[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1509 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1509

  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the next 
   president of the United States should immediately work to reverse 
 damaging and illegal actions taken by the Bush/Cheney Administration 
and collaborate with Congress to proactively prevent any further abuses 
                       of executive branch power.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 26, 2008

 Ms. Baldwin submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
 the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on 
  Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, and Select Intelligence (Permanent 
Select), for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the next 
   president of the United States should immediately work to reverse 
 damaging and illegal actions taken by the Bush/Cheney Administration 
and collaborate with Congress to proactively prevent any further abuses 
                       of executive branch power.

Whereas over the past several years, serious questions have been raised about 
        the conduct of high ranking Bush/Cheney Administration officials in 
        relation to some of the most basic elements of our democracy: respect 
        for the rule of law, the principle of checks and balances, and the 
        fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights;
Whereas the Bush/Cheney Administration misled the American public and the U.S. 
        Congress regarding the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and 
        alleged, despite all evidence to the contrary, a relationship between 
        Iraq and al Qaeda, and this deceit dragged our country into a preemptive 
        and unjustified war that has taken the lives of more than 4,000 United 
        States troops, injured 30,000 more, and will cost our nation more than a 
        trillion dollars;
Whereas the Bush/Cheney Administration undermined national security by 
        manipulating and exaggerating evidence of Iran's nuclear weapons 
        capabilities despite no real evidence that Iran had the intention or 
        capability of attacking the United Sates, and then deliberately 
        downplayed the December 2007 National Intelligence Estimate that 
        reported with ``high confidence'' that Iran stopped developing nuclear 
        weapons in 2003 because of international pressure;
Whereas the Bush/Cheney Administration has undertaken a broad assault on civil 
        liberties through the suspension of habeas corpus and claiming the power 
        to declare any person an ``enemy combatant,'' blatantly ignoring the 
        Geneva Convention protections that the United States helped create, 
        ratify, and which carry the weight of law;
Whereas the Bush/Cheney Administration endorsed the torture and rendition of 
        prisoners in violation of stated American policy and values, as well as 
        international law, and then destroyed videotapes which may have 
        substantiated such torture;
Whereas the Bush/Cheney Administration violated the Fourth Amendment and the 
        Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 by spying on Americans 
        without a court order or oversight;
Whereas the Bush/Cheney Administration abused the state secrets privilege in 
        recent legal challenges regarding warrantless wiretapping, torture, and 
        rendition, and this administration's use of the state secrets privilege 
        has been to the detriment of the rights of private litigants harmed by 
        egregious misconduct, as well as Americans' trust in the judicial 
        system;
Whereas Bush/Cheney Administration officials have consistently impeded 
        congressional investigations into allegations of wrongdoing by refusing 
        to comply with congressional subpoenas;
Whereas Bush/Cheney Administration claims that senior presidential advisers are 
        immune from congressional subpoenas have impeded congressional 
        oversight, undermined the rule of law, damaged our democracy, and have 
        been rejected by a United States district court;
Whereas United States Attorneys pursued politically motivated prosecutions in 
        violation of the law, and allegedly at the direction of the Bush/Cheney 
        Administration;
Whereas Bush/Cheney Administration officials in the Department of Justice 
        systematically violated the law and committed misconduct in basing 
        hiring decisions for career prosecutor positions, detailees to senior 
        Department offices, and immigration judgeships on the applicants' 
        political affiliations and views;
Whereas it appears Bush/Cheney Administration officials intentionally revealed 
        the identity of Valerie Plame Wilson as a covert agent of the CIA for 
        political retribution, and then intentionally obstructed justice by 
        disseminating false information through the White House press office;
Whereas President Bush has shown contempt for the legislative branch and 
        disregard for the law through the excessive expansion of presidential 
        power in misusing signing statements that declare his intent to ignore 
        provisions of legislation he has signed into law;
Whereas Bush/Cheney Administration officials have systematically shielded from 
        access and destroyed public documents relevant to the conduct of the 
        administration by utilizing nongovernmental email accounts for official 
        communications;
Whereas Vice President Cheney has consistently placed self-interest over serving 
        the American people, exemplified by his claim that the Office of the 
        Vice President is not an entity within the executive branch for the 
        alleged purpose of shielding the activities of his office from public 
        scrutiny;
Whereas President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and other Bush/Cheney 
        Administration officials have been presented with ample opportunities to 
        collaborate with Congress and reverse the above listed damaging and 
        abusive actions;
Whereas despite these opportunities, they instead choose to show contempt for 
        the Constitution and the legislative branch, compelling Americans and 
        Congress to look to the next administration for executive branch 
        accountability;
Whereas on November 4, 2008, Americans will elect the next president of the 
        United States;
Whereas on January 20, 2009, the next president of the United States will stand 
        before the American people and take an oath of office, swearing to ``. . 
        . preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States'';
Whereas this commitment and obligation is so fundamental to our democracy that 
        our Nation's founders proscribed this oath in our Constitution;
Whereas no President or Congress has the authority to override that document, 
        whereby ``We the People'' conferred upon the branches of government 
