[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 22 (Thursday, February 9, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H677-H680]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          RECESS APPOINTMENTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 5, 2011, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Woodall) is recognized 
for 30 minutes.
  Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I very much appreciate the time, and I 
appreciate being able to follow my colleagues from the Progressive 
Caucus.
  There is not a lot that the Progressive Caucus works for in terms of 
their techniques that I agree with, but there is so much that the 
caucus works for in terms of its overall goals for America that I agree 
with. And I think that that is a story that does not get told as often 
as it should here in this House. We can very often have common goals 
but have very different ways that we seek to achieve those goals, Madam 
Speaker.
  I think the way that we achieve those goals is important. It's 
important. As my colleague said when he was speaking on behalf of the 
Progressive Caucus, America voted in 2008. America voted in 2010. And 
in 2008, they elected a President. In 2010, they elected a new 
Congress. And powers divided America. Powers divided America. We have 
Democrats controlling the White House. We have Democrats controlling 
the Senate. We have Republicans controlling the U.S. House of 
Representatives. And we have the American people who should be 
controlling all three of those things.
  As we were coming into this new year, Madam Speaker, I was at home 
with my family back in Georgia, and I heard the news that the President 
of the United States had decided to appoint members to boards, to 
positions, to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to the National 
Labor Relations Board, to appoint positions that require Senate 
confirmation, to name people to those positions without getting that 
Senate confirmation, saying that if I can't do it with the Senate, I'll 
just skip the Senate.
  And I don't mind telling you, Madam Speaker, that really cast a 
damper on my Christmas season. We were coming into this new year--a new 
year where, as my friends from the Progressive Caucus have just laid 
out, we have challenge after challenge after challenge after challenge 
that we, as Americans, must face together, that we must come together 
in order to solve.
  And we're coming into this new year, an opportunity to make that 
happen. And I had high hopes. I had high hopes that despite this being 
an election year--and I think that brings out a lot of what's worst 
about Washington, DC. Despite this being an election year, despite 
there being divided government in Washington, I thought, We are going 
to have an opportunity because the challenges are so great to come 
together on behalf of all of our constituencies to move this Nation 
forward.
  And I wondered because, even though you are as new, as I am, Madam 
Speaker, we've seen in years past that the closer you get to election, 
the crazier things get in Congress. The closer you get to an election, 
sadly, the more folks stop worrying about doing the right thing and 
start worrying about getting reelected and doing whatever it takes to 
do that. And as a freshman, Madam Speaker, I know you likely agree with 
me.
  I happen to think doing the right thing is the best thing for getting 
reelected. I think if more folks spent more time worrying about doing 
the right thing instead of getting reelected, their reelection 
campaigns would take care of themselves. But I had high hopes coming 
into this year that this would not be a wasted reelection year for the 
American people but that we would be able to work on serious issues 
together.
  The rule book I use, Madam Speaker, I have up here on the board. This 
happens to be article II, section 2, clause 3 of the United States 
Constitution. But the Constitution is the rule book I use. I carry mine 
with me. I don't want it to be far away because I believe that if we 
have the same rule book to operate from, Madam Speaker, then it gives 
us that context for trying to achieve the goals the American people 
sent us here to do.
  Here we have article II, section 2, clause 3 of the United States 
Constitution: ``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.'' This 
is the recess appoint authority, Madam Speaker. You've heard it said 
the President has the power to make recess appointments. The President 
shall have the power to fill all vacancies that may happen during the 
recess of the Senate. Undisputed. Undisputed, Madam Speaker: article 
II, section 2, clause 3.
  Article II, section 2, clause 2: The President shall have power by 
and with the advice and consent of the Senate to make treaties. And he 
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.
  The President shall have the power to make appointments if the Senate 
is in recess. But if the Senate is not, the President only has the 
power--the President shall, the Constitution says, nominate by and with 
the advice and consent of the United States Senate. That's the way our 
system works, Madam Speaker. That's the rule book that was left for us 
by our Founding Fathers. That's the rule book that has guided this 
country for 225 years. The President has the power to appoint 
nonelected leaders, unelected leaders to lead this Nation. But he can 
do so only with the advice and consent of the Senate.
  Now, back in the day, Madam Speaker--I know you are from the northern 
part of the east coast. I'm from the southern part of the east coast.

