[Vision2020] CORRECTED/RESENT] House Resolution 1509,

Tue Jan 6 07:19:29 PST 2009

What is it that you imagine this resolution represents other than the 
personal perspective of  little Tammy Baldwin, pride of Madison Wisconsin, 
whose career highlight include:

a.. Member of the radical Progressive Caucus
a.. Voted multiple times against bills banning the late-term abortion 
procedure commonly known as partial-birth abortion
a.. Consistently votes against tax cuts
a.. Voted against a bill for the deployment of a national missile defense 
system
a.. Voted against the Patriot Act and its reauthorization
Seeing as this piece of silly sophistry has gone exactly nowhere, I fail to 
see how offering it up as some sort of proof of much of anything at all 
furthers your point, assuming there was one.

g

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com>
To: "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com>; <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2009 6:29 AM
Subject: [Vision2020] CORRECTED/RESENT] House Resolution 1509,

> To those of you (specifically you, g-ster) who believe that the US House
> of Representatives gave the Bush Administration carte-blanche in pursuing
> their illegal/unconstitutional activities, your attention is invited to
> House Resolution 1509 dated September 26, 2008.
>
> --------------------------------------------
>
> 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.
>
> --------------------------------------------
>
> Pro patria,
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------
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