by Yoram Ettinger
On March 5, the U.S.
House of Representatives voted 410-1 to upgrade Israel from a "major
non-NATO ally" to a "major strategic partner" -- significantly expanding
the mutually beneficial U.S.-Israel strategic cooperation in the areas
of missile defense, intelligence, national security, technology, energy,
cyber security, irrigation, space satellites, defense industries, and
more.
The Senate is expected
to overwhelmingly support the U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of
2014, highlighting the systematic bi-cameral, bi-partisan consensus
support of Israel by the U.S. constituent and its most authentic
representative, Congress, the independent, equal, co-determining branch
of the U.S. government.
When Sen. Daniel Inouye
(D-Hawaii), chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, was
asked by the Navy secretary to rescind an amendment to the Defense
Appropriations Bill -- upgrading the port of Haifa facilities for the
Sixth Fleet -- the senator responded: "According to the U.S.
Constitution, the Subcommittee on Defense supervises the Department of
the Navy, and not vise versa." The amendment remained intact, in
defiance of the administration, enhancing the operations of the Sixth
Fleet in the eastern Mediterranean.
Asked to support
initiatives of Democratic presidents, based on partisan loyalty, Sen.
Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), an arch-defender of congressional power, stated:
"I am the obedient servant of the Constitution, not the president."
Asked whether
then-President Bill Clinton was guaranteed the backing of the 1993
Democrat-controlled House and Senate, House Speaker Tom Foley (D-Wash.)
advised: "The president should not take congressional support for
granted, because our political life expectancy is different than his."
Ignoring Foley's advice during Clinton's initial two years in office led
to the devastating Democratic defeat in the 1994 mid-term election.
Following a meeting
with an Israeli dignitary, who contended that the president was supreme
in the area of foreign policy, Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell
(D-Maine) quipped: "Yoram, didn't you tell our distinguished guest that
the U.S. is not a monarchy?"
Contrary to
conventional wisdom, the inherently pro-Israel Congress possesses the
muscle to check, defy, oversee, overrule, direct, fund and withhold
funds from the administration, including in the arenas of foreign policy
and national security. Congress prefers to focus on district, state and
national domestic priorities, which preoccupy the constituency and,
therefore dominate the congressional re-election process. Congress tends
to be deferential to the president on external issues, but reveals
formidable muscle when presidents assume an overly imperial posture,
outrageously usurping power, disregarding Congress, violating laws,
pursuing strikingly failed policies, or dramatically departing from
public consensus (as in Vietnam, Watergate and Irangate).
The power of the U.S.
legislature is unique among Western democracies. It reflects the intent
of the founding fathers to secure civil liberties by highlighting the
centrality of the constituent and precluding excessive executive power,
by constraining unilateral presidential maneuverability. Hence, the
fundamental tenets of limited government, the separation of shared,
overlapped and conflicting power, an elaborate system of checks and
balance (treaty ratification, confirmation of senior appointments, veto
and veto override), the congressional power of the purse, oversight,
declaration of war, establishment/abolishment of executive departments
and agencies, impeachment, and more. The president proposes, but
Congress disposes. The president is the commander-in-chief, but only as
authorized and appropriated by Congress.
Moreover, congressional
independence is bolstered by prescribing House members and senators --
as well as governors -- a different constituency, term, timetable and
agenda than those assigned to the president. Thus, the president,
constrained by a two-term limit, rushes to accomplish his nationwide
agenda within four to eight years. On the other hand, House members and
senators benefit from two- and six-year unlimited terms, which enable
them to adopt a long-term, gradual approach, advancing their district
and state-wide agendas, which may not be consistent with the president's
national agenda and timetable.
For example, on Feb.
17, 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama reluctantly vetoed a U.N. Security
Council condemnation of Israel's settlement policy, due to pressure
exerted by Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill. The Senate defied
both Clinton and Obama, refusing to ratify the 1999 Comprehensive Test
Ban Treaty. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) foiled Obama's
attempts to close down the Guantanamo detention camp. In 2009, House and
Senate bi-partisan leadership prevented the appointment of Chas Freeman
to chair the National Intelligence Council, because of Freeman's close
business and political ties with China and Saudi Arabia. Congress ended
U.S. military involvement in Vietnam (the Eagleton, Cooper and Church
amendments), Angola (the Clark Amendment) and Nicaragua (the Boland
Amendment); overrode President Ronald Reagan's veto and brought down the
white regime in South Africa; halted the supply of AWACs to Iran on the
eve of the Khomeini revolution; overhauled the U.S. intelligence
(Church/Pike Committees); and forced the USSR/Russia (Jackson-Vanik
amendment in defiance of the president) to allow the emigration of one
million Jews to Israel.
In 1957, bi-partisan
congressional leadership (especially Senators Lyndon Johnson and William
Knowland) was about to force President Dwight D. Eisenhower to refrain
from imposing sanctions on Israel unless it withdrew from the Sinai
Peninsula. However, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion pulled the rug from
under the feet of Congress, by announcing full withdrawal. In 1990-1992,
Senators Inouye, Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Bob Kasten (R-Wis.)
initiated a series of amendments, expanding U.S.-Israel strategic
cooperation, despite presidential opposition.
While a congressional challenge
to presidential foreign and national security policies constitutes an
uphill battle, Congress has demonstrated its ability to flex effective
muscle, especially when it comes to an issue -- such as Israel -- that
benefits from bi-partisan, bi-cameral, consensus support.
Yoram Ettinger
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=7879
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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