policy - The Black Vault

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congressional response to the information problem. Nevertheless, Congress
continues to have problems in fcreign policy matters. Because of congressional
exclusion from the decision-making proce.,s (hence,
exclusion from
sources of information due to the institutional framework for decision
making) and because of congressional involvement in a multiplicity of
concerns, Congress has tended to be concerned mainly with specific programs
and issues. Certainly not every congressman has shown interest in the
foreign affairs of the country. For many congressmen the only airect
exposure to foreign relations issues takes place in floor discussion and
debate on specific programs.
Finally, such a large and diverse body as Congress is not a forum in
"which consensus is easily achieved.
little consensus regarding the appropriate policies.
Even during the Vietnam war there was
Instead there was a
general interest in deterring a head-on collision with the executive.
With
the decline of both the bipartisanship of the World War II years and of the
Democratic leadership within Congress, the consensus that could have been
forged between Congress and the presidency in the 1960s never occurred.
President Johnson's lack of candor with Congress regarding Vietnam and the
fragmentation of congressional politics had disrupted Congress. From 1936
onward, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee neaded by Senator Fulbright
sought to develop a consensus within Congress, to constrain the president.
The strength of this Committee in drawing public and congressional attention
to the issues of the war and presidential use of his war powers served
to give respectability to a point of view that opposed administration
policies in the war. In a sense, the Committee through its ,.earings publicized
the more general need for Congress to regain control of its oversight
responsibilities regarding US foreign relations. Ultimately those hearings
contributed to congressional reassertion of its authGrity and fiscal powers
in matters of foreign policy.
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5-35
~LA