Conyers: To Stay Globally Competitive, We Need to Keep the Best Talent Working With Us

Contact: Nicole Triplett, 202-226-5543                                                                                         

Thursday, March 31, 2011  

                                                                

Conyers:  To Stay Globally Competitive, We Need to Keep the Best Talent Working With Us

More Green Cards Instead of Expanding the H1-B Visa Program Is the Better Solution for American Economy and Workers

(Washington)—Today, at the Immigration Subcommittee Hearing on “H-1B Visas: Designing a Program to Meet the Needs of the U.S. Economy and U.S. Workers,” House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) and Judiciary Democratic colleagues raised several questions on the best way to retain highly skilled foreign students who have been educated in the U.S. so they can compete for us instead of against us.

Mr. Conyers’ remarks from the hearing are below.

“Our American companies should have the opportunity to benefit from the expertise of the thousands of highly skilled foreign professionals who graduate from American universities every year. We are educating the smartest and brightest in the world, and despite many of their interests to stay in our country after graduation to work in their fields, we turn them away.  Seventy percent of engineering Ph.D. students in America are currently foreign-born, yet our outdated immigration laws force most of them to go back and compete against us from overseas.

“This is America.  It makes no sense to spend our resources educating and cultivating highly-skilled talent and turning around and ignoring ways to use the much-needed talent and specialized labor toward the growth of new jobs and industries here in our country.

“The solution to retaining American-educated foreign skilled labor does not lie in issuing more H-1b visas.  Among the many problems with H-1b visas, they are often used by outsourcing companies to outsource and off-shore jobs to other countries.  To stay globally competitive, we need to refocus our efforts and find ways to create more green cards.

“I propose three things to ensure American companies have access to the best and brightest professionals.  One, we must create more green cards for highly skilled professionals who graduate from American universities. 

“Second we need to raise wages in the H-1B program and improve portability of H-1B visas so that H-1B workers are not at the mercy of their employers.  H-1B workers frequently work at lower pay, and are their visa status is so tied to their employer that they are easily exploited.  These abuses drive down pay and conditions for all workers – foreign and American.  

“Finally, we need to be investing in science and math education in our high schools and universities.  If an employer needs the best and the brightest candidates to help develop the technologies of tomorrow, this Congress should not stand in their way.  But we should do everything in our power to ensure that companies need not look further than our borders for that talent.”

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Group Seeks Labor E-Mails by Michigan Professors

March 30, 2011

Narayan Mahon for The New York Times

William Cronon, a history professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

The group, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, declined to explain why it was making the Freedom of Information Act request for material from professors at the University of Michigan, Michigan State and Wayne State University. But several professors who received the records request, which was first reported by Talking Points Memo on Tuesday, said it appeared to be an attempt to intimidate or embarrass professors who are sympathetic to organized labor.

This records request, which was filed Friday, comes several days after the Republican Party of Wisconsin made a records request to a prominent University of Wisconsinhistory professor, William Cronon, who had severely criticized the state’s Republican governor, Scott Walker, over his push for legislation to weaken public-sector unions.

The Mackinac Center, which describes itself as a nonpartisan research and educational institution and receives money from numerous conservative foundations, asked the three universities’ labor studies faculty members for any e-mails mentioning “Scott Walker,” “Madison,” “Wisconsin” or “Rachel Maddow,” the liberal talk show host on MSNBC.

Greg Scholtz, the director of academic freedom for the American Association of University Professors, said: “We think all this will have a chilling effect on academic freedom. We’ve never seen FOIA requests used like this before.”

Roland Zullo, a labor studies professor at the University of Michigan, said he found the center’s request “puzzling.” “It seems an odd request for an institution that claims to be nonpartisan,” he said.

Michael D. Jahr, the Mackinac Center’s vice president for communications, declined to discuss the records request. Ken Braun, managing editor of the center’s political newsletter, declined to give the reason for it. He said the newsletter, Michigan Capital Confidential, had made the request and often makes such public records requests.

“As a general policy, we don’t discuss our FOIAs until we write about them,” Mr. Braun said. He said the records request could have been much broader but was limited to a handful of topics at just the labor studies departments, instead of also including history and political science departments.

Mr. Braun said the center’s request was in no way coordinated with the Wisconsin Republican Party’s FOIA request to Professor Cronon.

