The People Are Sovereign
Feingold, Senator Russ
By Senator Russ Feingold Illustration by Sel?uk Demirel The People Are Sovereign Opening Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold at the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on...
...Last week, Vice President Cheney was asked whether the nonbinding resolution passed by the Foreign Relations Committee that will soon be considered by the full Senate would deter the President from escalating the war...
...These are direct quotes from the Constitution of the United States...
...And with those votes, they sent a clear message that they disagree with this war and they want our involvement in it to stop...
...advisers to or for Cambodian military forces in Cambodia...
...He replied: “It’s not going to stop us...
...As James Madison wrote, “Those who are to conduct a war cannot in the nature of things, be proper or safe judges, whether a war ought to be commenced, continued, or concluded...
...They were not...
...If Congress doesn’t stop this war, it’s not because it doesn’t have the power...
...involvement in armed conflict...
...It will not hurt our troops in any way— they will continue receiving their equipment, training, and salaries...
...When asked whether he would persist in this policy despite Congressional opposition, he replied: “Frankly, that’s not their responsibility...
...So it is up to Congress to act...
...If and when Congress acts on the will of the American people by ending our involvement in the Iraq War, Congress will be performing the role assigned it by the Founding Fathers—defining the nature of our military commitments and acting as a check on a President whose policies are weakening our nation...
...Since the President is adamant about pursuing his failed policies in Iraq, Congress has the duty to stand up and use its power to stop him...
...In the United States of America, the people are sovereign, not the President...
...Russ Feingold is the junior Senator from Wisconsin...
...personnel...
...It’s because it doesn’t have the will...
...We cannot simply wring our hands and complain about the Administration’s policy...
...It’s our job to fix the mess, and if we don’t do so, we are abdicating our responsibilities...
...Yet to hear some in the Administration talk, it is as if these provisions were written in invisible ink...
...More recently, President Clinton signed into law language that prohibited funding after March 31, 1994, for military operations in Somalia, with certain limited exceptions...
...forces in Iraq six months after enactment...
...The Constitution gives Congress the explicit power to “declare War,” to “raise and support Armies,” to “provide and maintain a Navy,” and to “make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces...
...In late December 1970, Congress prohibited the use of funds to finance the introduction of United States ground combat troops into Cambodia or to provide U.S...
...Tomorrow, I will introduce legislation that will prohibit the use of funds to continue the deployment of U.S...
...The provision read, and I quote: “None of the funds herein appropriated under this act may be expended to support directly or indirectly combat activities in or over Cambodia, Laos, North Vietnam, and South Vietnam by United States forces, and after August 15, 1973, no other funds heretofore appropriated under any other act may be expended for such purpose...
...Despite the results of the election, and two months of study and supposed consultation (during which experts and members of Congress from across the political spectrum argued for a new policy), the President has decided to escalate the war...
...troops who must remain in Iraq to conduct targeted counterterrorism and training missions and protect U.S...
...The President has chosen to ignore that message...
...We cannot just pass resolutions saying “your policy is mistaken...
...And we can’t stand idly by and tell ourselves that it’s the President’s job to fix the mess he made...
...These powers are a clear and direct statement from the founders of our republic that Congress has authority to declare, to define, and ultimately, to end a war...
...By prohibiting funds after a specific deadline, Congress can force the President to bring our forces out of Iraq and out of harm’s way...
...In their brilliant design of our system of government, Congress got the power of the purse, and the President got the power of the sword...
...And in 1998, Congress passed legislation including a provision that prohibited funding for Bosnia after June 30, 1998, unless the President made certain assurances...
...Senator Russ Feingold at the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Exercising Congress’s Constitutional Power to End a War January 30, 2007 It is often said in this era of ubiquitous public opinion polls that the only poll that really matters is the one held on Election Day...
...There is little doubt that decisive action from the Congress is needed...
...Our founders wisely kept the power to fund a war separate from the power to conduct a war...
...By passing this bill, we can finally focus on repairing our military and countering the full range of threats that we face around the world...
...It will simply prevent the President from continuing to deploy them to Iraq...
...In late June 1973, Congress set a date to cut off funds for combat activities in Southeast Asia...
...To hear some in the Administration talk, it is as if these constitutional provisions were written in invisible ink...
...In addition, under Article I, “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law...
...On November 7, 2006, we had such a poll, and all across this country, the American people expressed their opinion on the war in Iraq in the most significant and meaningful way possible: They voted...
...There is plenty of precedent for Congress exercising its constitutional authority to stop U.S...
...The President has made the wrong judgment about Iraq time and again, first by taking us into war on a fraudulent basis, then by keeping our brave troops in Iraq for nearly four years, and now by proceeding despite the opposition of the Congress and the American people to put 21,500 more American troops into harm’s way...
...This legislation will allow the President adequate time to redeploy our troops safely from Iraq, and it will make specific exceptions for a limited number of U.S...
...It is Congress’s responsibility to challenge an Administration that persists in a war that is misguided and that the country opposes...
Vol. 71 • April 2007 • No. 4
