Congress versus president on foreign policy: A case study of Taiwan Relations Act

There was simply not enough political input in the process that led to the final agreement. The normalization agreement was criticized by Congressional liberals and conservatives alike. There was no mention of the security of Taiwan in the agreement. The Administration was accused of accepting all three demands of the PRC without gaining significant benefits in return. Furthermore, the Administration failed to consult Congress at the last stage of negotiations, which touched the nerve of Congressional prerogatives in foreign policy-making.; On January 29, 1979, the Administration submitted its omnibus bill to provide the legal basis on which to conduct the future relationship between the United States and Taiwan. As expected, the bill was bombarded heavily on Capitol Hill.; The foreign affairs committees of both houses conducted extensive hearings in the first half of February. Numerous witnesses were invited to testify. In the interim, Senators Church and Javits worked out security language which would express the United States concern about the peaceful future of Taiwan and guarantee continuous U.S. defensive arms sales to Taiwan. The language was carefully drafted in order not to contradict the normalization agreement and thus lead to a Presidential veto of the bill. Meanwhile, the House Foreign Affairs committee under the leadership of Zablocki submitted a clean bill to replace the omnibus legislation.; During the House floor debate, several attempts which might have unraveled normalization were defeated. A similar situation also occurred on the Senate floor. Yet, the security provisions were included in both Houses' versions. There were also other improvements such as protecting the continuation of important bilateral trade relations. Finally, the bill was passed overwhelmingly by both chambers.; The Conference Committee took only two sessions to reconcile differences between the House and Senate bills. Conferees exercised discretion to find feasible solutions which would fit the national interest of the United States and its moral responsibility toward Taiwan. The Taiwan Relations Act undoubtedly strengthened the Administration's new China policy and compensated for the deficiencies of President Carter's normalization agreement. Thus, bilateral relations between Taiwan and the U.S. have continued to prosper, and the Congress deserves a good deal of credit.