After one recent records request, the center reported that taxpayers were paying the salary of an elementary school teacher even though she was released from her teaching duties to work 100 percent on union issues.

Marick Masters, the director of labor studies at Wayne State, said he had nothing to hide. “This looks like an attempt to embarrass us,” he said. “I haven’t engaged in any partisan activities here. I think they’re probably interested in seeing the extent to which labor studies centers in the state have helped orchestrate the protests in Madison.”

Professor Cronon, who describes himself as a political independent, said he was angry about what he called an attempt at harassment. He said that he had never engaged in any nonscholarly political work on university computers or time, which is prohibited, but that he was still concerned about the release of any e-mails. The Republican Party requested e-mails mentioning several politically related words, including Mr. Walker and several legislators.

“There is an academic freedom issue here,” Mr. Cronon said.

Mark Jefferson, the executive director of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, declined to explain why the records request was made. He criticized Professor Cronon for questioning the party’s motives. “I find this troubling,” he said. “Like anyone else filing a public records request, I don’t have to give a reason.”

Childish Wisconsin GOP Taunts "Leftist" Judge

DESPERATE PLEAS FOR ATTENTION

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Childish Wisconsin GOP Taunts "Leftist" Judge

Abe Sauer | March 30, 2011

After the state chapter of the Republican Party made a massive open records request to (admittedly)intimidate University of Wisconsin professor Bill Cronon, things just got nuts.

Today the Republican Party of Dane County released an "apology" to Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi regarding her restraining order on the enactment of the budget bill pending a court hearing. The apology followed a March 29th statement from the Republican Party criticizing Sumi's decision.

It's a jaw-dropping demonstration of stereotype and petulance and it's below, as it might not be on the Party's website for long.

RPDC Apologizes To Judge Sumi

The Republican Party of Dane County sent out a press release on March 29th criticizing Judge Maryann Sumi for holding up the publication of Governor Scott Walker’s collective bargaining reform bill. Upon further reflection we’d like to apologize for not understanding her point of view.

Sure, Governor Walker’s bill is unquestionably constitutional, increases worker’s rights and helps local government balance budgets without having to fire public workers. The Wisconsin state legislature consulted with their non-partisan parliamentarian to make sure that the passage of the bill followed the rules of the Senate and Assembly. But this isn’t about the law, is it?

The Republican Party of Dane County recognizes that Judge Sumi is a leftist living in Dane County. Her friends are leftists living in Dane County. Her son is a left wing activist in Dane County. She goes to cocktail parties held by leftists in Dane County. She shops at organic gourmet food shops run by leftists living in Dane County. If she were to enforce the law of Wisconsin and do what was in the best interest of the people of Wisconsin, she’d be exiled from her lifestyle. She’d lose her friends!

The leadership of the Republican Party of Dane County have all made the choice to stand against the Dane County elite. We accept that Left feels righteous vandalizing our homes and keying our cars. It's only fair. We disagree based upon logic and principle. That is intolerable! We prioritize the Constitution and the well being of the people of Wisconsin over foie gras at cocktail parties. That’s the choice we made. We respect Judge Sumi’s decision to live her life with the rich diversity that liberals cherish.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Dane County GOP will be here all week. Tip your waitresses and try the veal.

The Cap Times reaches the Dane County GOP's Jeff Waksman who shockingly does not explain the website was hacked by Anonymous or something and instead gladly takes credit, pointing out that "Madison is a very intimidating and stifling intellectual environment." It seems Waksman "moved to Madison six years ago from the New York city area" and...

"You walk down State Street, and every store has a sign that if you support the bill you hate teachers or children," he says. "So people can't even walk into the stores without being afraid and wondering, is this person going to even give me good service?"

Waksman works for, yes, UW-Madison.

But wait, it gets better. In 2009, Waksman wrote a letter to the editor on behalf of the Republican Party which was at that time "offended and outraged by a slanderous attack" from comments by Dane Co. Supervisor Brett Hulsey about the "tea bag, anti-RTA, anti-Obama crowd." Waksman went on to say that such "rhetoric has no place in our political discourse" and that "Hulsey should immediately apologize."

