The Cavalier daily :: Tuesday, April 10, 1973 :: University of Virginia Library

Declaring that "it's time for
the President to listen to the
constitutional voice of
America," Sen. Edward M.
Kennedy (D-Mass.) discussed
the present controversy over
executive privilege and the
appointment of a new FBI
Director last night in
University Hall.

Speaking to a capacity
crowd, Mr. Kennedy said,
"Despite clear constitutional
directive to the contrary, we
(the Senate) were told Patrick
Gray would be the acting FBI
director for at least a year and
that we could take action at a
later date."

'Watch What We Do'

"The Constitution states
clearly that the President
should not have unfettered
power in appointments; and
the Senate has begun to apply
that statement by former Atty.
Gen. John Mitchell, 'Watch
what we do, not what we say,'"
Mr. Kennedy said.

He said, "Not since the
days of Andrew Johnson have
so many confrontations taken
place between Congress and
the White House," naming
Pres. Nixon's nomination of
Patrick Gray to the permanent
FBI directorship and the
opposition which ensued due
to Mr. Gray's alleged
connections with the Watergate
incident.

Mr. Gray testified before an
investigating committee for
three days in March about his
trusting relations with
Presidential counsel John W.
Dean III, who ran Mr. Nixon's
in-house inquiry into the
Watergate affair and gave him a
clean bill.

"We had all hoped and
expected that the new director
would be of independent
stature, tough enough to stand
up to criticism," Mr. Kennedy
said, but "Mr. Gray strove to
keep the White House very
happy, and they treated him as
part of the political team."

Mr. Kennedy pointed to
Mr. Gray's permitting
privileged information to be
given to ITT. "Mr. Gray was
sacrificed for the protection of
the White House staff," he
said.

'Removed From Politics'

"What the Senate and the
nation want is a man as far
removed from politics as
possible - tough, fair expert law
enforcement is too important
to be tempered by the
administration," Mr. Kennedy
said. "Only then will we have
true independence of the FBI."

"I share deep concern with
those who fear for the FBI in
light of recent exposures," he
said. However, "For the FBI
and other public agencies,
sunlight (public knowledge) is
healthful."

"One problem will be to
form a mechanism to insure
FBI accountability; perhaps we
could hold hearing with Mr.
Gray and all other former
assistants, or we could establish
a new judiciary subcommittee
for the purpose of maintaining
the FBI's accountability."

Also concerning the
public's "right to know," Mr.
Kennedy said, "The American
people are entitled to all the
agreements made in Paris, not
just the ones favorable to the
administration."

"There is no peace in
Indochina," he said, "because
there is no peace at all."

"We're killing hundreds in
Cambodia, and if our men are
taken prisoners there, how will
the administration
respond–will it step up the
bombing again?"

Mr. Kennedy said, "I'm
opposed to general aid to
North Vietnam, but I am in
favor of humanitarian aid, just
as we should give to South
Vietnam and eventually to
Cambodia. The aid ought to be
under a United Nations
umbrella."

Foreign Aid

"Giving our aid to the
specialized agencies of the UN,
such as UNICEF and UNESCO
ought to be the real direction
of American foreign aid.
Presently, we spend eight and a
half billion dollars on military
aid and only one billion dollars
on economic aid–I'd like to
see that reversed."

Mr. Kennedy spoke
specifically to the University
students in the audience: "As
members of this community,
you didn't make it, but you
have the chance to change it.
The spirit of '73 is not the
negative message of despair,
but the positive message of
self-fulfillment and hope," he
said.