        limited and defined power, and provided for meaningful checks and 
        balances; and
Whereas the actions taken by the next president of the United States will impact 
        the conduct of future presidents, perhaps for generations: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the next President of the United States should take the necessary steps 
to do the following:
            (1) Affirm our nation's commitment to upholding the 
        constitution of the united states.--The next president must 
        immediately and publicly reaffirm our Nation's commitment to 
        the rule of law, the principle of checks and balances, respect 
        for the legislative process, and the fundamental freedoms 
        enshrined in the Bill of Rights.
            (2) Fully investigate bush/cheney administration officials' 
        alleged crimes and hold them accountable for any illegal 
        acts.--The next President must cooperate fully with 
        congressional oversight efforts to establish an independent 
        investigation, as well as to address potential statute of 
        limitation concerns, in order to hold all Bush/Cheney 
        Administration officials accountable for any crimes they may 
        have committed.
            (3) Hold accountable bush/cheney administration officials 
        who showed or show contempt for the legal duty to comply with 
        congressional subpoenas.--The next President must fully support 
        Congress' constitutionally rooted right of access to the 
        information it needs to perform its legislative and oversight 
        functions enunciated in Article I of the Constitution.
            (4) Hold accountable bush/cheney administration officials 
        who disclosed the identity of any covert intelligence agent.--
        The next President must cooperate fully with congressional 
        efforts to ensure that the disclosure of the identity of any 
        United States intelligence agent could give rise to criminal 
        liability.
            (5) Hold accountable bush/cheney administration officials 
        who pursue politically motivated prosecutions.--The next 
        President must cooperate fully with congressional efforts to 
        restore faith in the American justice system by investigating 
        and censuring any officials who engage in misconduct in Federal 
        office.
            (6) Ensure that any bush/cheney administration official 
        guilty of a war crime is prosecuted under the war crimes act 
        and the anti-torture act.--The next President must cooperate 
        fully with congressional efforts to repeal the redefinition of 
        grave abuses of Common Article 3 included in the Military 
        Commissions Act of 2006, which limits the scope of the original 
        War Crimes Act and makes this repeal retroactively operable to 
        the beginning of the invasion of Iraq. The next President must 
        also cooperate fully with congressional investigations into the 
        lack of prosecutions under the War Crimes Act and the Federal 
        Anti-Torture Act despite countless allegations of serious 
        violations.
            (7) Affirm that it is the sole legal right of congress to 
        declare war.--The next President must cooperate fully with 
        congressional efforts to tighten the standards for when a 
        declaration of war is required for military action.
            (8) Criminalize lying to congress and the american public 
        about the reasons for going to war.--The next President must 
        cooperate fully with congressional efforts to strengthen 
        Federal perjury laws to prohibit the issuance of false 
        statements, concealment, or false documentation in any matter 
        related to a presidential request for a declaration of war.
            (9) Restore the writ of habeas corpus as an essential 
        principle of our democracy.--The next President must reaffirm 
        our Nation's treaty obligations under the Geneva Conventions 
        and ensure all individuals held by the United States have 
        access to the courts to petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
            (10) Ensure torture is uniformly prohibited under united 
        states law.--The next president must cooperate fully with 
        congressional efforts to codify anti-torture language and 
        approve uniform standards for interrogation techniques 
        applicable to individuals under control or custody of the 
        United States Government.
            (11) Ensure rendition is uniformly prohibited under united 
        states law.--The next president must cooperate fully with 
        congressional efforts to outlaw torture ``outsourcing'' by 
        prohibiting the direct or indirect transfer or return of 
        persons by the United States for the purpose of detention, 
        interrogation, trial, or otherwise to a country listed by the 
        Secretary of State as supporting torture, cruel, or degrading 
        treatment used in detention or interrogation of individuals.
            (12) Immediately close the guantanamo bay detention camp.--
        The next President must do everything in his power to ensure 
        that all suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo are 
        immediately tried in fair judicial proceedings and are not 
        subjected to trial by secret evidence. He must also engage the 
        international community to ensure the release of innocent 
        detainees.
            (13) Ensure that americans can bring claims against their 
        government.--The next President must guarantee that the state 
        secrets privilege shall not constitute grounds for dismissal of 
        a case or claim and instead require independent judicial review 
        of claims of state secrets privilege by executive branch 
        officials.
            (14) Immediately take affirmative steps to protect all 
        bush/cheney administration documents.--The next president must 
        also publicly reaffirm that the Office of the Vice President is 
        part of the executive branch.
            (15) Publicly review potential abuses of the presidential 
        pardon process.--The next president must collaborate fully with 
        Congress to investigate the granting of presidential pardons 
        and articulate comprehensive standards to guide future 
        presidential pardons.
            (16) Reform the use of presidential signing statements.--
        The next president must commit to providing all signing 
        statements for publication, affirm Congress' right to 
        participate in court proceedings regarding the 
        constitutionality of any presidential signing statements, and 
        ensure that Congress can obtain testimony from administration 
        officials who may attempt to claim executive privilege to 
        explain or justify any signing statements.
                                 <all>