It should also be noted that Judge Sumi was appointed in 1998 by Republican Tommy Thompson, a former governor who, Walker said in his February budget address, "brought into office bold new ideas and strong leadership."

Congratulations Wisconsin, if the battle over Gov. Scott Walker's budget bill was not yet officially a satirical farce, it is now.

The Truth-O-Meter Says:

"One. That's the number of new drilling permits under the Obama administration since they came into office."

Michele Bachmann on Saturday, March 26th, 2011 in a speech at the Conservative Principles PAC Conference

Michele Bachmann claims there has been just one new oil drilling permit issued since Obama took office

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By most accounts, Rep. Michele Bachmann's slide show of numbers critical of the Obama administration got the most audience feedback among potential 2012 GOP presidential candidates addressing the Conservative Principles PAC Conference in Iowa on March 26, 2011.

Bachmann was particularly critical of Obama's energy policy, including his decision to put a temporary moratorium on new drilling in the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil spill. During the moratorium, the administration enacted new safety and environmental requirements, including regulations for spill response and containment capability.

"Let's look at the number one. Number one," Bachmann said. "That's the number of new drilling permits under the Obama administration since they came into office.

"Gee, maybe that has something to do with this next figure. Let's take a look, $1.83. That is the price that gasoline was the day before Barack Obama took office as president of the United States.

"Is it time for a change?"

Audience: "Yes!"

"It is time for a change," Bachmann said. "Absolutely, it's time for a change."

 "You cannot create jobs when you have a president that is unwilling to use American energy resources to solve our problems here in the United States," she said moments later.

Just one oil drilling permit approved during the entire Obama presidency? We recalled that in a March 11, 2011, press conference, Obama said, "we’ve approved more than 35 new offshore drilling permits that meet these new safety and environmental standards." And he was talking only about permits issued after the Gulf of Mexico moratorium.

So somebody's got to be wrong.

We went first to the Department of the Interior press office, which sent us a link to a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, or BOEMRE, report on the "Status of Well Permits and Plans Subject to Enhanced Safety and Environmental Requirements."

According to the report, 39 shallow-water permits for new wells have been issued since June 8, 2010, when new rules and information requirements were put into effect. Shallow water drilling operations were not affected by the deepwater drilling moratorium following the gulf oil spill. And there were lots more shallow-water well permits issued by the Obama administration prior to June 8, 2010. Remember, Bachmann's statement referred to permits issued "under the Obama administration since they came into office."

In addition, there have been six deepwater well permits issued since Oct. 12, 2010, when the gulf moratorium was lifted. Five of those were for projects that were under way prior to the moratorium. The operators were required to come back and meet the new, modified standards.

And last week, BOEMRE approved an "exploration plan" submitted by Shell Offshore Inc., for deepwater oil and gas exploration. It was the first new deepwater exploration plan approved since the gulf oil spill. According to a BOEMRE press release, "An exploration plan describes all exploration activities planned by the operator for a specific lease or leases, including the timing of these activities, information concerning drilling vessels, the location of each planned well and other relevant information that needs to meet important safety standards. Once a plan is approved, additional new applications for permits to drill can be issued." In other words, it's not a permit. Permits come down the road.

In all, BOEMRE has received 45 deepwater drilling permit applications that are subject to the new regulations. These include applications to drill new wells, bypasses, and sidetracks. Twenty-four of these permits have been returned to the operator with requests for additional information (most regarding subsea containment). BOEMRE has approved seven of these permits (for six unique wells), with 12 applications pending.
  
Again, these are deepwater permits issued after the moratorium. The Obama administration issued lots of deepwater permits prior to that.

In addition, BOEMRE has received 31 deepwater drilling permit applications for activities such as drilling water injection wells and drilling from a fixed rig with a surface blowout preventer that were allowed under the moratorium. BOEMRE has approved 28 of these permits.

According to Andy Radford, senior policy adviser at the American Petroleum Institute, permit approvals have dropped 65 percent, post gulf oil spill. Prior to the gulf disaster, the Obama administration reported approving 217 new well permits (shallow and deepwater).

"The devil's in the details on these things," Radford said, noting that permits include a lot of different drilling activities.

But the pace of permitting is picking up, he said. "We'll get to the new normal eventually."

