- “Reps. De Fazio and and Hinchey [D-NY]offered an amendment to the 2007 Pentagon appropriations bill that would have specifically barred the administration from launching a military attack on Iran without congressional authorization. 158 members of the House voted for it, but 262 voted against and it failed. In other words, a majority of the House seems to have gone on record in favor of letting the president start wars illegally, a fairly discouraging development.”--Matthew Yglesias, 10/4/06
That occurred when the Rubberstamp Republicans controlled Congress. Now, things have changed--as the new Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, recently told President Bush, “Calm down Mr. President. Stop with the threats, there’s a new congress in town!”
The new Congress is working to prevent Mr. Bush from starting another war, and even some Republicans are getting in on the act. According to PeaceAction.org.:
On January 12, 2007, Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) offered a resolution (H.J. Res. 14) which states, that unless there is an “attack by Iran, or a demonstrably imminent attack by Iran, upon the United States, its territories or possessions or its armed forces,” the President must consult with Congress and receive specific authorization prior to initiating military force against Iran.
On January 24, 2007, Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) introduced a Senate Resolution 39, “expressing the sense of the Senate on the need for approval by the Congress before any offensive military action by the United States against another nation.” The Resolution states: “any offensive military action by the United States against another country shall occur only after the Congress has authorized such action.”
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was the first co-sponsor of Senator Byrd’s Resolution and on February 15, 2007, he introduced “A concurrent resolution expressing the sense of Congress that the President should not initiate military action against Iran without first obtaining authorization from Congress.” Senate Concurrent Resolution 13 “states that military action against Iran does not fall within the President's 'Commander in Chief' powers under the Constitution. It also rejects any suggestion that the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 authorizes military force against Iran.”
On March 5, 2007, Senator James Webb (D-VA) introduced a bill (S.759) which “prohibits funding for military activities within or above Iran’s territory or within Iran’s territorial waters without specific congressional authorization.”
These members of Congress recognize the grave consequences of allowing President Bush to start a war with Iran before he leaves office. They are attempting to re-establish the balance of power that our Founding Fathers wrote into our Constitution. We need to support and encourage these efforts. Please call the Capitol Switchboard (800-828-0498, 800-459-1887 or 800-614-2803) and ask your Senators and Representatives to support their colleagues’ efforts to stop President Bush from starting a war with Iran.
It won’t do much good to end the war in Iraq, if we allow Bush to drag us into another needless war with a much more formidable opponent. It is time to say “No more wars, Mr. Bush”.
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