[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3626]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   COMMITTEE HEARINGS ON CONSTITUTIONAL WAR POWERS RESOLUTION OF 2007

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Madam Speaker, this Thursday, March 13, 
2008, the International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight 
Subcommittee will conduct a hearing on ``War Powers for the 21st 
Century: The Congressional Perspective.'' I would like to thank 
Chairman Bill Delahunt and Ranking Member Dana Rohrabacher for 
scheduling this hearing. It is my understanding that Chairman Delahunt 
and Ranking Member Rohrabacher also plan to hold two additional war 
powers hearings during the month of April.
  I am extremely grateful for their interest in this very important 
issue. Along with former Congressmen David Skaggs and Mickey Edwards, 
who are cochairmen of the Constitutional Projects War Powers 
Initiative, this Thursday I will testify on the legislation I 
introduced in October of 2007, the Constitutional War Powers 
Resolution, H.J. Res. 53.
  Too many times this Congress has abdicated its constitutional duty by 
allowing Presidents to overstep their executive authority. Our 
Constitution states that while the Commander-in-Chief has the power to 
conduct wars, only Congress has the power to authorize war.
  It is for this reason that in 1999 I joined 16 of my colleagues in 
Congress to file a suit against President Clinton for 
unconstitutionally conducting offensive military attacks against 
Yugoslavia without obtaining a declaration of war or other explicit 
authorizations from Congress.
  Now, as threats to international peace and security continue to 
evolve, the Constitutional War Powers Resolution, H.J. Res. 53, 
rededicates Congress to its primary constitutional role of deciding 
when to use force abroad.
  In 1793, James Madison said, `` . . . The power to declare war, 
including the power of judging the causes of war, is fully and 
exclusively vested in the legislature . . . the executive has no right, 
in any case, to decide the question, whether there is or is not cause 
for declaring war.''
  The Framers of our Constitution sought to decentralize the war powers 
of the United States and construct a balance between the political 
branches.

                              {time}  1945

  The War Powers Resolution of 1973 aimed to clarify the intent of the 
constitutional Framers and to ensure that Congress and the President 
share in the decision-making process in the event of armed conflict. 
Yet, since the enactment of the resolution, time and again Presidents 
have maintained that the resolution's consultation, reporting, and 
congressional authorization requirements are unconstitutional obstacles 
to executive authority.
  By more fully clarifying the war powers of the President and the 
Congress, the legislation I've introduced, H.J. Res. 53, the 
Constitutional War Powers Resolution, improves upon the War Powers 
Resolution of 1973 in a number of ways. It clearly spells out the 
powers that the Congress and the President must exercise collectively, 
as well as the defensive measures the Commander in Chief may exercise 
without congressional approval. It also provides a more robust 
reporting requirement that would enable Congress to be more informed 
and to have greater oversight. And it protects and preserves the checks 
and balances the Framers intended in the decision to bring our Nation 
into war.
  Madam Speaker, I look forward to congressional hearings on this 
critical issue. The time for Congress to meet its constitutional duty 
is long overdue.
  And with that, Madam Speaker, I would like to ask God to continue to 
bless our men and women in Afghanistan and Iraq, and to ask God to 
continue to bless the families of our men and women in uniform.

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