Legislation aims to protect Constitution
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March 13, 2014 |
Representative Raúl Labrador (R-ID) voted for
legislation Wednesday that will ensure that
President Obama does not ignore his
Constitutional duties and abuse his power.
The Congressman joined a majority of his House
colleagues in voting for H.R. 4138, the
Executive Needs to Faithfully Observe and
Respect Congressional Enactments of the Law
(ENFORCE the Law) Act. This bill would grant the
House or Senate the authority to file a lawsuit
against the executive branch for failure to
faithfully execute the laws.
“The President has a Constitutional duty to
enforce all of America’s laws, not pick and
choose which ones he wants to enforce,” Labrador
said. “Unfortunately, President Obama has waged
a deliberate campaign to expand executive power
at the expense of Congress – a campaign that
threatens the rule of law and jeopardizes our
most basic liberties. We, in Congress, have a
right – indeed, an obligation – to respond to
the President’s abuse of power and reverse it.
This is not a partisan issue. All Americans,
regardless of party, want to see our
Constitutional order protected. The bill we
approved will give us a new tool in restoring
the Constitutional balance of power, although it
would be better if the President started working
with us, not against us.”
Examples of the President’s failure include
delaying the Obamacare employer mandate; the
virtual enactment of most of the Dream Act; and
granting welfare work requirement waivers in
violation of the 1996 welfare reform law. The
Constitution does not delegate legislative
authority to the President to rewrite, amend, or
delay duly-enacted Constitutional laws. Only
Congress can do that.
At a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on
February 26, constitutional law professor
Jonathan Turley said President Obama’s executive
overreach has brought us to a “constitutional
tipping point” that needs to be addressed. |
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