[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 33 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 33
Expressing the sense of Congress that the President should not initiate
military action against Iran without first obtaining authorization from
Congress.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 16, 2007
Mr. DeFazio (for himself, Mr. Holt, Mr. Payne, Mr. Rothman, Mr.
Cummings, Mr. Farr, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Doggett, Ms. Lee, Mr. Conyers, Mr.
Stark, Mr. Kucinich, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Ms. McCollum of
Minnesota, Ms. Hooley, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Thompson of California, Mr.
Blumenauer, Mr. Capuano, and Mr. Murtha) submitted the following
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress that the President should not initiate
military action against Iran without first obtaining authorization from
Congress.
Whereas Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution grants Congress
the power ``to declare war,'' to lay and collect taxes, to ``provide for
the common defense'' and general welfare of the United States, to
``raise and support armies,'' to ``provide and maintain a navy,'' to
``make rules for the regulation for the land and naval forces,'' to
``provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the
Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions,'' to ``provide for
organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia,'' and to ``make all
laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution . . . all . . .
powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United
States'';
Whereas the Constitution also grants Congress exclusive power over the purse,
``No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in consequence of
appropriations made by law'';
Whereas the sole war power granted to the executive branch through the President
can be found in Article II, Section 2, which states, ``The President
shall be the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United
States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into
actual Service of the United States . . .'';
Whereas President George W. Bush and his Administration have argued that this
``Commander-in-Chief'' clause grants the President wide latitude to
engage United States military forces abroad without prior authorization
from Congress;
Whereas the President further argues that previous unilateral actions by
presidents of both political parties add credence to this interpretation
of the Constitution;
Whereas in reality, nothing in the history of the ``Commander-in-Chief'' clause
suggests that the authors of the provision intended it to grant the
executive branch the authority to engage United States forces in
military action without any prior authorization from Congress, except to
allow the President to repel sudden attacks and immediate threats;
Whereas in the Federalist Paper Number 69, while comparing the lesser war-making
power of the United States President versus the King of Great Britain,
Alexander Hamilton wrote, ``. . . the President is to be commander-in-
chief of the Army and Navy of the United States. In this respect his
authority would be nominally the same with that of the King of Great
Britain, but in substance much inferior to it. It would amount to
nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and
naval forces, as first General and admiral of the Confederacy; while
that of the British king extends to the declaring of war and to raising
and regulating of fleets and armies, all which, by the Constitution
under consideration, would appertain to the legislature.'';
Whereas James Madison declared that it is necessary to adhere to the
``fundamental doctrine of the Constitution that the power to declare war
is fully and exclusively vested in the legislature'';
Whereas in 1793, President George Washington, when considering how to protect
inhabitants of the American frontier, instructed his Administration that
``no offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after
[Congress] have deliberated upon the subject, and authorized such a
measure'';
Whereas in 1801, Thomas Jefferson sent a small squadron of frigates to the
Mediterranean to protect against possible attacks by the Barbary powers;
he told Congress that he was ``unauthorized by the Constitution, without
the sanction of Congress, to go beyond the line of defense.''; and he
further noted that it was up to Congress to authorize ``measures of
offense also'';
Whereas with respect to Iran, according to the most definitive United States
intelligence report, Iran is several years away from developing a
nuclear weapon, and even the most pessimistic analysis by outside
experts puts the timeline at least three years away, assuming Iran
suffers no setbacks during development, which would be unprecedented;
Whereas diplomatic efforts involving Iran, the United States, the European
Union, Russia, the People's Republic of China, the International Atomic
Energy Agency, and the United Nations Security Council continue; and
Whereas, despite these diplomatic efforts and statements by President Bush and
other members of his Administration that diplomacy is the preferred
route, there are an increasing number of reports that preparations for
war are underway: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That Congress--
(1) strongly believes initiating military action against
Iran without congressional approval does not fall within the
President's ``Commander-in-Chief'' powers under the
Constitution;
(2) rejects any suggestion that Public Law 107-40, the
authorization of force resolution approved in response to the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, explicitly or
implicitly, extends to authorizing military action against
Iran, including over its nuclear program;
(3) rejects any suggestion that Public Law 107-243, the
authorization of force resolution approved by Congress to go to
war with Iraq, explicitly or implicitly, extends to authorizing
military action against Iran, including over its nuclear
program; and
(4) strongly and unequivocally believes that seeking
congressional authority prior to taking military action against
Iran is not discretionary, but is a legal and constitutional
requirement.
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