Senate Debates Stepped-up Control Over Forces in Gulf

The Senate, reacting to the first Iranian attack on a U.S.-registered Kuwaiti tanker, debated Friday whether Congress should press for more control over U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf, setting the stage for more partisan battling next week over Reagan Administration policies.

The brief but impassioned floor debate centered on whether to invoke the controversial 1973 War Powers Resolution, which gives Congress authority to limit use of U.S. forces in situations where hostilities are imminent.

In a vote of 87 to 3, the Senate voted to keep the issue alive until Tuesday, when senators will vote on whether to take parliamentary steps to prevent a Republican filibuster against the resolution.

The Senate has been wrestling off and on with the war powers issue since May 17, when an Iraqi attack on the Navy frigate Stark in the Persian Gulf killed 37 U.S. sailors. With each new military incident in the gulf, including Friday’s missile attack on the re-registered tanker in Kuwaiti waters, the efforts to limit use of the forces have gained more support.

Sen. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. (R-Conn.), a leader of those trying to invoke the resolution, declared that Congress and the President should jointly “make decisions of war and peace,” adding: “It shouldn’t just be a presidential policy.”

Weicker struck a note of urgency in the debate, likening the enlarged U.S. presence in the gulf to the deployment of U.S. Marines in Lebanon in 1983 when “241 brave young men lost their lives” in a terrorist bombing.

Warning of Some

But some senators warned against weakening the President’s stand against Iran.

While calling the attack “disturbing,” Sen. David Boren (D-Okla.) said later, “We can’t alter our course.”

The resolution requires the President to notify Congress within 48 hours of introducing armed forces “into hostilities or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances.” The troops must be withdrawn within 90 days unless Congress votes to allow them to remain.

In the face of a threatened Republican filibuster against the resolution, leaders of both parties recently introduced a compromise bill that would require the President to report to Congress within 60 days. After 90 days, it would permit an expedited vote in the Senate on Reagan’s policy of having U.S. warships protect reflagged Kuwaiti tankers in the gulf.

Reagan, like his predecessors, has rebelled against invoking the law, asserting that it is an unconstitutional restriction on presidential power to conduct foreign policy. The Administration also has insisted that the tanker escort operation, despite the recent U.S. attacks on Iranian gunboats, does not qualify for notification under the resolution.

Weicker said: “Much of the argument has been made before. Nothing has changed but the latest incident and circumstances.” At one point, he asserted: “Everybody agrees we are in hostilities; the question is, are we going to follow the law?”

Nevertheless, the increasingly tense situation in the gulf poses a dilemma for many senators. If they do not move to invoke the resolution, they could appear to be abdicating what some believe is their right to play a role in a crucial policy. And if they confront the Administration, they could appear to be undercutting the President’s tough stance against a bitter foe that has attacked a vessel flying the U.S. flag.