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What accounts for congressional assertion or lack thereof in national security policy after World War II? The author argues assertion is a function of the degree of congressional access to critical intelligence. Two case studies have been chosen to illuminate this poorly theorized issue area: The covert CIA operation in Angola which Congress shut down in 1975 and the 2002 Resolution authorizing President Bush to use force against Iraq. Furthermore, this paper seeks to test the waters for a more encompassing theory of Congress and national security policy that looks at presidential prestige and its consequences for the legislative-executive power-ratio in foreign and defense policy. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]