FIE NEW YORK TIMES. SATURDAY, JUL
Y 11, 1970
Senate Votes Again for Tonkin Repeal'
we are takin
ta ngg it up a second'P
res
iden
t with
w authority o yi
time is because it did not come to withd
raw troops from VietWASHINGTON, July 10—The out of the Foreign Relations nam
and thus end the war.
Senate placed on record today, Committee the first time, and
Thus, Senator Jacob K. Javfor the second time in less than that is heresy."
its, Republican of New York]
a month, its wish to repeal the But for the Senate Demo- said
the repeal amounted to
1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, cratic leadership as well as the "an
end-the-war resolution" bewhich was cited by President Senate doves there were im- caus
e, he said, the President
Lyndon B. Johnson as Congres- portant tactical and legal rea- no longe
r would have authorsons for the second action.
sional authorization for the war
If the foreign military sales ity to wage war in Southeast
in Vietnam.
bill becomes deadlocked in a Asia. With repeal of the resoBy a vote of 57 to 5, the Senate-House conference. as lutio
n, the President will be
Senate approved a measure to seems likely, there will still be "under a mandate
to bring
a
separ
ate
measure by which war to an end and with the
repeal the Tonkin document by
draw
Cong
ress
can readily repeal the the troops," he said.
means of a device known as 1964
resolution.
This
inter
preta
tion was not
concurrent resolution of the Senate
negotiators also be- shared by more cons
ervative
two houses of Congress.
lieve the second repeat measure members
of the Senate. which
The Senate's previous move will strengthen their barganiing
explained in large measure the
for Tonkin repeal—voted on position with the House on
the votes against the repeal resoluJune 24—took the form of an foreign military sales bill,
which tion by Senators James B. Alamendment to a bill authorizing also contains the controvers
ial len, Democrat of Alabama; Sam
credit sales of arms abroad. Cooper-Church amendment
bar- J. Ervin Jr., Democrat of Mort)
That action, unlike today's, ring funds for the use of Amer
- Carolina; Spessard L. Holland,
must be signed by the President ican troops in Cambodia
with- Democrat of Florida; Russell 13.
if the Tonkin document is to be out Congressional appro
val. As Long, Democrat of Louisiana;
repealed.
a result of the Senate action, and John
L. McClellan, Demothe
House conferees will not be crat of Arkansas.
Republicans Criticize Move
in a position to say they will
The Gulf of Tonkin gave
Further Action Urged
Congressional support to "all accept the amendment repealing the Tonkin Resolution if
The
one point of agreement
necessary steps" taken by the
President to "repel any armed the Senate will retreat on the between the doves and the con- 1,1
servatives was that rer■enl
attack against forces of the Cooper-Church amendment.
would wipe the slate clean of
New Dove Interpretation
United States and to prevent
any residual Congressional sitfurther aggression" in South- The Admi
nistration has taken thority for the Vietnam war
east Asia. The resolution was a neutral attitu
and I
adopted after two United States the resolution de on repeal of leave the President relying r--,
leavi
ng
the
deelusi
vely upon his powers as
destroyers were reported at- cision up to Cong
ress. The Ad- Commander in Chief,
tacked by North Vietnamese ministration's
positi
on
is
that
it
Senat
torpedo boats.
is not relying on the resolu- as, Repuor Charles McC. Math)
blican of Maryland. the
Republicans, who had seized tion as autho
rizat
ion
for
the original sponsor of the measure
the initiative in proposing the current milita
ry
invol
veme
nt in to repeal the Tonkin resolution,
repeal amendment last month, Vietnam
twitted the Democratic lead- President' but rather on the argued that the result would
s
cons
tituti
onal au- be to create a "legislative void"
ership today for putting the thority
as Comm
Senate through the legislative to take steps ander in Chief on the conduct of the Vietnam
to
protect the war. If Congress is to reass
exercise of voting twice to re- lives of
ert
American troops as its consitutio
peal the resolution.
nal war-making
they are withdrawn from Viet- powe
rs,
he
conte
Describing the exercise as "a nam.
nded, it must
follow the
duplication of effort and a
Out of today's Senate debate legislative repeal with some
action granting the
waste of time," Senator Hugh emer
ged the interpretation, es- President
Scott of Pennsylvania, the Sen- pouse
authority to conduct
d primarily by the doves, the military
ate Republican leader, sug- that the
operations necesrepeal of the Tonkin sary under
gested that " the only reason resol
his plan for withution would leave the drawal of Ame
rican troops.
By JOHN W. FINNEY
Specie! to The New I'm* Times