three. "Communication is power," argued Fulbright, "and exclusive access to it is a dangerous unchecked power." Fulbright introduced a resolution that would require the networks to grant spokesmen for the House and Senate at least four chances a year to air their views without charge. He did not say how they would be chosen. Rhode Island's Senator John O. Pastore indicated the difficulty of that. "I can give you the names of five guys who would never give the rest of us a chance," he said, suggesting that at least one of them would be J. William Fulbright.

Testifying before Pastore's Senate Communications Subcommittee, the presidents of the three major TV networks criticized the proposal as an infringement of journalistic freedom. The issue was deftly turned against the Senators by W. Theodore Pierson, special counsel to the Republican National Committee, who suggested that one way for them to get their views across would be to stop banning television cameras from the Senate floor.

FCC Chairman Dean Burch, appointed last September by Nixon, also opposed any law that would require stations to open their studios to any particular groups. The public, he said, has the right to be informed, and broadcasters have a duty to be fair. But he indicated that he agrees with the FCC's 21-year-old "Fairness Doctrine," which holds that there is no right of "the Government, any broadcast licensee or any individual member of the public, to broadcast his own particular views on any matter."

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