 President's office, Clark Clifford and Abe and myself and President and Harry McPherson. We've been talking about this veto message. We've just talked at length to Ramsey Clark and asked him to produce a legal opinion declaring the provision unconstitutional and also a veto message with some jazz to it that would explain why, why it was unconstitutional in very popular terms and maybe Clark might start by spinning out some of his ideas. Okay. Hello, Si. Hello, Clark. I was just telling our group here that we're a little disadvantaged by not having had the opportunity of reading the committee reports and all, but as we looked at some of the language in the bill, I wondered whether or not this might be an argument. Against the bill. It talks in there about the president not being permitted to move a military installation unless the matter is placed before the Congress and they get from January to May or something of that kind in which they have the right to consider it. Yeah. Well, it's late before them in the reporting sense, Clark. Yeah. But they thought it occurred to us and you would know is there any merit to such a contention as this, as we were spinning theories? Suppose that it's in the month of June. Yeah. Suppose that our intelligence gives us the information that we can expect a nuclear attack on the stack base at Omaha. Now, does that mean that the president cannot immediately move that entire installation because of the threat of destruction? And must he then send the matter up there? Does that mean that he has to wait until the next January? We're thinking of rather extreme instances which would show the lack of wisdom of the bill, Si, and what constitutes what seems to us to be such a direct invasion of the presidential power and responsibility. Now, would there be some merit to an argument of this kind? Clark, I'd have to check the language of the committee report which I do not have before me, but I do not think it purports to cover the type of situation which you have just outlined. But I can't be certain without the language in front of me. But you see, there is language there that we've discussed. Yeah. It is just not the fact of the abandonment of a base. It isn't just the real estate question involved. There is some other language in there that has something to do with the operation. Substantial reduction of the mission. This is Abe. Hi, Abe. Hi, as I say, Abe, I don't have the language in front of me here. As I recalled it, however, I thought the Congress was trying to make it clear that on operational matters, they were not seeking to intervene. But in non-operational matters, they wanted the matter laid before them during the period of X to Y. And there is an exception for tactical measures. They used the word tactical, which of course is a lot narrower than operational. Well, as I say, Abe, I don't have the language in front of me right now. I can get it if you want and talk about it with you. Yeah. Our view when we looked at it through the General Counsel's office was that it did cover the type of situation that Clark was referring to. Well, I think... Perhaps it could be placed in that context, however. I think it would be a good idea to get it, Si, and take a look at it. Let's talk about it, huh? All right. Let me go back to the Pentagon, and I'll call you from back there when I get over there. Yeah, Si, we were planning on Ramsey's writing. We were planning on having a meeting tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock. Over here. Tomorrow is the last day. Yeah, Ramsey's got a call in for me, which I've got the... I'm sure it's on this subject. Hell, tending this thing. Well, let me get in the car and go back on over to the Pentagon. All right, hold on. President wants to talk to you now. I know. But I know. Si. Yes, sir. I talked to Russell at some length about this last night with Lee White. I talked to Katzenbach two or three times in the last two or three days. Russell, of course, is not going to support us. He is inclined, though, to think that we're right and there's good deal of marriage in this. He thinks if we let this go through, unchallenged. First, we're hypocritical because we vetoed a bill two months ago on the same basis. The same thing in point on Northwest Relief just involved a couple of states. But I have tried to read what I could without an illegal background. And I believe that a very strong argument can be made that you're circumscribing, and handcuffing, and straight-jacking the Commander-in-Chief. Because the period, the big point that I see is that these boys, and reveres his desire to get McNamara and me and everybody else, he has picked out January to April. That's right. And if something happens after May that required a Commander-in-Chief to show any flexibility, whatever, he can't change the calendar. He couldn't call a special session and say, I'll call next January to June because it's just not June. It's January. So the President is frozen and he just has to wait until a goddamn calendar comes around until next January. Now, when you're dealing with the Soviets, not going to wait on that. The Chinese not going to wait on that. And even the Vietnamese tonight don't wait on that. Let's just assume for a moment that we got word that they were going to attack the sack base and we ought to move all of our equipment and all of our facilities and all of our personnel from Charleston, South Carolina, or Omaha, Nebraska. And let's assume we got that word May the 15th. I think that resolution would require you to submit to the committee between January and April. You're planned to move it because it involved over 250 men. And I think that they would have to, from January of next year until May of next year, decide. And if it doesn't say that, it can be made to appear to say that and I think it does. And I think that we ought to have, if we've got a damn bit of imagination and I'm shocked that we don't have any more than we have. I've been debating this thing three days and I just had 60 days in the night school law school. And I hate like hell to have to talk about what's constitutional with you come out, you boys. It seems to me if I had to move out of Omaha or Burge or wherever it is that that would involve the closing of a base. Why in the hell do you fellas can't see that and why you yield? This fellow Rivers has got your bridges and your pocketbook and he makes us look like school children. Well, Mr. President, you wouldn't want to put you in a spot in this. Well, I'm in a spot. You haven't gotten a choice about that, sweetheart. I'm done there. It's on my desk and I got to sign it and I just got 12 hours to do it. And the Attorney General's at Martha's Vineyard and the stuff I've got here is the biggest bunch of crap I've looked at since I left Mexican school where I used to teach. There's no argument here for veto message in this thing I've seen. I wish you'd look at it. I will, Mr. President. I agree. I think on the basis of what I saw earlier tonight, there is not a case, but let me go back to the office and take a look at it and see if we can come up with one because I don't think there's one on the basis of what I've seen so far. Well, I think from what I saw of their act, there's a strong case because I think if you don't stop this, I think every public health hospital, they've already got it on HEW, every agricultural research station, every immigration station and justice, every agriculture thing you've got, it'll just go all over the board and I'm a eunuch instead of president. There's no president saying any more and you all have just let it go by because General Rivers is firing on Fort Summit. Well, we want to do that, Mr. President. Okay, all right. And let me get at it. You get all the brains you all have got and all these coming out is that you've been recommending over there that I've been approving blindly from... Not blindly, Mr. President. Well, hell I am. You and Bob McNamara are coming here with 18 and say this guy is it and so on and so forth, and I don't even know what he looks like and I just approve him in blank. And so you get him busy at night and let's get something in the morning that gets your teeth in. Otherwise, I'm going to get A.W. Morrison up here from Johnson City. And he has quit plowing for a couple of days, but I'll tell you that. He can give me a reason. Right, sir. I'll get right at it. All right. Si? Yeah? Si, the other problem is the military... how much this inhibits military activity, the thing we discussed earlier. Yeah. I think it's relevant. I'll get out of this right away, Joe. I think Ramsey is in his office. All right, thanks. Bye, Bob. Ramsey, we're here. You all ready?