                              {time}  1320

  It used to take us a long time to get to Washington, DC. I'm 640 
miles away from the Capital down in Georgia. If I had to get on my 
horse and ride to the United States Capital, it would take quite a few 
days to do it. And understanding that the business of the American 
people had to continue, our Founding Fathers looked ahead and said if 
the Senate cannot be reconvened, if the Senate is too far away to 
consult, and your first duty is to consult, but if you cannot, we want 
the country to go on.
  Well, that's been the way it's been in this country, Madam Speaker, 
as you know, for hundreds upon hundreds of years. Until now. Until now, 
when for the very first time, when for the very first time this 
President of the United States said, I can't get my nominees through 
the Democratic Senate, so I'm going to go around the Senate. And he 
made appointments without the advice and consent of the Senate.

[[Page H678]]

  I have with me today, Madam Speaker, a page from the Congressional 
Record, a speech that was given on the Senate floor, and this is what 
it says: Mr. President, the Senate will be coming in for pro forma 
sessions during the Thanksgiving holiday to prevent recess 
appointments.
  My hope is that this will prompt the President to see that it is in 
our mutual interests to get nominations back on track. With an election 
year looming, significant progress can still be made. But that progress 
can't be made if the President seeks controversial recess appointments 
and fails to make others.
  With the Thanksgiving break looming, the administration informed me 
that they would make several recess appointments. I indicated I would 
be willing to confirm various appointments if the administration would 
agree to move others, but they would not make that commitment. And as a 
result, I am keeping the Senate in pro forma session to prevent recess 
appointments until we get this process back on track.
  Do you hear those words from the United States Senate, Madam Speaker? 
Do you hear those words? This was the majority leader in the United 
States Senate speaking out, telling the President you cannot, you 
cannot, you cannot make appointments without the advice and consent of 
the Senate. You're trying to go around us; we will not allow it. We're 
afraid you're going to do it when we go home for Thanksgiving. So 
instead of going on recess, instead of recessing the Senate, we're 
going to stay in pro forma session not just through Thanksgiving, but 
through the Christmas holidays to make certain that the President seeks 
our advice and consent.
  Sounds like a speech a Republican would have given, Madam Speaker, to 
make sure the President of the United States followed the Constitution, 
but it's not. It's not. This is actually a page from the Congressional 
Record November 16, 2007, Madam Speaker.
  These are the words that then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spoke 
to President Bush, telling President Bush the law of the land is you 
can't do it without us unless we're in recess. We're not going to go on 
recess. We're staying here in pro forma session. And, in fact, the 
majority leader and still now majority leader, Harry Reid in the United 
States Senate, kept the Senate in session, pro forma session every day 
until the end of President Bush's term and no recess appointments were 
ever made. Why, Madam Speaker? Because the Senate never went on recess.
  Harry Reid said: Mr. President, the Senate will be coming in for pro 
forma session during the Thanksgiving holiday to prevent recess 
appointments. That's how he opened his speech that day. He closed his 
speech that day by saying: As a result, I'm keeping the Senate in pro 
forma session to prevent recess appointments until we get this process 
back on track.
  Harry Reid knew, Madam Speaker, that the President could not, could 
not under the laws that govern our plan, under the rule book that is 
the United States Constitution, that he could not make appointments if 
Harry Reid kept the Senate in pro forma session; 2007, then-Majority 
Leader Harry Reid talking to then-President George Bush.
  Fast forward, Madam Speaker, to the holiday season 2011-2012, same 
majority leader sitting in the United States Senate, Harry Reid, same 
pro forma session continually through Thanksgiving and Christmas, the 
same pro forma session that Harry Reid said clearly would prevent 
constitutionally the President from making any appointments.
  And what did this President do? He made four. For the first time in 
American history, he made four. And he said, you know what, it's been 
so hard to work with the Senate. This whole going around the Senate and 
skipping them all together is working so well, I may do it again. If I 
can't work with you, you, the delegates of the American people, you, 
the elected representatives to our Republic, if I can't work with you, 
I'm going to go around you. And it worked out so well this time, I 
might do it again.
  Madam Speaker, while I disagree with my colleagues on the methods 
that we use, I share a common set of goals with them of what we want 
for America. When we lose that common fiber, when we lose what I would 
call that American Dream, that almost tangible spirit that unites us 
more than it divides us, that sense of who we are as a Nation that you 
can almost reach out and touch, that makes it clear that we will 
continue, no matter what our differences, toward a common end. I would 
tell you the Constitution of the United States, Madam Speaker, contains 
much of that spirit. The Constitution is clear.
  And this President, for the first time, decided it just didn't 
matter. He had ends that he wanted to achieve, and he said the means, 
as unconstitutional as they may be, justify those ends.
  Same circumstance, same Senate majority leader, same season on the 
calendar, same pending election year. In 2007, Harry Reid took to the 
floor of the United States Senate, spoke out on behalf of the American 
people and said, The Constitution matters, don't you dare.
  The silence from the Senate this year is deafening. Deafening.
  We only survive as a Republic, Madam Speaker, if the rules apply to 
everyone consistently. This is not a matter of party; this is a matter 
of country.
  Harry Reid was right when he called out a Republican President and 
said, don't you dare. It's unconstitutional. And that Republican 
President, President George Bush, didn't because he knew also that the 
Constitution forbade it.
  Where is the indignation today from the Senate, Madam Speaker, when 
that same thing is going on, but the only thing that is different is 
the President is of a different party? If we are ready to trade away 
those fundamental truths that unite us as a Nation, Madam Speaker, in 
the name of party, we have nothing. We have nothing.
  This is not a Republican crisis. This is not a Democratic crisis. 
This is a constitutional crisis and one that every single American has 
to be on watch for.

