O.C. Congressmen Oppose Landing : Haiti: Republican legislators argue that United States has no vital interests that would warrant an invasion. They call deposed President Aristide a Marxist thug.

Sentiment among Orange County lawmakers runs decidedly against the Clinton Administration’s planned invasion of Haiti--particularly one ordered without the permission of Congress--with some of the congressmen moving to force hearings on the matter in the House.

The delegation of conservative Republicans has argued sternly all week that the United States has no vital national interests in Haiti and denounced Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the deposed leader Clinton seeks to restore to power, as a Marxist thug.

Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) offered a resolution to require a debate and vote on any American military maneuvers, saying the rights of the House “are being threatened by the Administration’s point-blank refusal to seek the authorization of Congress before launching its threatened invasion.”

“The U.S. Constitution could hardly be clearer,” Cox said Wednesday. “It grants to the Congress the right to declare war. Only in time of emergency or when the need for secrecy is paramount may the President make war without consulting Congress.”

Leaders of both parties find themselves in something of a role reversal from the days when a Republican occupied the White House and Democrats demanded congressional approval for military actions. Former President Bush invaded Panama and former President Reagan invaded Grenada without first consulting Congress.

This time, the Clinton Administration contends that the President, as commander in chief, has no obligation to obtain the blessings of Congress before moving soldiers into Haiti, and Orange County’s congressional delegation is braced to do battle with him.

“The basic question is, what compelling United States national interest is served by an invasion and occupation of Haiti? This question must be answered by the President to the satisfaction of the American people and this body,” Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) told his House colleagues.

“Any answer by the President must also address the question of an exit strategy,” Rep. Ron Packard (R-Oceanside) said. “It must be clear to the American people that this is not another fool’s errand which will end only when we are forced out in some ignominious manner.”

The Clinton Administration contends an invasion is justified to stem the tide of immigrants from Haiti and stop human rights abuses rampant there since Aristide was ousted in a military coup Sept. 30, 1991. Since then, “unspeakable violations” have occurred, including the murder of clergy and the slaughter of orphans because Aristide expressed an interest in them, administration officials have said.

But Orange County lawmakers denounced Aristide as a “Marxist demagogue” guilty of anti-American statements and worse.

“We would support a policy built around freedom and democracy,” Cox said, “but not around this erratic Marxist.”

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), who has made illegal immigration his cause celebre , said it is not the dictatorship in Haiti but Clinton’s economic embargo that is driving people there to flee.

“The policy of economic embargo has forced people into their boats because they are starving,” Rohrabacher said in an interview Wednesday. He indicated, however, that he would keep an open mind about the wisdom of an invasion, if the President promised to make his case to Congress.

“Maybe there is something I don’t know,” he said. “But . . . I doubt it.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) took to the airwaves to denounce Clinton’s plans while gathering signatures on a letter he wrote to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Lee H. Hamilton and House Armed Services Chairman Ronald V. Dellums urging hearings on any use of American military force.

“Exactly what vital interests are at stake in Haiti? Why would we risk American lives to forcibly reinstall Jean-Bertrand Aristide as president of Haiti when his views are strongly anti-American?” Dornan wrote.

The Orange County lawmakers also suggested Clinton was moving in Haiti less as a military strategy than a political one that might restore his sagging popularity before the November elections.

Those standing behind Clinton accuse critics of a similar charge, saying partisan politics are keeping Republicans from backing any move the President makes in Haiti, no matter how heinous the conditions there.