Labrador calls for special session
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September 1, 2013 |
Rep. Raúl Labrador called on Speaker Boehner
August 31 to call the House into special session
next week in order to debate a Congressional
authorization of the use of force against Syria.
Earlier in the day, President Obama said for the
first time that he would seek Congressional
authorization for the use of force against Syria
and that the United States “should” take action
against that country.
Congress is currently scheduled to reconvene on
September 9.
“I commend President Obama for his decision to
seek Congressional authorization for the use of
force against Syria,” Labrador said. “The
Constitution is quite clear that the President
cannot commit our nation to war (absent an
attack upon the United States) without the
approval of Congress. The Speaker should call
the House into special session early next week
to debate authorizing the use of force against
Syria. If the Speaker waits until September 9,
the war debate will compress the already limited
time that Congress has to deal with other
issues, from the budget to the debt ceiling to
immigration. The debate over Syria is too
important to be delayed or compressed by other
issues. We owe it to the American people to
fulfill our responsibilities under the
Constitution, and to do so in a timely way that
respects the democratic process.”
This week, Labrador and 139 other House members
sent a letter to President Obama, stating that
we “strongly urge you to consult and receive
authorization from Congress before ordering the
use of U.S. military force in Syria" and
reminding the President that "engaging our
military in Syria when no direct threat to the
United States exists and without prior
congressional authorization would violate the
separation of powers that is clearly delineated
in the Constitution."
“The Speaker must protect Congress’ most basic
and most important responsibility – the power to
declare war,” Labrador said. “Since the
enactment of the War Powers Resolution in 1973,
Congress has continued to delegate its
constitutional prerogative to authorize the use
of force overseas to the executive branch. This
trend must be reversed. The House must return
next week and assert the primacy of the
legislative branch by immediately engaging in a
deliberate and thorough debate about the
President's case for the use of force in Syria.
After the vote, President Obama must respect the
will of the duly elected representatives of the
American people." |
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