                              {time}  1330

  Madam Speaker, I'm not proud of everything that happened when 
Republicans ran the House, Republicans ran the Senate, and Republicans 
ran the House. I'm certainly not proud of everything that happened when 
Democrats ran the House, Democrats ran the Senate, and Democrats ran 
the White House. The temptation to go along with party leaders is 
strong. But the requirement of the oath that we swear the day we come 
to this institution, Madam Speaker, is not to follow party leaders. It 
is to follow the United States Constitution and to defend it against 
enemies foreign and domestic. We cannot trade away these principles 
that have guided our Republic and have protected our freedom in the 
name of party.
  When the President was elected, Madam Speaker, I think he believed 
that. I remember the spirit of the country in those days right after 
the President was elected. It was magical. I actually happened to be in 
town, Madam Speaker, when the inauguration was going on there in 
January of 2009. President Obama being sworn in as President of the 
United States, and there were men and women weeping in the streets--
weeping in the streets because they had joy in their heart that their 
voice had been heard, their President had been elected and that better 
days were on the horizon for America. Men and women weeping in the 
streets.
  President Obama was not my choice for President, but I love--I love--
that while he and President Bush agreed on virtually nothing, President 
Bush took the keys to the White House and the suitcase full of nuclear 
launch codes, and he handed them to President Obama. Not a drop of 
blood was shed, and not a bullet was fired. The leadership of the most 
powerful nation on the planet, the most deadly military the Earth has 
ever known, the beacon of freedom the likes of which this planet has 
never seen, the keys to that kingdom were handed from one leader to the 
next, leaders who disagreed on almost everything, handed from one to 
the next with no blood and no gunshots for one reason and one reason 
only: because the American people demanded it, because the election 
required it, because the freedoms that were laid out in the United 
States Constitution that said the only power in Washington is the power 
that we, the voters, give to it, lend to it, lease to it for a small 
period of time. That is the only power in

