[Vision2020] House Resolution 1509, Congress and the Bush Administration

[Tom Hansen]

To those of you who believe that the US House of representatives gave the 
Bush Administration carte-blanche in pursuing their 
illegal/unconstitutional activities (specifically you, g-ster), your 
attention is invited to House resolution 1508 dated September 26, 2008.

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110th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. RES. 1509

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the next 
president of the United States should immediately work to reverse damaging 
and illegal actions taken by the Bush/Cheney Administration and 
collaborate with Congress to proactively prevent any further abuses of 
executive branch power. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

September 26, 2008

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the next 
president of the United States should immediately work to reverse damaging 
and illegal actions taken by the Bush/Cheney Administration and 
collaborate with Congress to proactively prevent any further abuses of 
executive branch power. 

Whereas over the past several years, serious questions have been raised 
about the conduct of high ranking Bush/Cheney Administration officials in 
relation to some of the most basic elements of our democracy: respect for 
the rule of law, the principle of checks and balances, and the fundamental 
freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights; 

Whereas the Bush/Cheney Administration misled the American public and the 
U.S. Congress regarding the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction 
and alleged, despite all evidence to the contrary, a relationship between 
Iraq and al Qaeda, and this deceit dragged our country into a preemptive 
and unjustified war that has taken the lives of more than 4,000 United 
States troops, injured 30,000 more, and will cost our nation more than a 
trillion dollars; 

Whereas the Bush/Cheney Administration undermined national security by 
manipulating and exaggerating evidence of Iran's nuclear weapons 
capabilities despite no real evidence that Iran had the intention or 
capability of attacking the United Sates, and then deliberately downplayed 
the December 2007 National Intelligence Estimate that reported with `high 
confidence' that Iran stopped developing nuclear weapons in 2003 because 
of international pressure; 

Whereas the Bush/Cheney Administration has undertaken a broad assault on 
civil liberties through the suspension of habeas corpus and claiming the 
power to declare any person an `enemy combatant,' blatantly ignoring the 
Geneva Convention protections that the United States helped create, 
ratify, and which carry the weight of law; 

Whereas the Bush/Cheney Administration endorsed the torture and rendition 
of prisoners in violation of stated American policy and values, as well as 
international law, and then destroyed videotapes which may have 
substantiated such torture; 

Whereas the Bush/Cheney Administration violated the Fourth Amendment and 
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 by spying on Americans 
without a court order or oversight; 

Whereas the Bush/Cheney Administration abused the state secrets privilege 
in recent legal challenges regarding warrantless wiretapping, torture, and 
rendition, and this administration's use of the state secrets privilege 
has been to the detriment of the rights of private litigants harmed by 
egregious misconduct, as well as Americans' trust in the judicial system; 

Whereas Bush/Cheney Administration officials have consistently impeded 
congressional investigations into allegations of wrongdoing by refusing to 
comply with congressional subpoenas; 

Whereas Bush/Cheney Administration claims that senior presidential 
advisers are immune from congressional subpoenas have impeded 
congressional oversight, undermined the rule of law, damaged our 
democracy, and have been rejected by a United States district court; 

Whereas United States Attorneys pursued politically motivated prosecutions 
in violation of the law, and allegedly at the direction of the Bush/Cheney 
Administration; 

Whereas Bush/Cheney Administration officials in the Department of Justice 
systematically violated the law and committed misconduct in basing hiring 
decisions for career prosecutor positions, detailees to senior Department 
offices, and immigration judgeships on the applicants' political 
affiliations and views; 

Whereas it appears Bush/Cheney Administration officials intentionally 
revealed the identity of Valerie Plame Wilson as a covert agent of the CIA 
for political retribution, and then intentionally obstructed justice by 
disseminating false information through the White House press office; 

Whereas President Bush has shown contempt for the legislative branch and 
disregard for the law through the excessive expansion of presidential 
power in misusing signing statements that declare his intent to ignore 
provisions of legislation he has signed into law; 

Whereas Bush/Cheney Administration officials have systematically shielded 
from access and destroyed public documents relevant to the conduct of the 
administration by utilizing nongovernmental email accounts for official 
communications; 

Whereas Vice President Cheney has consistently placed self-interest over 
serving the American people, exemplified by his claim that the Office of 
the Vice President is not an entity within the executive branch for the 
alleged purpose of shielding the activities of his office from public 
scrutiny; 

Whereas President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and other Bush/Cheney 
Administration officials have been presented with ample opportunities to 
collaborate with Congress and reverse the above listed damaging and 
abusive actions; 

Whereas despite these opportunities, they instead choose to show contempt 
for the Constitution and the legislative branch, compelling Americans and 
Congress to look to the next administration for executive branch 
accountability; 

Whereas on November 4, 2008, Americans will elect the next president of 
the United States; 

Whereas on January 20, 2009, the next president of the United States will 
stand before the American people and take an oath of office, swearing to 
`. . . preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United 
States'; 

Whereas this commitment and obligation is so fundamental to our democracy 
that our Nation's founders proscribed this oath in our Constitution; 

Whereas no President or Congress has the authority to override that 
document, whereby `We the People' conferred upon the branches of 
government limited and defined power, and provided for meaningful checks 
and balances; and 

Whereas the actions taken by the next president of the United States will 
impact the conduct of future presidents, perhaps for generations: Now, 
therefore, be it 

Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the 
next President of the United States should take the necessary steps to do 
the following:

(1) AFFIRM OUR NATION'S COMMITMENT TO UPHOLDING THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 
UNITED STATES- The next president must immediately and publicly reaffirm 
our Nation's commitment to the rule of law, the principle of checks and 
balances, respect for the legislative process, and the fundamental 
freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights.

