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Obama’s Violation of U.S. Constitution Assailed in House Debate on Libya War
25 June 2011
President Obama’s violation of the U.S. Constitutions’s requirement that only Congress can declare war, as well as his violation of the War Powers Resolution, the law intended to implement that Constitutional requirement, was attacked by many speakers during today’s House debate on Obama’s Libya war. For example: •Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) said "we should stop treating the Constitution as a doormat," pointing out that Obama had said the war would last "days," not years. We’ve carried out 90 air strikes, but Obama says we’re not engaged in "hostilities." (And later:) What? We don’t have enough wars? We need another war? ...This war is unconstitional, it’s illegal, etc. Even Obama’s top lawyers in the Justice Department and the Defense Department said the War Powers Resolution applies to Libya. •Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) said that Obama’s argument that this is not a war, shows contempt for the Constitution and for the Congress. If another country launched air strikes against the U.S., we’d certainly consider it a war, she said, citing the example of Pearl Harbor. To say that these are not "hostilities" flies in face of common sense. Congress must reassert its power... we must send a message: "we won’t support perpetual war." •Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) said, "We have been sliding for 70 years to a situation where Congress has nothing to do with the decision about whether to go to war or not, and the President is becoming an absolute monarch. And we must put a stop to that right now, if we don’t want to become an empire instead of a republic." •Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) said we are dealing with the "unitary President" (i.e. the Unitary Executive), which means that a President can do whatever he wants. We can go with war in Libya for a long time without ground troops, we can always send in contractors. How many more wars will we have? Is Syria next? •House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said, I’m disappointed we’ve reached this point. We all support removal of Qadaffi. No matter what you think of the War Powers Resolution, it is the law of the land, and it can’t be ignored. "I support the removal of the Libyan regime. I support the President’s authorities as commander of chief. But when the President chooses to challenge the powers of the Congress, I, as Speaker of this House, will defend the Constitutional authority of the legislature." While these members of Congress were appealing to the United States Constitution, others were ranting about the UN’s "oligation to protect" and claiming—as Obama does—that humanitarian intervention overrides the requirements of the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution. Also see: •Obama Backers Plan Hitler-Like Coup Against the USA •House Declares Obama an Outlaw, Refuses to Authorize Libya War |