By Robert Naiman
Huffington Post
On Wednesday, the House voted on two amendments to the defense authorization bill that would have restricted the ability of the Bush Administration to launch an attack on Iran.Shame, Shame, Shame on these politicians -- my Democratic representative included.
An amendment introduced by Reps. DeFazio, Paul, Hinchey, and Lee would have explicitly blocked military action against Iran without Congressional authorization. I say "explicitly" because under the Constitution, of course, Congress has the sole power to declare war.
But as the amendment authors have noted, Bush Administration officials have tried to claim that the Bush Administration has the authority to attack Iran without Congressional authorization.
The amendment failed 136-288, with 100 Democrats voting no. The roll call is here.
A narrower amendment offered by Rep. Andrews would have prevented funds authorized in the bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan from being obligated or expended to plan a contingency operation in Iran. This amendment also failed, but the vote was much closer: 202-216, with 29 Democrats voting no. The roll call is here....
Write letters, call, make your feelings known.
No comments:
Post a Comment