Lee Hunt, executive director of the International Association of Drilling Contractors, said there has been a "molasses effect" with permitting by the Obama administration. Even the 39 permits for new shallow water wells is dramatically lower than previous levels. And even with six deepwater permits issued in the last month, as well as the ones projected to be approved this year, permits for deepwater wells are likely to be a third of what was projected prior to the gulf oil spill. The permitting process has undeniably slowed, Hunt said, but as the numbers above show, Bachmann's statement -- at least the way she worded it -- is wrong.

"We are encouraging offshore exploration and production," Obama said in his March 11 press conference. "We're just doing it responsibly."

Bachmann's press office did not return our call, so we are relegated to playing the "perhaps she meant" game to test whether there is a sense in which she might be accurate.

Perhaps she meant permits since the moratorium, not since Obama administration came into office, as she said. (There were hundreds issued pre-gulf oil spill).

Perhaps she meant just deepwater drilling, not shallow water drilling. There have been 39 shallow-water permits for new wells since June 2010. And many more before that.

Perhaps she meant to exclude permits issued for projects that were under way prior to the oil spill (and which had to come back and meet the new, modified standards). Five of the six new well permits were underway prior to the moratorium.

Perhaps she meant not permits, but exploration plans. The first exploration plan since the oil spill was approved last week.

Perhaps.

But that's not what she said.

She said: "One. That's the number of new drilling permits under the Obama administration since they came into office." It's not even close, and the claim is ridiculously false. Pants-On-Fire.

Conservative Principles PAC Conference Family Values Panel On Youth

Conservative Principles PAC Conference Family Values Panel
March 26, 2011


Could someone translate what this man is saying into English?!?

Better yet, ask this PAC why they support Child Protective Services, a social health care program when they are against social health care programs.

Conyers: Republican REINS Act Witnesses Came Only to Promote Pro-Industry Interests Without Any Knowledge of Pending Legislation

Contact: Nicole Triplett, 202-226-5543                                                                                         

Wednesday, March 30, 2011  

                                                                

Conyers:  Republican REINS Act Witnesses Came Only to Promote Pro-Industry Interests Without Any Knowledge of Pending Legislation

(Washington)—House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement on his take of yesterday’s hearing on “Raising the Agencies’ Grades – Protecting the Economy, Assuring Regulatory Quality and Improving Assessments of Regulatory Need.”

“The Republicans’ witnesses could not disguise the fact that their call for hamstringing federal agencies stemmed from a blatant conflict of interest,” said Conyers.  “These witnesses were both from the Mercatus Center, an anti-regulatory think tank founded and funded by Charles and David Koch, who own the second largest privately held company in the Nation and have a long history of conflicts with the Environmental Protection Agency over their company’s violations of environmental regulations.  Other donors to Mercatus include companies with long records of pushing for deregulation, such as BP Amoco, Exxon Mobil Corporation, General Motors, JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Pfizer, and State Farm Insurance Company.”

“These witnesses had the temerity to ask Congress to change the regulatory system based solely on their own subjective views of the quality of federal agency rulemaking, views no doubt shaped by their corporate benefactors.  But they only further undermined their own credibility when they revealed their ignorance about H.R. 10, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act and other regulatory bills pending before Congress.”

“House Republicans should stop wasting time trying to base public policy on corporate propaganda and instead focus on creating jobs, stymieing home foreclosures, and ensuring through effective regulation the safety of the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, the products we buy, and the places we work.”

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Humane Society Recognizes Conyers for Outstanding Leadership

Contact: Nicole Triplett, 202-226-5543                                                                                         

Wednesday, March 30, 2011  

Humane Society Recognizes Conyers for Outstanding Leadership

Conyers Awarded 2010 Legislative Leader Award

(Washington) – Today, the Humane Society of the United States will award House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) with its annual Legislative Leader award for his work in 2010.  The Humane Society singled out Conyers for his leadership on the passage of a ban on the sale of animal torture (“crush”) videos, as well as for his efforts to ban the export and slaughter of American horses for human consumption and to establish a federal database for tracking animal cruelty crimes.

“Fighting animal cruelty continues to be an important priority of mine,” said Conyers.  “In the 111^th Congress, we managed to create a broad, bipartisan coalition to address the worst practices of animal cruelty, and I look forward to the same spirit of cooperation in this Congress.”

