Mitchell Vows Cooperation, Calls for ‘New Consensus’

Senate Democratic leader George J. Mitchell grasped President Bush’s offered hand of cooperation today with a call for “a new American consensus” but tempered the spirit of harmony by warning that Congress will demand a strong voice in foreign policy.

In a 30-minute speech on the Senate floor that was viewed as a Democratic response to Bush’s Jan. 20 inaugural address, the Maine senator echoed the President’s desire for both parties to establish a fresh sense of bipartisanship, while encouraging a new spirit of volunteerism and service in the nation.

However, while calling for an end to past differences, Mitchell warned Bush that Congress will insist that it be fully consulted and be “a partner” in major foreign policy decisions.

“In his inaugural address, the President put his hand out to me and to the Speaker of the House,” Mitchell said. “I now extend mine to him.

“When partisanship stops ‘at the water’s edge,’ our nation can achieve great goals and exercise world leadership for the benefit of the world. The potential for such an era is now upon us. We have an opportunity to join together to forge a new American consensus,” he added.

Mitchell argued that a top priority for the Republican White House and the Democrat-led Congress is to find common ground in foreign affairs--an area of almost constant bickering during President Reagan’s tenure in office.

At the heart of the disputes has been the 1973 War Powers Act, which requires the President to notify Congress when U.S. forces are in an area of “imminent hostilities.” Congress can then vote on whether to authorize the military action. The law was approved after the Vietnam War as a way to avoid undeclared wars.

Mitchell said the battle over the law has undermined national unity and argued for finding a way to overcome the stalemate “not in a spirit of acrimony but in a spirit that takes due account of the President’s prerogatives in foreign affairs and the constitutional obligations of Congress.”

However, while promising to work for a solution, Mitchell also indicated that Congress is not about to give up its power.

“The Constitution explicitly vests the power to declare war in the Congress. So long as the ultimate sanction remains force, as it does in the world today, we, the Congress, are constitutionally directed to make that grave judgment for the nation,” Mitchell said.