European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 10, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 a the stars and stripes thursday january 10, 1991 Walter Mear Congress to finally act on crisis a a a a a  i i r in Iii a Ai a maybe in the sixth month of the persian Gulf crisis Congress has decided that it ought to be decisive. At last it will be yes or no. Or maybe. T he House is to act by saturday the Senate probably not until later on measures dealing with the authority to go to War and with the policy Congress wants followed against Iraq. I Here a always the Chance that the upshot will be Compromise a measure so weighted with caveats and conditions that it neither affirms nor rejects president Bush a course. The precise terms on which the House will be voting wont be set until t thursday but it looks like a three Way multiple Choice. A a Resolution that echoes the United nations Security Council and authorizes the use of Force to drive Iraq irom Kuwait after Jan. 15. Thais what Bush wants and he will  of deadline week lobbying for congressional support of that course. A a Call for restraint in the use of Force in favor of  efforts and economic sanctions seeking to drive Iraq from Kuwait without War. A a measure telling Bush that he must have a an explicit authorization by the Congress before ordering any offensive military action against Iraq. Its advocates say such a Resolution would restate what the Constitution already requires because Only Congress can declare War. A in the Senate with its wide open rules there Are Likely to be variations on All those proposals. Sen. George Mitchell a Mainc the majority Leader said there would be a amendments on amendments resolutions on  a i Lis Effort to control the process was blocked by Liberal democrats a even though they agree that the administration is wrong to claim that Bush has All the constitutional authority he needs to press his hard line policy. Mitchell had wanted the Senate to preclude the introduction of persian Gulf resolutions or anything else without his approval until late this month after the Jan. 15 withdrawal deadline. I be had to Back off. So sen. Tom Markind Iowa introduced a Resolution to have Congress Tell Bush he can to order combat without prior approval. A rival Republican measure would have the Senate endorse a strategy aimed at a Quick decisive Victory if military action becomes necessary thus backing Bush policy. There la be More measures when the Senate begins its persian Gulf debate perhaps on thursday a Day after Secretary of state James a. Baker Iii was scheduled to meet in Geneva with to aria Aziz the iraqi foreign minister. David Broder 25 armed conflict with 26 armed conflict with. Britain 77 armed conflict with Germak 31 armed conflict with Portugal 1 armed conflict with Belgium 2 armed conflict with a a a a a a a. Den Mart 6  conflict a a. With a a a Egypt 7 armed conflict with aunt thalta 8 armed conflict with Savoi aaa la a it or p conflict with  13 armed conflict with be Metover 14 armed conflict with France 26 a a a a armed conflict with pain armed conflict with Italy 79 30 armed conflict with Sweden Armeo conflict with Canada armed conflict with Usa 15 congressional leaders had agreed that debate should await the meetings outcome to avoid mixed signals that might interfere with bakery so last Miles Effort at diplomatic settlement. A but the Senate started debating anyhow first last t thursday at what was to have been a ceremonial opening Day then on Friday at a meeting that Hadnot been planned at All. Speaker Thomas s. Foley d-wash., announced the timetable for House action on monday. Mitchell has said he doubts the Senate will vote to approve offensive action against Iraq. Sen. Bob Dole r-kan., the minority Leader says he thinks a majority will Back Bush. It will take 60 votes to assure Senate approval of a Resolution on Bush a policy. That a the majority required to Cut off debate and on an Issue like this one the Side that thought it was losing would almost certainly keep talking. Foley said Bush might gain House endorsement for his policy but narrowly. Lengthy debate or narrow margins would run counter to the administration aim of convincing iraqis Saddam Hussein that the United states is solidly unshakable determined to get him out of Kuwait. Hence the Bush lobbying Effort with the president personally seeking support for his policy at a series of White House meetings during deadline week with diplomatic efforts and military plans also crowding the Agenda. A Quot for months we have been standing on the sidelines making All kinds of speeches a but taking no responsibility and not casting a single vote a Dole complained. Now the pressure is on. C associated pres Bush favors confrontation on Domestic strategy almost everything you need to understand about the Bush administration s Domestic strategy for the next two years was revealed by one sentence in an interview i had the other Day with John ii. Sununu White i Louse chief of staff. Quot we May end up with not that much legislation being passed a Sununu said referring to the prospects in the newly returned Congress a but people will understand much More about the differences Between republicans and democrats and Why we need a Republican  a translation confrontation not cooperation is the Battle plan on the Home front in the 22 months remaining before the 19u2 election. The president w ill seek a and need a support from the democratic majorities in the House and Senate to sustain his foreign policy in the persian Gulf an around the world. But everything Sununu the driving Force in Domestic policy in this White House told me spells a Clear message that Here at Home bipartisanship is a luxury Bush can no longer afford. Sununu has taken an immense amount of criticism in the last three months As the aide responsible for w hat time Magazine called the notable failure in Domestic leadership of a president who has been a a highly capable Captain of foreign  but Sununu remains untouched in his Post with his pow or undiminished As year three of the Bush administration begins because the Only constituent who matters to him a George Bush a is getting from Sununu exactly Itiat he wants. The Bush Sununu Domestic political Agenda for the year before re election is exactly the same As it. Was for the year leading up to the 1988 election cultivate the Republican conservative base and Sharpen the differences with the democrats. A a a a a a a a a a. A key piece of this strategy Sununu suggested will be the emphasis Bush places in the state of the Union address and subsequent speeches on Congress enacting the parts of the president s comprehensive  proposal it failed to pass last year. One of the most important of those leftover provisions would limit prisoners rights to make multiple appeals in order to delay executions. Both  criticized by Liberal democrats As discriminatory. They pointed out that a disproportionate number of those on death Row Are Blacks. They insisted that before the death penalty is applied to More crimes defendants should be allowed to introduce statistical evidence that Blacks Are More Likely to receive a death penalty than Whites in order to buttress a claim of prejudice in their own sentencing. There is a parallel to the argument Over the appropriateness of using statistical evidence of employment patterns the Issue that led Bush to veto the civil rights Bill that Congress passed last year. Democrats say they will revive it in the new Congress. If they do it will make Sunu nuts Day. He is eager to revive the debate about a mandatory quotas a As another emotionally Laden Issue on which to display the differences Between republicans and democrats. Sununu of course docs not talk about this As racial politics. What he says is that the a veto strategy Bush employed w Ith great Success in his first two years a will be even More viable the next two a despite the mid term gop losses in the House and Senate. Why because said Sununu a having passed All the legislation the president did the last two years that required some degree of cooperation and Compromise with the democrats this year the president will be Able to recommend legislation that is More identifiably  the enacted legislation that fits into the a Compromise and cooperation cat Eizora includes the clean air child care disability farm immigration and mini mum wage Bills. Those Bills undergird Sununu a claim that despite criticism like times Bush has been As Active and effective on the Domestic front As he has been abroad. But the prime example of bipartisan Compromise is the budget agreement for which Sununu has taken so much abuse a especially from republicans angry at the abandonment of the politically profitable a no new taxes stance. His response a which has Merit is that the new spending controls the budget agreement put in place w ill enable Bush for the first time to Force a Clear test on the floor of Congress Between his spending priorities and those of the democrats. This is another area for confrontation not cooperation in 1991 and 1992, that this approach sharply diminishes the likelihood of much legislation being passed to meet Domestic needs is a fact which Sununu docs not dispute. The nations problems will take second place to the stage setting that Bush s political strategists deem necessary for his reelection Campaign. Those who deem those problems so urgent that a two year delay is unconscionable will get no sympathy from the chief of staff. Or from the president who has signed off on this strategy. C Washington posit Sonters group