Uncertainties of Watergate Reform

Long held in relatively low esteem by the U.S. public, Congress is now enjoying a new post-Nixon popularity.

Mainly because of the conscientious and dignified conduct of the House Judiciary Committee in its televised impeachment hearings, public approval of Congress climbed from 30% last April to 48% in August, according to a Gallup poll released last week. Overall, however, the Congress has not yet fully earned such a rise in confidence stemming from its handling of the Watergate scandal. It has yet to enact a single bill that would make future Watergate-type abuses of presidential authority and political campaigns less likely to occur.

Ironically, the freshening advent of Gerald Ford as President makes legislative-mandated reform seem less urgent. It strengthens those members of Congress who argue that decent leadership, rather than new laws, will best preclude more Watergates. Indeed, as Nixon and many of his men have ruefully discovered, there are many adequate laws that can be applied to specific Watergate transgressions. Yet, after its thorough study of the scandal, the Senate Watergate committee suggested no fewer than 35 reforms, most of which would require congressional action. Explains Connecticut Republican Lowell P. Weicker Jr., one of that committee's most reform-minded members: "Ford is a fine man and I don't doubt for a minute that he's honest. But we have to go beyond this association with personalities and individuals and make this more a government of laws and less a government of men."

Although there has been no final action on any Watergate reform bill, there has been a substantial amount of preliminary legislative activity, especially in the following areas of proposed reform:

CAMPAIGN FINANCING. A national disgrace long before Watergate, the solicitation and donation of political funds in a degrading climate of currying and dispensing governmental favors to special interests was dramatized by the cash-surfeited 1972 Nixon campaign. Probably the most urgently needed campaign-funding reform is also closest to some kind of congressional fulfillment. Both the House and Senate have passed bills that provide for full public financing of presidential general elections. Both bills also set limits on what a candidate for the presidency as well as the House and Senate can spend, and both create more effective machinery to enforce campaign laws. There are, however, sharp differences in the two bills--most notably, the House fails to provide for any public funding of congressional campaigns--which will be considered by a House-Senate conference committee early this month. A more critical question is whether President Ford, who, like Nixon, has opposed public funding of political campaigns, will sign or veto the resulting legislation.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT. Watergate demonstrated how difficult it is for a Justice Department ultimately supervised by the President to investigate and prosecute crimes committed by White House officials or the President's political agents. Senator Sam Ervin, chairman of the committee that investigated Watergate, has introduced bills that would make the department an independent agency and establish a permanent special prosecutor to handle politically sensitive crimes. Weicker plans to introduce a bill under which the Attorney General would be elected rather than appointed by the President. There seems to be no widespread congressional enthusiasm for either approach, and no action is likely on either bill in this session of Congress.

EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE. It became obvious during Nixon's final months in office that he had grossly abused the concept of Executive privilege in an attempt to conceal incriminating evidence rather than use this prerogative for the proper purpose of protecting the confidentiality of governmental advice from his aides. The Senate has passed a bill, advocated by Ervin and Democratic Senator Edmund Muskie, that would define this privilege and give Congress the power to dispute any such claim if the privilege is abused. The courts would resolve any continuing dispute. The House Government Operations Committee has also approved the bill, but its fate in the House is uncertain.

PRIVACY. The bugging of the Democratic National Committee headquarters was only the most brazen of the many politically motivated Nixon eavesdropping operations. Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson has introduced a bill that would require court approval of all governmental wiretaps, even in cases involving national security. The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to hold hearings soon on this proposal.

TAX RETURNS. Attempts by White House aides to obtain federal income tax returns and to initiate tax investigations against political enemies were mostly frustrated by top Treasury Department officials and IRS commissioners. Weicker introduced and the Senate passed an amendment that would have denied access to individual income tax returns by White House officials. The amendment was dropped, however, during deliberations of a House-Senate conference committee on a White House staff appropriations bill. Weicker and Missouri Democratic Congressman Jerry Litton plan to reintroduce the measure as a separate and broader bill, applying to the entire Executive Branch except for some criminal investigations and written requests from the President.

INTELLIGENCE. The alarming willingness of the CIA to assist the White House "plumbers" in covert political investigations despite laws against domestic CIA activity showed the need for tighter supervision of the agency. So, too, did Nixon's temporary success in getting the CIA to help impede the FBI's investigation of cash carried by the Watergate burglars. Weicker and Republican Senator Howard Baker, vice chairman of the Watergate committee, plan to introduce a bill that would create a joint congressional committee to monitor activities of the entire U.S. intelligence community, including the CIA, FBI, National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and Secret Service.

The final fate of all such reforms is much in doubt as the air of crisis created by the Watergate scandal dissipates. Weicker estimates that action must come within a year or any hope for reform will be lost. "If reform is not accomplished by Dec. 31, 1975, forget it, just forget it," he says. "Congress is hardly filled with self-starters. If they aren't continually reminded, they will just let these things slide." That is, unfortunately, all too realistic an appraisal.

TIME has learned that the CIA'S Watergate-related troubles may be far from over. Those incriminating June 23,1972 White House tapes released by Richard Nixon shortly before his resignation have forced the special prosecutor's office to revive its investigation of the CIA.

The tape includes a cryptic comment by Nixon that "we protected [former CIA Director Richard] Helms from one hell of a lot of things." The probe is centering on just what "things" Nixon had in mind. Indictments involving the CIA could result.

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