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Maine Squeeze Maine Governor Paul LePage removes a pro-labor mural because of its anti-business message

Women vs Walmart: Supreme Court Hears Argument in Sexual Discrimination Suit

Conyers Initiates Investigation of Religious Profiling by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency in Michigan

Contact: Nicole Triplett, 202-226-5543

Friday, March 25, 2011

Conyers Initiates Investigation of Religious Profiling by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency in Michigan
(Detroit)—Today, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement regarding allegations charging the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) with improper and inappropriate interrogations singling out American-Islamic citizens.

“The allegations of religious profiling raised by Michigan’s Council on American-Islamic Relations in Detroit yesterday should be of concern to all Americans,” said Conyers. “CAIR has alleged that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have engaged in a pattern of invasive body searches and interrogations concerning the religious beliefs of American-Islamic citizens while returning home from Canada.”

In CAIR’s letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, CAIR described the interrogations as follows:

The passengers hand their passports to an agent. The passengers are immediately told to turn their vehicles off. Within seconds, their vehicles are surrounded by agents brandishing weapons in their direction, whether or not there are women and children in the car. In some instances, there are snipers. The men are thrown against their vehicles, handcuffed, and taken inside for questioning. An invasive and humiliating body search is performed, which many have described as sexual harassment. Some are left handcuffed for hours on end, in many cases standing upright. Others are left in a cell. At least a dozen Muslim women of Somali origin have also reported being subjected to invasive and humiliating searches at the border that they felt were inappropriate and a form of sexual harassment.

American Muslims crossing the border have reported in alarming numbers that they are being subjected to extensive inappropriate questioning pertaining to religion and religious practices. A number of questions appear to be most common:

1. Do you pray five times a day?

2. Which mosque do you pray at?

3. Do you pray your morning prayer at the mosque?

4. Who is the Imam (religious leader) at your mosque?

5. Who else prays at your mosque?

6. Which Muslim charities have you donated to?

7. Which Muslim countries have you traveled to?

8. During your travels to these countries, have you been approached by anyone suspicious?

9. What do you think of Anwar al-Awlacki?

10. Which Muslim organizations are you affiliated with?

11. Are you affiliated with any terrorist organizations?

12. Do you know any terrorists?

13. Are there terrorists in your mosques?

All in all, the process can take anywhere between two to ten hours. More disconcerting is that these same individuals report being subjected to the same mistreatment and inappropriate questioning each and every time they cross the border.

“With federal hearings on radicalization and intense scrutiny by law enforcement of religious institutions, the American-Islamic community today is living in a climate that has the risk of producing a siege mentality,” said Conyers. “I am therefore contacting the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to initiate an investigation of these allegations, and I will be consulting Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas).”

“The American-Islamic community should know that the federal government will protect the interests of the community, while maintaining the appropriate focus on national security. These allegations of racial and religious profiling at the border are not new and have been supported by previous studies of the Government Accountability Office. For example, in 2000, the GAO found that the U.S. Customs’ patterns used to select airline passengers for more intrusive searches resulted in women and minorities being selected at rates that were not consistent with the rates of finding contraband.”

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Conyers: One Year Later, Affordable Care Act’s Positive Impact Has Already Been Felt by America

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Conyers:  One Year Later, Affordable Care Act’s Positive Impact Has Already Been Felt by America
Conyers Celebrates the One Year Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act by Praising the Term, “Obamacare”

(Washington)—Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (MI-14)  issued the following statement today celebrating the first anniversary of the comprehensive health care reform law, the Affordable Care Act, that passed last Congress and was signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010.

“Not withstanding the unfounded views of the President's political opponents, there is no denying that the Affordable Care Act has already significantly helped the people of Michigan and the rest of the country,” said Conyers.  “Michigan residents will no longer have to worry about their children losing coverage because of a pre-existing condition or a mistake made on an application, and I have yet to meet one parent who would not want their children to stay on their insurance plan until the age of 26.”  

“Contrary to many people’s intentions to use the term, ‘Obamacare’ to derogate the health care reform law, I believe the name does the opposite in praising President Obama for leading the Nation to make the first step towards achieving the goal of affordable health care for all,” said Conyers.  “Who wouldn’t want to get credit for legislation that will reduce the deficit, create more jobs, and ensure access to quality health care?”

