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The Iran-Contra Hearings
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13442 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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9 / 1987 |
2,720 Words |
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Barry Goldwater, Robert Byrd, Henry Hyde, William Broomfield
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A Waste of Time
BY BARRY GOLDWATER
Barry Goldwater is a former U.S. senator from Arizona.
During most of the time that the hearings on Lt. Col. Oliver North were in process, I was in Washington, D.C., and had an opportunity to see the television almost constantly on the subject. There was no question in my mind that Colonel North came out of those hearings quite a far distance ahead of both the House and the Senate.
It became perfectly obvious from the outset that the purpose of the hearings was to get the president. Every method known to man, lawyers, and politicians came into play during those hearings. Furthermore, members of Congress were not allowed to interrogate Colonel North. He was interrogated mostly by lawyers representing both houses. The object of their interrogation was President Reagan, but no matter how they tried, they could not get the lieutenant colonel to back off and put the load on the president.
My personal opinion is that the hearings have been, and will continue to be, a waste of time unless the members of Congress take over and do their own interrogating. That is the purpose of congressional hearings: to allow members of Congress the opportunity to find out for themselves what is wrong and then discuss among themselves what can be done in a legislative way to correct any misdeeds that occurred. So far, no misdeeds have shown up.
There is general disrespect for the Boland amendment. This is another example, in my opinion, of Congress trying to take over the president's constitutional prerogative of forming and executing foreign policy. It's one of the dangerous trends that I sense the Congress is engaged in today, and unless they correct their ways, this country is in for some disastrous situations in the field of foreign policy.
Having served as chairman of the Intelligence Committee of the Senate, I was then, and am now, very fearful of the opportunities for leaks. When it was stated by a member of the House and Senate team that the Senate did not have leaks, I almost fell off my chair. The leaks did not come necessarily, in my opinion, from the senators, but from the many staff members we had and still have. Congress would be better served if it has a Joint Committee on Intelligence with a much smaller staff. Today, almost 200 people are privy to the highest secrets of our land, and there is no way you can expect those secrets to be kept with so many people having them at their control.
As far as I'm concerned, the hearings could have been done away with. The Senate and the House themselves could have delved into the operations of Colonel North and the other members of the National Security Council and could have come up with answers, if answers are needed. I hope that further investigations will be conducted in a much more sensible manner.
The Rule of Law
BY ROBERT C. BYRD
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