Congressman Ron Paul: Holding the President Accountable on Libya

Last week, more than 70 days after President Obama sent our military to attack Libya without a congressional declaration of war, the House of Representatives finally voted on two resolutions attempting to rein in the president. This debate was long overdue, as polls show Americans increasingly frustrated by congressional inaction. According to a CNN poll last week, 55 percent of the American people believe that Congress, not the president, should have the final authority to decide whether the US should continue its military mission in Libya, yet more than 70 days Congress has ignored its constitutional obligations and allowed the president to usurp its authority. Finally, Congressman Dennis Kucinich was able to bring to the floor a resolution asserting that proper constitutional war power authority resides with Congress. His resolution simply stated that "Congress directs the President to remove the United States Armed Forces from Libya by no later than the date that is 15 days after the date of the adoption of this concurrent resolution." Opponents of the withdrawal resolution said the 15 day deadline was too abrupt, but as I pointed out during the debate, the president attacked Libya abruptly, without bothering to consult Congress, so why can't he order an end to military action just as abruptly? When members of Congress took an oath of office to defend the Constitution, we did not pledge to defend it gradually, a little bit at a time. On the contrary, we are sworn to defend it vigorously and completely from the moment we take that oath. I was pleased that 87 Republicans were able to put the Constitution first, and support this resolution. House Speaker John Boehner offered his own resolution on the same day, which declared that Congress would NOT support the insertion of US ground troops into Libya. Though this was far from adequate to satisfy our constitutional obligations, it was certainly a step in the right direction. Just days before Speaker Boehner's resolution, an amendment to the defense authorization act prohibited the president from using any funds in the bill to insert US troops into Libya! A separate amendment last week prohibiting any funds appropriated to the Department of Homeland Security from being used to attack Libya came just a handful of votes from passing. We are broke, and the American People know it! They expect Congress to focus on fixing America's economic problems, rather than rubber stamping yet another open-ended military intervention in Libya!