[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 145 (Monday, September 26, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H5869]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STOPPING PRESIDENT FROM CIRCUMVENTING CONGRESS
(Mr. WILSON of South Carolina asked and was given permission to
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, last week, I was grateful
to join Senator Tom Cotton from Arkansas to introduce a bill which
would stop the President from circumventing Congress by signing the
U.S. onto the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty without the
required Senate approval.
This legislation is clear. Matters related to nuclear deterrence and
national security should be the job of Congress and not an
unaccountable, international body. Nuclear deterrence is the basis for
preserving peace through strength to protect American families. That is
why the legislation pledged to defund the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
Organization Preparatory Commission if the President relinquished
sovereignty over testing of nuclear weapons, putting American families
at risk of attack.
Just days after introducing the legislation, the U.N. Security
Council approved a meaningless resolution that merely encourages all
nations to sign the ban on nuclear testing weapons around the world.
This bill reinforces the Senate's constitutional authority to approve
all international treaties.
In conclusion, God bless our troops, and may the President, by his
actions, never forget September the 11th in the global war on
terrorism.
____________________