(2) FULLY INVESTIGATE BUSH/CHENEY ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS' ALLEGED CRIMES 
AND HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE FOR ANY ILLEGAL ACTS- The next President must 
cooperate fully with congressional oversight efforts to establish an 
independent investigation, as well as to address potential statute of 
limitation concerns, in order to hold all Bush/Cheney Administration 
officials accountable for any crimes they may have committed.

(3) HOLD ACCOUNTABLE BUSH/CHENEY ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS WHO SHOWED OR 
SHOW CONTEMPT FOR THE LEGAL DUTY TO COMPLY WITH CONGRESSIONAL SUBPOENAS- 
The next President must fully support Congress' constitutionally rooted 
right of access to the information it needs to perform its legislative and 
oversight functions enunciated in Article I of the Constitution.

(4) HOLD ACCOUNTABLE BUSH/CHENEY ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS WHO DISCLOSED 
THE IDENTITY OF ANY COVERT INTELLIGENCE AGENT- The next President must 
cooperate fully with congressional efforts to ensure that the disclosure 
of the identity of any United States intelligence agent could give rise to 
criminal liability.

(5) HOLD ACCOUNTABLE BUSH/CHENEY ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS WHO PURSUE 
POLITICALLY MOTIVATED PROSECUTIONS- The next President must cooperate 
fully with congressional efforts to restore faith in the American justice 
system by investigating and censuring any officials who engage in 
misconduct in Federal office.

(6) ENSURE THAT ANY BUSH/CHENEY ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL GUILTY OF A WAR 
CRIME IS PROSECUTED UNDER THE WAR CRIMES ACT AND THE ANTI-TORTURE ACT- The 
next President must cooperate fully with congressional efforts to repeal 
the redefinition of grave abuses of Common Article 3 included in the 
Military Commissions Act of 2006, which limits the scope of the original 
War Crimes Act and makes this repeal retroactively operable to the 
beginning of the invasion of Iraq. The next President must also cooperate 
fully with congressional investigations into the lack of prosecutions 
under the War Crimes Act and the Federal Anti-Torture Act despite 
countless allegations of serious violations.

(7) AFFIRM THAT IT IS THE SOLE LEGAL RIGHT OF CONGRESS TO DECLARE WAR- The 
next President must cooperate fully with congressional efforts to tighten 
the standards for when a declaration of war is required for military 
action.

(8) CRIMINALIZE LYING TO CONGRESS AND THE AMERICAN PUBLIC ABOUT THE 
REASONS FOR GOING TO WAR- The next President must cooperate fully with 
congressional efforts to strengthen Federal perjury laws to prohibit the 
issuance of false statements, concealment, or false documentation in any 
matter related to a presidential request for a declaration of war.

(9) RESTORE THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS AS AN ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLE OF OUR 
DEMOCRACY- The next President must reaffirm our Nation's treaty 
obligations under the Geneva Conventions and ensure all individuals held 
by the United States have access to the courts to petition for a writ of 
habeas corpus.

(10) ENSURE TORTURE IS UNIFORMLY PROHIBITED UNDER UNITED STATES LAW- The 
next president must cooperate fully with congressional efforts to codify 
anti-torture language and approve uniform standards for interrogation 
techniques applicable to individuals under control or custody of the 
United States Government.

(11) ENSURE RENDITION IS UNIFORMLY PROHIBITED UNDER UNITED STATES LAW- The 
next president must cooperate fully with congressional efforts to outlaw 
torture `outsourcing' by prohibiting the direct or indirect transfer or 
return of persons by the United States for the purpose of detention, 
interrogation, trial, or otherwise to a country listed by the Secretary of 
State as supporting torture, cruel, or degrading treatment used in 
detention or interrogation of individuals.

(12) IMMEDIATELY CLOSE THE GUANTANAMO BAY DETENTION CAMP- The next 
President must do everything in his power to ensure that all suspected 
terrorists held at Guantanamo are immediately tried in fair judicial 
proceedings and are not subjected to trial by secret evidence. He must 
also engage the international community to ensure the release of innocent 
detainees.

(13) ENSURE THAT AMERICANS CAN BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THEIR GOVERNMENT- The 
next President must guarantee that the state secrets privilege shall not 
constitute grounds for dismissal of a case or claim and instead require 
independent judicial review of claims of state secrets privilege by 
executive branch officials.

(14) IMMEDIATELY TAKE AFFIRMATIVE STEPS TO PROTECT ALL BUSH/CHENEY 
ADMINISTRATION DOCUMENTS- The next president must also publicly reaffirm 
that the Office of the Vice President is part of the executive branch.

(15) PUBLICLY REVIEW POTENTIAL ABUSES OF THE PRESIDENTIAL PARDON PROCESS- 
The next president must collaborate fully with Congress to investigate the 
granting of presidential pardons and articulate comprehensive standards to 
guide future presidential pardons.

(16) REFORM THE USE OF PRESIDENTIAL SIGNING STATEMENTS- The next president 
must commit to providing all signing statements for publication, affirm 
Congress' right to participate in court proceedings regarding the 
constitutionality of any presidential signing statements, and ensure that 
Congress can obtain testimony from administration officials who may 
attempt to claim executive privilege to explain or justify any signing 
statements.

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Pro patria,

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho



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