Askov American., 1943-05-13
''With the Advice .
of the Senate
BY Frederick j. Libby of the National
Council for Prevention of War.

BY Frederick J. Libby of the National
Council for Prevention of War.
The Senate, in response to great
popular pressure, has now assumed
with zeal and enthusiasm its con-
stitutional responsibility to share in
forming our foreign policy. This is
as it should be. The Constitution
does not limit the Senate, as is gen.
orally supposed, to choosing between
approval and rejection of foreign
policy to which the Executive De-
partment has already committed
itself. The Constitution provides that
our foreign relations shall be deter
mined by the President with the
advice" as well as with the consent"
of the Senate. Now if ever is the
time for making the fullest possible
use of our democratic processes.
There are those people in our coun-
try who are afraid of the Senate
and want the decisions on our for
eign policy made in the secrecy of
the White House and the State De-
partment. But what is this war all
about, anyway? Let other peoples,
if they lack confidence in themselves,
leave momentous decisions on which
their future welfare hangs to totali-
tartan dictators. The November cleo
tions proved unmistakably that the
American people were cherishing no
such purpose. They believed that
we were in danger of coming under
the domination of bureaucracy and
dictatorship right here in the United
States and revolted against it. Both
Houses of Congress have now re-
sumed their constitutional independ-
ence of action. The Senate certainly,
and probably the House too, will
play large part from now on in
shaping our postwar foreign policies.
One evidence of this determina-
ton is the fact that seven or more
resolutions bearing on our foreign
policies have been submitted to the
Senate SO far and the Senate For
eign Relations Committee has set up
subcommittee of eight of its men,
bers to consider them. These eight
are: Senators Connally (Dem.,
Texas), George (Dem., Georgia), J,
Thomas (Dem., Utah), Barkley
Dem, Kentucky, Gillette (Dem,
Iowa.; Vandenberg (Rep., Michigan), +,
White (Rep., Maine); and La Toilette
Progressive, Wisconsin).
George Committee on Postwar
Planning Now at Work.
Not only has the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee appointed a
subcommittee to handle the many
resolutions that are coming before
the Senate on the broad subject of
foreign policy, but the Senate has
also set up a Committee on Post
War Economic Policy and Planning
with authority to go into all phases
of postwar problems, both economic
and political.
The terms of reference give the
committee authority to employ ex-
pert advisers, to hold hearings, to
require by subpoena or otherwise the
attendance of witnesses and to report
to the Congress from time to time
both on postwar economic policy
and on other postwar problems, in
order that the Congress may make
the greatest contribution possible "to
the achievement of stable economy
and a just peace. 1t is intended
that full authority to accomplish this
general purpose shall be granted by
this resolution"
Worldly Wide Economic Union Pro-
posed in Thomas Resolution.
What seems to us to be the most
promising of the resolutions now
under consideration before the SEN