[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 391 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 391

Expressing the sense of Congress that the President should not initiate 
   military action against Iran with respect to its nuclear program 
          without first obtaining authorization from Congress.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 26, 2006

 Mr. DeFazio (for himself, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Honda, 
 Ms. Millender-McDonald, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Ms. Lee, Mr. George 
Miller of California, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Doggett, Mr. 
 McGovern, Ms. McCollum of Minnesota, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. McDermott, Mr. 
 Blumenauer, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Inslee, Ms. Kilpatrick of Michigan, Mr. 
Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Payne, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Conyers, Ms. Watson, Mr. 
    Holt, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Hinchey, and Mr. Oberstar) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                        International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of Congress that the President should not initiate 
   military action against Iran with respect to its nuclear program 
          without first obtaining authorization from Congress.

Whereas Article I, section 8 of the Constitution grants Congress the power ``to 
        declare war,'' to lay and collect taxes, to ``provide for the common 
        defense'' and general welfare of the United States, to ``raise and 
        support armies,'' to ``provide and maintain a navy,'' to ``make rules 
        for the regulation for the land and naval forces,'' to ``provide for 
        calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress 
        insurrections and repel invasions,'' to ``provide for organizing, 
        arming, and disciplining, the militia,'' and to ``make all laws 
        necessary and proper for carrying into execution . . . all . . . powers 
        vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States'';
Whereas the Constitution also grants Congress exclusive power over the purse: 
        ``No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in consequence of 
        appropriations made by law'';
Whereas the sole war power granted to the executive branch through the President 
        can be found in Article II, section 2, which states, ``The President 
        shall be the 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 . . .'';
Whereas President George W. Bush and the Administration have argued that the 
        ``Commander-in-Chief'' clause in the Constitution grants the President 
        wide latitude to engage United States military forces abroad without 
        prior authorization from Congress;
Whereas the President further argues that previous unilateral actions by 
        presidents of both political parties add credence to this interpretation 
        of the Constitution;
Whereas in reality, nothing in the history of the ``Commander-in-Chief'' clause 
        suggests that the authors of the provision intended it to grant the 
        executive branch the authority to engage United States forces in 
        military action without any prior authorization from Congress, except to 
        allow the President to repel sudden attacks and immediate threats;
Whereas in the Federalist Paper Number 69, while comparing the lesser war-making 
        power of the United States President versus the King of Great Britain, 
        Alexander Hamilton wrote, ``. . . the President is to be commander-in-
        chief of the Army and Navy of the United States. In this respect his 
        authority would be nominally the same with that of the King of Great 
        Britain, but in substance much inferior to it. It would amount to 
        nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and 
        naval forces, as first General and admiral of the Confederacy; while 
        that of the British king extends to the declaring of war and to raising 
        and regulating of fleets and armies, all which, by the Constitution 
        under consideration, would appertain to the legislature.'';
Whereas James Madison declared that it is necessary to adhere to the 
        ``fundamental doctrine of the Constitution that the power to declare war 
        is fully and exclusively vested in the legislature'';
Whereas in 1793, President George Washington, when considering how to protect 
        inhabitants of the American frontier, instructed his administration that 
        ``no offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after 
        [Congress] have deliberated upon the subject, and authorized such a 
        measure'';
Whereas in 1801, Thomas Jefferson sent a small squadron of frigates to the 
        Mediterranean to protect against possible attacks by the Barbary powers; 
        he told Congress that he was ``unauthorized by the Constitution, without 
        the sanction of Congress, to go beyond the line of defense.''; and he 
        further noted that it was up to Congress to authorize ``measures of 
        offense also'';
Whereas with respect to Iran, according to the most definitive United States 
        intelligence report, Iran is likely a decade away from developing a 
        nuclear weapon, and even the most pessimistic analysis by outside 
        experts puts the timeline at least three years away, assuming Iran 
        suffers no setbacks during development, which would be unprecedented;
Whereas diplomatic efforts involving Iran, the United States, the European 
        Union, Russia, the People's Republic of China, the International Atomic 
        Energy Agency (IAEA), and the United Nations Security Council continue; 
        and
Whereas, despite these diplomatic efforts and statements by President Bush, 
        Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, and others members of the Administration 
        that diplomacy is the preferred route, there are an increasing number of 
        reports that preparations for war are underway: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) strongly believes initiating military action without 
        congressional approval in response to Iran's nuclear program 
        does not fall within the President's ``Commander-in-Chief'' 
        powers under the Constitution;
            (2) rejects any suggestion that Public Law 107-40, the 
        authorization of force resolution approved in response to the 
        terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, explicitly or 
        implicitly, extends to authorizing military action against Iran 
        over its nuclear program;
            (3) rejects any suggestion that Public Law 107-243, the 
        authorization of force resolution approved by Congress to go to 
        war with Iraq, explicitly or implicitly, extends to authorizing 
        military action against Iran over its nuclear program; and
            (4) strongly and unequivocally believes that seeking 
        congressional authority prior to taking military action against 
        Iran is not discretionary, but is a legal and constitutional 
        requirement.
                                 <all>