European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 10, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes Anthony Lewis Congress should have a role in foreign policy Onk of George Bush s main themes since the elec Tion has been his intention to consult and respect con Gress. It is Wise As past presidents have Learned and Rel Camcy because our divided system of government Tun founder on suspicion and hostility Between the branches. But while Bush spoke of respect the Justice depart ment headed by his Choice As attorney general went out of its Way to denigrate Congress. The depart ment took an Odd occasion to express ingrained Hostil Ity toward congressional Power in one Large area of Public business foreign policy the occasion was the prosecution of Oliver North for among other things conspiring to deceive and obstruct Congress in its foreign policy responsibilities. During pc trial proceedings the Justice department suddenly intervened to attack the Independent counsel who is in charge of the Case Lawrence e. Walsh. A supporting the conspiracy charge it said he had con ceded Ino much constitutional Power to Congress. The president has plenary authority to rep resent the United slates and to pursue us interests outside the Borders of he country ,. A department Legal memorandum said la argued thai Congress faced formidable constitutional limitations in even trying to gel information on Covert activities such As North s dealings with terrorists in Iran. The Iran Contra affair is a particularly strange set Ting for an assertion that Congress can be excluded from any meaningful role in the making and checking of foreign policy. For it is an extreme example of what can go wrong when we forget the fundamental premise of our Constitution the need for checks and balances on Power. An article by professor Harold Ron of Yale in the latest Yale Law journal makes the Point tellingly. In the Sale of arms to Iran Koh writes All the constitutionally authorized players in foreign policy the president vice president and Congress were largely excluded from  the result was disaster. A the congressional hearing on the Iran Contra Deal there were expressions of amazement that North and his colleagues thought they could gel away with their activities. But Kofi says their arrogance was not born of ignorance but of habit.". In recent years presidents and their subordinates have Gol into the habit of acting abroad without con Gressional assent or even consultation often covertly. And executive Branch lawyers have worked up a set of boilerplate arguments to justify any secrecy any exer Cise of Power any exclusion of Congress the lawyers always produce a passage from a 1936 supreme court opinion . Is. Cuss Fri fill that Speaks of the very delicate plenary and exclusive James j. Kilpatrick Power of the president As the sole Organ of the Federal  in the Field of International  the Justice department memo in the North prosecution duly quoted it. " but in that Case. Congress had authorized the presidential action. The True constitutional intention was described As follows in a Book by judge Abraham sofar Legal adviser to the stale department and hardly a Minimi Crof presidential Power the ratification debates confirm whal the Constitution suggests that Congress was to have the final say in foreign and military affairs. The president was to manage diplomatic Intercourse and negotiations and to conduct All authorized military operations. But Congress and especially the Senate would be Able to approve or reject foreign policy in exercising their Powers Over treaties appointments and  the constitutional vision is of separate institutions sharing Power. Justice Robert  expressed it Well in his 1952 opinion rejecting president Truman s claim that his foreign affairs Power allowed him to seize the country s steel Mills. The Constitution he Laid enjoins upon its branches separateness but interdependence autonomy but rcdprociiy.".  not Only the Constitution but also common sense argue against the idea of exclusive presidential Power. For in foreign As in Domestic affairs a president can not be effective without the support of Congress. Dick Thornburgh the present and future attorney general would do Bush a great favor if he thought about those things and reread Justice Jackson. Then be should Tell his lawyers to put away their boilerplate. The judge in the North Case Gerhard Gesell brushed their memo aside As irrelevant. It was also misconceived in Law and  Chow of to our wetlands cry put for sensible conservation in one Way or another All of us know moments of pure discovery. My oldest son and i shared one such moment More than 40 years ago. It returned to mind this week a report came in from the conservation foundation urging the preservation and Eithan Cemini of our country s remaining wetlands and a worthier cause would be hard to find., we were living Hen on a rundown farm a few Miles North of Richmond a. Right on the Edge of the Chickahominy swamp. On an april afternoon we went for what Christopher Robin called a  we were going. Str explore at least a Little part of the swamp. At first the impression was of Stagna Tion of stillness almost of ugliness. Sex cent Tor a few Birds nothing seemed to be moving. Nothing indeed seemed even alive. The 4-year-old equalled by an uninteresting puddle and then cried look in Llie swampy  had spied a minnow. He stirred the water with a sic pc something Green leaped and splashed. Frog said . The Clos or we looked the More we saw tiny bugs and crawly things the swamp was t dead at All. It teemed with life. Then we saw a water Moccasin not.10feet away and thai was the end of the spore. This was my introduction to wet lands Back in the 1600s. So they say Pur part of the continent had 200 million acres of wetlands. By 1975 that priceless inheritance had dwindled in an Esti mated 99 million acres. We were Ihnn losing wetlands Al the rate of 400,000 acres a year. More  Rale of loss has dropped a Little. Whatever the rate is it is Loo much. The remaining swamps and bogs and marshes Are of in calculable value to Pur whole ecology. They cry Oul for sensible conservation the report from the. Conservation foundation is based upon a two year forum chaired by gov Thomas a Kean of new Jersey. Its recommendations Are prudent fiscally cautious perhaps Oyerly modest. They Are in tended to serve two intelligent and Achie Vable goals. The first is to fix a policy of no Overall net loss of the remaining wetlands base. The second is to increase thai base by restoring certain wetlands and expanding others. ". The threshold difficulty is that except for such dedicated of Lojis As the Audubon society ducks unlimited and other conservationist groups nobody gives a particular Damn about wetlands. There s no constituency there. Until fairly recent limes wetlands were regarded As a liability not an asset. The idea was to fill them Drain them Lurn them into crop lands or shopping malls put them to some Good use few persons in Public life adequately realized that the wetlands already were serving indispensable uses As natural instruments of flood control water conservation and fish and wildlife preservation. Y ,. In 1972, Congress came to life by recognizing the -. Importance of wetlands preservation in the clean water act. In 1977, president Carter issued an exec  the important goal is no net  toward that end the forum pro poses coordinated regulation conducted chiefly through the Stales. The report Calls for some outright acquisition of endangered acreage la urges various incentives including tax incentives to encourage private stewardship. It asks Congress to Csia Blish a National agricultural wet lands Reserve program thar would pre serve 5 million acres of existing wetlands and restore another 2.5 million acres of former wetlands. V some of the proposals would require substantial outlays of slate and Federal funds. The forum recognizes that severe budgetary cons rain May prevent immediate implementation of the More i f j i  ii Floc us i i Jim 4� thu tic order Ca Ling upon Federal agencies so suggestions but Many of the rec-10 cooperate in wetlands Prol Calion. A Ommon Daijon carry Small Cost and Numerof states Gol construct icly Imp the act various Public and private pro Grams came into being. Bur unfortunately As the report makes Clear most of these programs have addressed Only limited aspects of the wetlands Protection problem and they have been adopted haphazardly and  i the forum s recommendations arc neither  dramatic the re port does not imply that individual wet lands will in every instance. Be  could be adopted at once if every affected entity could be nudged into a Thal is a big if Bill this is a big cause. Those Creepy crawly things a Little boy observed in the Chickahominy swamp the minnows the frogs the moccasins the Micro organisms Are essential to a grand scheme we never will . Lei us hang on to what is left univ jul Prille Adf calf