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| Iraq |
| Congressional Lawbreaking--Usurpation of Executive Power |
| 2007-02-18 |
| (NOTE: link goes to a .pdf file) It seems that the Senate Judiciary Committee had hearings in January on its power over the Commander-in-Chief. One of the more impressive witnesses, Prof. Robert F. Turner, S.J.D., gave devastating testimony which no doubt left some members seething. The statement he submitted is lengthy, but the last two sections (pp. 40-63) in particular are a must-read for all Americans. It is a powerful indictment of Congress for its unconstitutional intervention in matters of war and intelligence since Vietnam. Here are a few excerpts from his introduction: [T]he Founding Fathers viewed the powers of Congress and the Senate related to war and foreign affairs as “exceptions” to the general grant of “executive Power” vested in the President; and, as such, these powers were intended to be strictly construed... In candor, in recent decades I have witnessed far more lawbreaking by Congress in the national security realm than by the President... Consider the consequences [of defunding the surge]. Even if Congress has the constitutional power to cut off food and ammunition to our forces at war and ultimately guarantee a victory in Iraq for those who have been killing our forces and engaging in the wholesale and brutal slaughter of the people of Iraq – be they members of al Qaeda in Iraq, followers of pro-Iranian factions, or other radical groups – I beseech you to think through the wisdom of taking such action... will they listen? There is a reason the Framers vested considerable discretion in the President in this area, and unconstitutional efforts by Congress to usurp that discretion since 1970 have led to the unnecessary slaughter of millions, the consignment to totalitarian tyranny of tens of millions, the needless deaths of large numbers of our own military forces, and quite possibly contributed to the slaughter of 3000 innocent people on September 11, 2001. |
| Posted by:cajunbelle |