Bush Must Clarify Position on Use of Federal Troops in the United States
Pelosi: Bush Must Clarify Position on Use of Federal Troops in the United States
Washington, D.C. - House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi sent the following letter to President Bush this afternoon asking him to clarify his position on Posse Comitatus, the use of federal troops to perform law enforcement functions in the Gulf Coast region.
The text of the letter follows:
September 27, 2005
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
I am disturbed by recent comments you made in New Orleans that a "broader role" for the military is necessary in dealing with domestic disasters. Yesterday, you expanded on your New Orleans remarks, declaring that "what I was speculating about was a scenario which would require federal assets to stabilize the situation, primarily DOD assets."
Your comments have provoked strong concern that you intend to ask Congress to remove prohibitions in the Posse Comitatus Act against the use of federal troops to perform law enforcement functions. The Posse Comitatus Act has stood for nearly 130 years as a protection against the federal government employing the active duty military against our citizens and their property. Previous suggestions that those protections be weakened have been resisted consistently by the Department of Defense, which under both Democratic and Republican administrations has said it that it does not need new statutory authorities in the areas covered by the Act.
The vital role played by National Guard and active duty forces in providing assistance to those affected by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita was a source of great comfort to many, and efforts to ensure that the future participation by the military in humanitarian relief missions goes smoothly should be encouraged. Americans of all political philosophies are justifiably concerned, however, by suggestions that the way to deal with catastrophic disasters in the United States is to empower active duty military personnel to make arrests and conduct searches and seizures.
Your remarks have been interpreted as evidence that you believe that the active duty military should have a bigger role as police officers in America. In light of the significance of this matter, I urge you to immediately clarify your position.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Nancy Pelosi
House Democratic Leader
http://democraticleader.house.gov/press/releases.cfm?pressReleaseID=1198