[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3131 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3131

     To permit congressional review of certain Presidential orders.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 21, 1999

 Mr. Barr of Georgia introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                   to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To permit congressional review of certain Presidential orders.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Presidential Order Limitation Act of 
1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    (a) Powers of the President.--The Congress finds that the President 
possesses only the following powers, as set forth in the Constitution:
            (1) Commander in chief.--``The President shall be Commander 
        in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the 
        Militia of the several States, when called into actual Service 
        of the United States'' (article II, section 2, clause 1).
            (2) Opinion of department heads.--``[H]e may require the 
        Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the 
        executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties 
        of their respective Offices'' (article II, section 2, clause 
        1).
            (3) Reprieves and pardons.--``[H]e shall have Power to 
        grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United 
        States, except in Cases of Impeachment'' (article II, section 
        2, clause 1).
            (4) Treaties.--``He shall have the Power, by and with the 
        Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided 
        two thirds of the Senators present concur'' (article II, 
        section 2, clause 2).
            (5) Appointments.--``[H]e shall nominate, and by and with 
        the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint 
        Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the 
        supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, 
        whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and 
        which may be established by Law'' (article II, section 2, 
        clause 2).
            (6) Vacancies.--``The President shall have Power to fill up 
        all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, 
        by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their 
        next Session'' (article II, section 2, clause 3).
            (7) Convening or adjourning congress.--``[H]e may, on 
        extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of 
        them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to 
        the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he 
        shall think proper'' (article II, section 3).
            (8) Receiving ambassadors.--``[H]e shall receive 
        Ambassadors and other public Ministers'' (article II, section 
        3).
            (9) Commissioning officers.--``[He] shall Commission all 
        the Officers of the United States'' (article II, section 3).
    (b) Duty to Execute Laws Dependent on Congress.--The Congress finds 
that the President's constitutional duty to ``take Care that the Laws 
be faithfully executed'' (article II, section 3) is wholly dependent 
upon the enactments of the Congress and therefore is subject to such 
limits and oversight as the Congress may by law provide.

SEC. 3. OPPORTUNITY FOR CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF PRESIDENTIAL ORDERS.

    (a) Transmission of Presidential Orders to Congress.--The President 
shall transmit a copy of each Presidential order to--
            (1) the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
            (2) the President pro tempore of the Senate; and
            (3) the chairperson and ranking member of each standing and 
        select committee of the House of Representatives and the 
        Senate.
    (b) Time Before Taking Effect.--Except as provided in subsection 
(c), to the extent a Presidential order is issued under authority 
granted by any enactment of the Congress, such order shall not take 
effect earlier than 30 days after its transmission pursuant to 
subsection (a), during which time the Congress may review and take any 
action it deems appropriate with regard to such order (or portion 
thereof).
    (c) Exception for Emergencies.--The time limitation in subsection 
(b) shall not apply in the case of a Presidential order describing an 
emergency which requires the order to take effect at an earlier time 
to--
            (1) protect the national security;
            (2) prevent physical injury to any individual;
            (3) provide disaster relief; or
            (4) safeguard an American foreign policy interest.
    (d) Definition of Presidential Order.--In this Act, the term 
``Presidential order'' means--
            (1) any Executive order, Presidential proclamation, or 
        Presidential directive; and
            (2) any other Presidential or Executive action by whatever 
        name described purporting to have prescriptive effect that is 
        issued under the authority of the President or any other 
        officer or employee of the executive branch.
    (e) Limitation of Application.--This Act does not apply in any 
circumstance in which the Constitution prevents its application.
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