[[Page H679]]

this town. And when, We the People speak, Washington must listen. All 
under the rules, the rules of the United States Constitution.
  President Obama knew that when he was elected. Here's what he said--
this is from his election night victory speech in 2008 when President 
Obama said this: Resist the temptation to fall back on the same 
partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our 
politics for far too long. He was right when he said it. Resist the 
temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and 
immaturity that has poisoned our politics for far too long. That was 
his victory night speech, Madam Speaker.
  Before this Christmas season, when he decided he can't work with the 
Senate, he's going to go around the Senate; when he decided if he 
couldn't pass it with the people's representatives, he'd just skip the 
people's representatives, he said, I'm going to choose a new path.
  But in December of last year, Madam Speaker, after 3 years as our 
President, when asked about the partisan tone that the rhetoric was 
taking, he said this: It was going to take more than a year to solve 
it. It was going to take more than 2 years. It was going to take more 
than one term, probably takes more than one President.
  On victory night, Madam Speaker, he said deliverance is coming to 
America from the temptation of partisanship, pettiness, and immaturity. 
In December of 2011, he said that it was just going to be too hard, 
couldn't do it in a year, couldn't do it in 2 years, couldn't do it in 
a whole term, probably can't even do it in one presidency.
  Madam Speaker, his sights are set too low. He can, if he has the 
courage to do it. August of 2008, right before the election, Madam 
Speaker, President Obama says this as he announces his vice 
presidential candidate: After decades of steady work across the aisle, 
I know that he'll--talking about Vice President Biden--be able to help 
me turn the page on the ugly partisanship in Washington so we can bring 
Democrats and Republicans together to pass an agenda that works for the 
American people.
  Madam Speaker, he knows, he knows in his heart what the right thing 
to do is. He knows. He wants to move past, turn the page, he says, on 
the ugly partisanship in Washington so that we can bring Democrats and 
Republicans together to pass an agenda that works for the American 
people. That was right before the election, Madam Speaker.
  This year, he's decided for the first time in American history, if he 
can't get along with Democrats and Republicans in the Senate, he'll 
just go around them. It doesn't matter that the constitutional rule 
book says no. He has somewhere he wants to go. He wants people in power 
that he can appoint, and the fact that the Senate won't sign off on 
those folks, the fact that the voice of the American people as 
represented in those 100 men and women in the Senate won't sign off on 
those folks doesn't matter to him. He has an agenda, and he wants to go 
after it. What happened, Madam Speaker, to trying to turn the page?
  November 2010, President Obama recognizes failure. When asked about 
that bitter partisanship, he said this: I neglected some things that 
matter to a lot of people, and rightly so that they matter, maintaining 
a bipartisan tone in Washington. He knew, November 2010, he knew he'd 
promised it, he knew that we, the American people, were hoping that he 
would deliver it, and we were praying that he would have the strength 
and conviction to deliver it. November of 2010, he said, I neglected 
it. But in November, 2010, he said, I'm going to redouble my efforts to 
make it happen. I know in my heart it should happen, he said. I'm going 
to redouble my efforts.
  That was November, 2010, Madam Speaker, and here we are having the 
President go around the Constitution for the first time ever in 
American history because the Senate does not approve of his nominees. 
He cannot get Senate approval. Rather than nominating people with whom 
he could get Senate approval, he said, I want what I want. The will of 
the people as expressed by the Senate does not matter. If I can't work 
with them, I'm going to go around them, and it works so well, I'm 
likely to do it again.
  Madam Speaker, I don't want this to sound like a partisan discussion, 
this that is happening with the Constitution today, this constitutional 
crisis that we're in with these non-recess ``recess'' appointments. It 
is wrong whether a Republican tries to do it or a Democrat tries to do 
it, and we know that to be true because we remember it from 2007. It 
wasn't but one President ago that we last confronted this circumstance. 
And what we concluded was, it's unconstitutional, you can't do it, and 
we're going to keep the Senate in pro forma session. And that prevented 
President Bush from making any more appointments for the remainder of 
his presidency.
  This is what President Obama said back when he was Senator Obama--
Senator Obama: These are challenges we all want to meet, and problems 
we all want to solve, even if we don't agree on how to do it. But he 
says this, Madam Speaker: But if the right of free and open debate is 
taken away from the minority party and millions of Americans who asked 
them to be their voice, I fear that the already partisan atmosphere of 
Washington will be poisoned to the point where no one will be able to 
agree on anything. That doesn't serve anyone's best interest, he said, 
and it certainly isn't what the patriots who founded this democracy had 
in mind.
  Madam Speaker, when President Obama was Senator Obama, and he sat in 
the Senate and the responsibility of representing the men and women of 
Illinois sat on his shoulders, he knew what the truth was.

