Pledge Protection Act of 2004
PLEDGE PROTECTION ACT OF 2004 -- (House of Representatives - September 23, 2004)
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Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chairman, the amendment is fine, but it does not fix the problem with the bill. Marbury versus Madison, 1803, was when the great decision was made that the judicial branch would interpret the law. Since that time, we have had, like we all learned in 8th grade, the three branches of government, and it served us pretty darn well for the last 200 years. We have a free country that lives under law.
This bill actually would try to remove the judicial branch from its job of interpreting the law, and, most importantly, making sure that the laws that the Congress passes and the actions that the executive takes meet up with the standards in the Constitution of the United States.
Now, I have been listening to the debate of the proponents of this bill with some concern. Some of the things that have been said, I wonder, can they be that dumb, or are they being venal, or is it both? Absolutely we know there is a difference between passing a statute and having that statute interpreted to see whether the statute meets constitutional muster.
Clearly, Congress has the ability to do all kinds of things with the courts. We can set statutes of limitation, we can provide for direct appeal to the Supreme Court. What we cannot do is say that the Federal courts, that the Supreme Court, cannot review what we do to see whether it meets the requirements of the Federal Constitution. That is what we are trying to do today.
Now, if we succeed, if we pass this, we will either change fundamentally the free country that we enjoy, or else we will promote a constitutional crisis. Maybe we could get a Marbury-II.
But I think there is another reason for this bill today. I think we are here today for political purposes. We are here so that certain Members of this House who try and protect the Constitution will be subject to 30-second political ads. I think that is a misuse of our processes here. Either radicals have taken over the Congress, or venality has hit a new low, and we would trash our system of government for political purposes. I think either is a disgrace.