Editorial: Thumbing his nose at Congress

Friday, March 15, 2002 | 4:53 a.m.

Last week Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle called on President Bush to let Tom Ridge, the national domestic security chief, testify before Congress. For weeks Ridge has refused to appear before Congress, and Daschle was stirred anew by the bureaucratic blunder at the Immigration and Naturalization Service last week in which the agency posthumously granted student visas to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers. The president, though, doesn't want Ridge to answer questions from members of Congress. "He's part of my staff," the president told reporters Wednesday. "And that's part of the prerogative of the executive branch of government and we hold that very dear."

Despite Bush's response, it isn't acceptable in our democracy to keep such an important official off-limits from questioning from the legislative branch, an equal branch of government. Bush has resisted efforts to make Ridge a member of his Cabinet -- and it's no mystery why. That would mean, unlike the president's staff, Ridge would be answerable to Congress. If there ever were an official who should be held accountable to explain his office's progress, it would be the domestic security chief, who is responsible for coordinating the United States' anti-terrorism efforts.

It is no coincidence that Bush had Vice President Dick Cheney head up his administration's energy task force. As vice president, Cheney could cite executive privilege, enabling the administration to thwart efforts to make these meetings open to the public and to help keep secret these documents relating to them. The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, has had to file a lawsuit in an attempt to get the records released.

Bush is also the president who didn't fully consult with key members of Congress before he expanded the war on terrorism. That, coupled with the Ridge dispute, rankles even Republicans. A mind-set that dismisses accountability and embraces secrecy goes against the grain of our representative democracy, which demands that its government be open and responsive to the public.