[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 125-126]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    CENSURING PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Mississippi (Mr. Palazzo) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALAZZO. Mr. Speaker, time and time again, the President has 
violated the boundaries of executive power. He has refused to enforce 
our immigration laws. He has opened the borders to Syrian migrants 
against the will of the American people. He has even changed the 
provisions of his own disastrous healthcare bill.
  This week, the administration once again thumbed its nose at Congress 
and the American people by jeopardizing the gun rights of law-abiding 
citizens.
  Mr. Speaker, the American people are fed up. The American people 
continue to see the executive branch not

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only deciding which laws they choose to enforce, but changing and 
interpreting the laws as they see fit. The White House has become 
judge, jury, and executioner, in clear violation of the principles on 
which this Nation was founded.
  Today I am introducing a resolution to censure President Barack Obama 
to serve as a clear rebuke and condemnation of the unconstitutional 
actions of this President. This is a bold measure, but is one that is 
necessary to preserve the very institution that we are all honored to 
serve: the United States Congress.
  The Constitution requires that the President shall take care that the 
laws be faithfully executed. This President has failed to do so on 
numerous occasions.
  The Constitution also requires the President to preserve, protect, 
and defend the Constitution of the United States. The President has 
failed to do so.
  Not only is the President trying to do our job, but he has failed to 
do his.
  His announced actions on gun control are just the latest example of 
blatant executive overreach by the President. Congress must fight back. 
I want to make it very clear. This is not about President Obama. This 
is about the actions of a President who has encroached too far on the 
powers of Congress.
  Under the Constitution, Congress is an equal branch of government and 
should be treated as such. We cannot roll over on every executive 
overreach. We cannot wait to fight next time.
  We cannot wait for the next President because it is not about this 
President or the next President. It is not about politics. It is about 
preserving the power of the legislative branch against this President 
and any future President who seeks to use egregious executive action at 
the expense of Congress.
  A resolution of censure of the President has been used rarely, but is 
not without precedent. It is a way for Congress to fight back against 
executive overreach. Censuring the President will preserve for the 
historical and legal record that this Congress at this time disapproves 
of this President's executive overreach. It is time Congress fights 
back as an institution.
  I urge my colleagues to live up to their oath of office, both 
Republican and Democrat, to support this resolution to censure the 
President and put the executive branch on notice that violating the 
separation of powers and using unconstitutional executive overreach 
will not be tolerated by Members of the United States Congress now or 
in the future.

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