One of the signal failures of the Republican Congress has been its neglect of oversight responsibilities and opportunities. God knows, the Clinton administration does enough appalling or at least embarrassing things to keep the congressional committees busy, but most of them seem remarkably uninterested in performing what is actually an important public service, as well as one with considerable potential for political mileage.
A notable exception to this general congressional passivity has been Jesse Helms's Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which steps up to the plate this week with a hearing on the administration's disgraceful recent performance, in giving the back of its hand to democratic Taiwan. House International Relations chairman Ben Gilman promises to battle the administration on this front, too.
But there is no sign of congressional initiative with respect to the other recent administration foreign policy disgrace, the firing of Gen. Wesley Clark as NATO commander. Just the opposite. John Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, immediately hastened to assure one and all that he would cause no problem in the confirmation process for Clark's successor, Gen. Joseph Ralston.
So here you have the commander who just won a war being dumped by the Clinton administration because he wanted to fight it in the right way and gave honest and can-did advice to his superiors about how to do this. Here you have what Sen. John McCain correctly identifies as a terrible precedent that "will influence other senior officers to place political considerations before military necessities and deprive future presidents of the counsel they need to best protect our security." Here you have an opportunity for Congress to probe fundamental problems in the Clinton administration's management of national security. And the ranking Republican says, "Never mind." Perhaps it's time for a new chairman.