PRESS RELEASE
Committee for the Republic Launches ‘Ending Presidential Wars’ Initiative
Jan. 9, 2017 (EIRNS)—In June of 2013, Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina introduced H. Con. Resolution 40, stating that whereas the Constitution "entrusted decisions to initiate offensive warfare not in self-defense exclusively to the U.S. Congress," the President—that is, Obama—
"is prohibited under the Constitution from the offensive use of the United States Armed Forces in Syria without prior express authorization by an Act of Congress,"
and any defiance of that constitutional limitation on his authority
"would constitute an impeachable high crime and misdemeanor under Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution."
The Congress failed to implement that proper and needed action, but the "Committee for the Republic," a politically-diverse and well-connected group founded by former diplomat Chas Freeman, last week launched a similar initiative, this time aimed to keep President-to-be Trump from being forced into continuing Obama’s unconstitutional war policies.
At their Jan. 5 meeting in Washington, D.C., the Committee kicked off a "No Presidential Wars" campaign, focused on getting current Congressmen and -women to sign a pledge that they, if a Representative, will support an article of impeachment against any President who commences war against either a state or non-state actor without a declaration of war duly enacted by Congress as required under Article I, section 8, clause 11 of the Constitution, or, if a Senator, will vote to convict said President under such impeachment.
Speakers referred to the nine known wars in which the U.S.—under Obama—is currently engaged without Congressional authorization, including the wars against ISIS and Al Qaeda, as well as in Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Successive presidents have launched wars and belligerent activities which "have murdered millions of foreigners and generated increasingly savage blowback against us and our allies and friends," and "have burdened our posterity with previously unimaginable levels of debt," Chas Freeman said in his remarks to the meeting.
"We must ensure that future wars are not launched by secret councils in the Sit[uation] Room, that the purposes, costs, and potential benefits of using American military power are forthrightly debated in Congress."
Constitutional lawyer Bruce Fein motivated the pledge, citing Nixon’s removal from office as the Constitution’s finest hour, a standard for today. Washington, D.C., Tea Party head Thomas Whitmore spoke of mobilizing the energy of recent "citizen uprisings"—including in the
"raw nerve" struck by both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump—towards their Congressmen to sign the pledge to end the "continuous Presidential wars."
Rep. Thomas Massie, a co-sponsor of Jones’s H. Con. Res. 40, spoke at the meeting; Rep. Jones reportedly planned to attend, but could not do so, due to last-minute Congressional business.
