Senate Refuses to Invoke War Powers in Gulf

The Senate, clearly weary of the recurring debate over what role Congress should play in authorizing U.S. involvement in armed conflict, Monday voted down a resolution that would have invoked the controversial War Powers Resolution in the Persian Gulf conflict.

By a vote of 54 to 31, the Senate set aside a resolution written by Sen. Brock Adams (D-Wash.) that would have required the President to stop defending neutral ships in the Persian Gulf by Sept. 18 unless the policy is specifically authorized by Congress.

The vote reflected a growing consensus in the Senate that Congress should rewrite the War Powers Resolution to keep it from becoming a legislative obstacle every time Americans come under fire anywhere in the world.

‘The Umpteenth Time’

It was the eighth Senate vote related to Persian Gulf policy in little more than a year, but Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) echoed the sentiments of many senators when he said he thought that he was voting on it for “the umpteenth time.”

Approved in the post-Vietnam era over a veto by President Richard M. Nixon, the 1973 law requires a President to withdraw U.S. troops no later than 90 days after they face “imminent hostilities.” Although the law was intended to carry out Congress’ responsibility under the Constitution to declare war, Nixon and all his successors have argued that it unconstitutionally usurps the power of the President as commander in chief.

Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), who along with Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) has proposed amendments to the War Powers Resolution, pledged that the Senate will vote on a revision of the law before the year is out.

Byrd’s proposed amendments would eliminate the provision requiring troops to be withdrawn unless Congress acts. In its place, Byrd would substitute a requirement that Congress must act affirmatively to bring the troops home.

Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) pleaded with members of the Senate to vote against the Adams measure to avoid debating the resolution again until it can be revised.

Procedural Move

As it has done consistently since the Navy began escorting U.S.-flagged Kuwaiti oil tankers through the Persian Gulf last July 21, the Senate technically sidestepped a direct vote on the question of whether the War Powers Resolution applies in the gulf. Monday’s vote came instead on a procedural move by Byrd to rule Adams’ resolution out of order.

Adams, who has been tireless in his attempts to invoke the War Powers Resolution in the gulf, argued that the Senate had an obligation to do so.

“We can’t evade the obligations created by the law just by introducing legislation designed to fix it,” he said. “The law is the law, and we took a sacred vow to uphold it.”

Adams accused members of the Senate of consistently avoiding the war powers issue to escape blame for the policy if it fails. Like Adams, most members of Congress claim to support Reagan’s policy in the gulf, though they refuse to publicly endorse it.

“It is clearly easier for the Senate to continue to sidestep this issue and take credit if it is a success and blame the President if it is a failure,” he said.

In response, Byrd, a critic of the President’s policy in the gulf, argued instead that the War Powers Resolution is simply “an unworkable law” because it would allow a minority of senators to force troops to be withdrawn from combat simply by filibustering a resolution of support for the President.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) argued that the War Powers Resolution does not apply in the Persian Gulf because U.S. forces there are doing nothing more than defending neutral ships against attack by Iran. “It is not an act of war to come to the defense of a neutral or non-belligerent ship that comes under attack,” he asserted.

Followed Mine Attack

Adams’ resolution was introduced last April 14, shortly after an Iranian mine explosion seriously damaged the U.S. frigate Samuel B. Roberts, injuring 10 American servicemen. Four days later, the United States struck back by attacking two Iranian oil platforms.

The Senate considered the resolution under procedures established last December as part of a compromise that defused an earlier effort by Adams to invoke the War Powers Resolution. Before the December compromise, a Republican filibuster kept the Senate from voting on a resolution to invoke provisions of the legislation in the Persian Gulf.