[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 33 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 33

Expressing the sense of Congress that the President should not initiate 
military action against Iran without first obtaining authorization from 
                               Congress.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 16, 2007

    Mr. DeFazio (for himself, Mr. Holt, Mr. Payne, Mr. Rothman, Mr. 
Cummings, Mr. Farr, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Doggett, Ms. Lee, Mr. Conyers, Mr. 
  Stark, Mr. Kucinich, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Ms. McCollum of 
 Minnesota, Ms. Hooley, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Thompson of California, Mr. 
   Blumenauer, Mr. Capuano, and Mr. Murtha) submitted the following 
 concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of Congress that the President should not initiate 
military action against Iran without first obtaining authorization from 
                               Congress.

Whereas Article I, Section 8 of the United States 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 his Administration have argued that this 
        ``Commander-in-Chief'' clause 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 several years 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, and the United Nations Security Council continue; and
Whereas, despite these diplomatic efforts and statements by President Bush and 
        other members of his 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 against 
        Iran without congressional approval 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, including 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, including 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>