Senate Leaders Move to Amend War Powers Act : Law Called Unworkable; More Flexibility Sought

Four powerful senators, declaring that the 15-year-old War Powers Resolution is unworkable, proposed changes Thursday to give the President more flexibility in deploying military forces while preserving a strong congressional voice in war-making decisions.

Their proposed legislation is intended to reduce confrontation and increase consultation between the White House and Capitol Hill before and after U.S. troops are sent into action, the senators said.

The 1973 resolution “telegraphs our intentions in advance to a potential adversary, and there is no enforcement mechanism if the President ignores the law’s requirements,” one sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), said at a news conference.

Clause Often Scorned

One major change would drop a provision in the resolution that requires automatic withdrawal of American forces after 60 days unless Congress approves their deployment--a clause often scorned by Presidents as an unconstitutional limit on their authority.

Another proposed revision, however, would allow Congress to invoke the act and guarantee speedier consideration of legislation to require U.S. forces to disengage from hostilities if Congress disagreed with a presidential decision to deploy them.

The bill also would establish a consultative group of top congressional leaders, along with chairmen and ranking members of the Foreign Relations, Foreign Affairs, Armed Services and Intelligence committees in the Senate and House, to confer regularly with the President on global trouble spots where U.S. troops might get involved.

Powerful Support

The proposal is believed to have a good chance for approval in the Senate this year, in view of its powerful sponsorship by Byrd, Armed Services Committee Chairman Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) and the ranking Republican on the panel, Sen. John W. Warner of Virginia. Influential Sen. George J. Mitchell (D-Me.) also supports the proposal. But its fate in the House is uncertain.

A White House spokesman withheld immediate comment on the new proposal until experts could study it but added, “We, like previous Administrations, think the War Powers Act is unconstitutional.”

The law requires the President to report to Congress within 48 hours after sending U.S. troops “into hostilities or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances.” In addition, the law says the President must justify his action and estimate how long the troops might be engaged.

Resolution Not Invoked

However, the resolution was never invoked when American forces were sent to such hostile situations as Lebanon, the Persian Gulf or during the invasion of Grenada.

The main reason was the controversial provision that the troops must be withdrawn after 60 days unless Congress has declared war or authorized the deployment.

After years of bickering over the meaning of the War Powers Resolution, the move by Byrd and his three co-sponsors appeared to reflect a growing consensus that the law had to be revised or repealed.

Byrd, who rarely initiates legislation, said the law was approved in a backlash to the undeclared war in Vietnam but did not anticipate the airplane hijackings and other kinds of terrorist activities that have triggered American military responses in recent years.

Law Called Unworkable

“It’s obvious the legislation is unworkable,” Byrd said.

Nunn, considered the Senate’s leading expert on military matters, echoed Byrd’s criticism. “The 60-day clock gives foreign governments and terrorist groups a lever for influencing U.S. policy debate,” he said. “It means the jerks can jerk us around.”

The proposed bill would allow troops sent into action by the President to remain unless a majority of Congress votes specifically to recall them.

In addition, the permanent consultative group could vote to invoke the War Powers Resolution if the President refused to submit a report to Congress after sending troops into hostilities. Then the group could introduce a resolution, either to authorize continued deployment or insist on withdrawal of the forces, that would be considered without delay or filibuster in both the Senate and House.