[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 134 (Wednesday, July 29, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H3886-H3887]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     EXCEPTIONS TO POSSE COMITATUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Alabama (Mr. Byrne) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BYRNE. Mr. Speaker, the Insurrection Act was passed in 1807 and 
signed into law by Thomas Jefferson as a delegation by the Congress to 
the President of the power granted under Article I, Section 8, Clause 
15 of the Constitution to call forth U.S. Armed Forces, number one, to 
execute the laws; number two, suppress insurrections; and, number 
three, repeal invasions.
  In 1827, the President's power to do so was upheld by the Supreme 
Court in Martin v. Mott.
  In 1861, it was amended to add a section empowering the President to 
use the Armed Forces against the will of the Governor of a State in the 
case of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the 
United States.
  In 1871, it was amended again to allow the President to use U.S. 
Armed Forces to enforce the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th 
Amendment and protect Black people from the Ku Klux Klan. President 
Grant used it three times.
  To get Democrat support for President Rutherford Hayes in this House 
during the aftermath of the disputed 1876 Presidential election, Hayes 
agreed to remove Federal troops from the South, which ended 
Reconstruction.
  The Posse Comitatus Act was passed in 1878 to limit the use of U.S. 
Armed Forces in domestic matters, thus codifying the compromise.

                              {time}  0930

  The Insurrection Act provisions are construed as specified exceptions 
to the Posse Comitatus Act. As such, it has been used by Democrat 
Presidents, Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, John 
Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson.
  Roosevelt used it to put an end to a Detroit race riot during which 
25 Black people were killed, and over 400 were injured.
  President Eisenhower used it to desegregate Little Rock schools.
  Kennedy used it to end the race riot at the University of Mississippi 
in 1962, after James Meredith, a Black man, was enrolled there. He used 
it again in my home State when Democratic Governor, George Wallace, 
disgracefully tried to block the enrollment of Vivian Malone and James 
Hood, both Black people, at the University of Alabama. He also used it 
to enforce the desegregation of public schools in Alabama in reaction 
to the hate-filled environment around the State Wallace encouraged.
  In 1989, it was used by George H.W. Bush in St. Croix in the 
aftermath of Hurricane Hugo; and again in 1992, when the Governor of 
California asked for assistance in the riots which followed the beating 
of Rodney King.
  It has not been used since. Nor did President Trump use it earlier 
this summer here in Washington. All military personnel used here this 
year were National Guard, the authorization of which was not needed 
under the Insurrection Act in this Federal city.
  Nonetheless, last week this House approved an amendment to the 
National Defense Authorization Act to substantially weaken the 
operations of the military under the Insurrection Act.
  Let me be clear: Over the last 200 years, this law has only been used 
sparingly and only under extreme circumstances, which is only 
appropriate in a country which highly values the civilian control of 
our military. Our Armed Services have a primary mission to protect us 
from enemies without our country. They should rarely be used to do so 
with people within our country.
  This unwise House amendment forbids our military when they are called 
out under the Insurrection Act from participating in search, seizure, 
arrest, or ``other similar activity,'' unless ``otherwise expressly 
authorized by law.''
  Mr. Speaker, the Insurrection Act is the primary provision that is 
expressly authorized by law. This amendment would effectively make the 
Insurrection Act toothless.
  Imagine General Grant cleaning out the Ku Klux Klan in South Carolina 
with the limiting language of the amendment.
  Imagine Franklin Roosevelt quelling the Detroit race riot and 
protecting innocent Black people with that limitation.
  How about President Kennedy protecting Black students just trying to 
attend their State universities in Mississippi and Alabama in the face 
of violent racists and the Ku Klux Klan.
  What is this House thinking? I submit, in this instance, the House 
didn't think. It just reacted, as it has these last 2 years, with blind 
indignation against President Trump. I say ``blind''

[[Page H3887]]

because I don't believe many would have voted for such language if 
Hillary Clinton was President. Thank God the Senate didn't include this 
language in their version of the NDAA.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the conferees from both Houses and both parties to 
reject this rash amendment and for all of us to return to our senses. 
Insurrections are rare but ugly things. Let's not tie a future 
President's hands at a time when our people may need his, and our 
military's, protection here at home.

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