Limiting Use of Funds for Armed Forces in Libya

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McCAUL. I thank the gentleman from Florida for yielding time and I commend him for this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this bill and in defense of the Constitution. The Founding Fathers clearly intended for Congress to have the power to commit this Nation into armed conflict.

Article I, section 8 of the Constitution states that Congress shall have the power to declare war. Our first Commander in Chief, George Washington, knew that when he said, ``The Constitution vests the power of declaring war in Congress; therefore, no offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they shall have deliberated upon the subject and authorized such a measure.''

That is exactly what this bill is about, and President Obama, when he was a Senator, knew this when he said that, ``The President does not have power under the Constitution to authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the Nation.''

He went on further to say that, ``No law can give Congress a backbone if it refuses to stand up as the co-equal branch the Constitution made it.''

I couldn't agree more with him, but, unfortunately, as President, Mr. Obama appears to no longer agree with his prior interpretation of the Constitution, and in reviewing the War Powers Act, we can argue that it is unconstitutional, but that is for the Supreme Court to decide.

In applying the War Powers Act to the facts here in this case, it is clear that the President failed to comply with the requirements to get congressional approval; and when we examine the merits of the case for involvement in Libya, this administration has wholly failed to define a clear national interest, mission, or goal.

Why are we there? Are we there to kill Qadhafi or to provide humanitarian aid? And since when does humanitarian aid come from a missile launched from a Predator drone? And who are these rebels that we are supporting? The administration has failed to provide Congress with a clear answer to this question, but we do know that some of them are tied to terrorist organizations.

The bill introduced by my good friend from Florida (Mr. Rooney) reasserts Congress' role as a coequal branch of government, and it sends a clear message to the President that he must get congressional approval before he commits this Nation to war, as he stated when he was in the United States Senate.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this bill.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source