                              {time}  1340

  If the right of free and open debate is taken away from the minority 
party and the millions of Americans who ask us to be their voice, I 
fear the already partisan atmosphere will be poisoned to the point 
where no one will be able to agree on anything.
  He was right, Madam Speaker. He was right before the election, when 
he said he was going to fight partisanship. He was right after the 
election, when he said he wanted to bring openness back to Washington. 
He was right when he was a United States Senator and he said the 
people's voice needed to be heard. He was wrong when he ignored the 
United States Constitution less than 45 days ago and said, I can't work 
with the Senate. The people's Representatives have it all wrong. And if 
I can't work with them, I'm going to go around them. You can't make 
that choice, Madam Speaker. The rule book is right here. It's the 
United States Constitution.
  Again, Senator Barack Obama: We need to rise above an ends-justify-
the-means mentality because we are here to answer to the people--all of 
the people, not just the ones wearing our party label. This was April 
13, 2005.
  As a United States Senator, President Obama knew. He knew, when he 
had the burden of responsibility--the pleasure of responsibility--of 
representing the men and women of Illinois, he knew ends-justify-the-
means mentality. We must rise above it, he said. We must answer to the 
American people, not just the ones wearing our party label.
  He was right, Madam Speaker. He was right then. He was right before 
the election. He was right after the election. He is wrong today. What 
has happened? What has happened in 3 years of his Presidency that he 
knew where we could go as a Nation, he knew where we should go as a 
Nation. He knew that the rule book that has been guiding us for over 
200 years would get us through to better days tomorrow. He knew it, and 
he's forgotten it. And we're on the brink of a constitutional crisis.
  Madam Speaker, I have here a quote from Senator Chuck Schumer: You 
don't change the rules in the middle of the game just because you can't 
get your way. Our Constitution, our system of laws, is too hallowed, is 
too important to do that. Democratic Senator from New York, Chuck 
Schumer.
  Madam Speaker, I've said it as long as I've been here--and you and I 
have been here just over 1 year--truth does not have a Republican or 
Democratic label after it. Truth is truth, right is right, and wrong is 
wrong. The President knows what's wrong. He knew it as a Senator. He 
knows it as a President. His colleagues in the Senate know what's 
wrong. You don't change the rules in the middle of the game just 
because you can't get your way. Our

[[Page H680]]

Constitution, our system of laws, is too hallowed, is too important to 
do that.
  Chuck Schumer was right, Madam Speaker. There's no process in this 
Constitution for reining in that Executive that just throws the 
Constitution aside--short of impeachment. It's the only one. We can't 
sue him. We can't go down there. We can have a picket, but that doesn't 
make any difference.
  He knew it. He knew it was wrong. He knew it as a candidate. He knew 
it once he was elected. He knew it when he was a Senator. And he did it 
anyway, because the ends justified his means.
  Madam Speaker, all we are as a Nation comes from the very few words 
that make up this United States Constitution--Constitution on your 
bedside, Bible on your bedside, those important works of American 
history by your bedside, Madam Speaker. We have a national identity, 
and that national identity is defined by having one set of rules that 
apply to everybody equally.
  Madam Speaker, I'm grateful to you for making this time available to 
me today. I encourage every American to look at these facts and judge 
for themselves what the next step is on our constitutional journey.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________