Specifically, the Affordable Care Act is already helping the people of Michigan by:

·         Providing New Benefits and Lowering Costs for Medicare Beneficiaries

·         Lowering Taxes for Small Businesses

·         Providing Greater Resources for Michigan

·         Providing New Coverage Options for Young Adults

·         Covering Children with Pre-Existing Conditions

·         Removing Lifetime Limits on Health Benefits

·         Making it Illegal for an Insurance Company to Drop Coverage When You Get Sick

·         Creating New Coverage Options for Individuals with Pre-Existing Conditions

·         Increasing Support for Community Health Centers

#3-23-2011#

Conyers: President Lacks Power under Constitution to Launch U.S. Into War in Libya

Contact: Nicole Triplett, 202-226-5543                                                                                         

Monday, March 21, 2011  

                                                                

Conyers: President Lacks Power under Constitution to Launch U.S. Into War in Libya

Seeks Emergency Session of Congress

Washington, D.C.— Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, today  issued a following statement today calling for an immediate emergency session to debate the authorization of military force in Libya.

            “Article I, Section 8, clause 11 of the Constitution grants Congress – not the President – the power ‘to declare war,’ stated Conyers.  While the legislative and executive branches have long grappled over the exact division of powers in times of war, the Constitution grants sole authority to the Congress to commit the nation to battle in the first instance.  That decision is one of the most serious that we are called upon to make and we should never abdicate this responsibility to the President.  I therefore join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in calling for an immediate session of Congress to review United States military engagement in Libya.”  Conyers also pointed to a line of legal precedent and history supporting this proposition.

            The courts have issued numerous opinions to the effect that under the Constitution. the President’s role is to conduct war that Congress has authorized.  As far back as Little v. Barreme, 6 U.S.  (2 Cranch) 170 (1804), a case interpreting congressional authorization for the U.S. Navy to intercept ships bound for French ports, the Supreme Court ruled that interception of ship from a French port was illegal as it went beyond the use of military force that Congress had authorized.

           The seminal case of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579 (1952) rejected the President’s claim that he had authority as Commander-in-Chief to unilaterally seize steel production plants.  Justice Douglas’ concurring opinion contained an important and timely recognition of the importance of separation of powers during times of war: “All executive powers – from the reign of ancient kings to the rule of modern dictators – has the outward appearance of efficiency.  Legislative power, by contrast, is slower to exercise ...  We therefore cannot decide this case by determining which branch of government can deal most expeditiously with the present crisis.  The answer must depend on the allocation of powers under the Constitution.”  Id. at 629-630 (Douglas, J., concurring). 

            There have also been a number of important lower court decisions expressing skepticism of unrestrained executive power concerning both the military action in Vietnam and the invasion of Cambodia.  In Mottola v. Nixon, District Court Judge Sweigert observed that a “strong case can be made for the proposition that compliance with the Constitution of the United States and its plain provision that the power to declare war lies, not in the President, but in the Congress. 318 F. Supp. 538, 553 (N.D. Cal. 1970). 

            Similarly, in enjoining the Secretary of Defense from engaging in military actions in Cambodia, Judge Judd of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals stated in Holtzman v. Schlesinger that “there is no existing Congressional authority to order military forces into combat into Cambodia or to release bombs over Cambodia, and that military activities in Cambodia by American armed forces are unauthorized and unlawful.”  484 F.2d 1307, 1308 (2d Cir. 1973).

In the same vein, the Founding Fathers were clear that the power to engage our troops in war should rest solely with the legislature:

·         James Madison, one of the key architects of the Constitution on separation of powers, said that "this requirement for Congress to be able to declare war is one of the most important provisions of the Constitution."

·         John Jay further explained that requiring legislative deliberation provided a critical check on the tendency of “absolute monarchs” to engage in wars “not sanctified by justice or the voice and interests of [their] people.”

·         George Washington, who presided over the Constitutional Convention, explained ‘‘The Constitution vests the power of declaring war in Congress; therefore no expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they shall have deliberated upon the subject, and authorized such a measure.’’

·         Constitutional Convention delegate James Wilson echoed this view:  ‘‘This system will not hurry us into war; it is calculated to guard against it. It will not be in the power of a single man, or a single body of men, to involve us in such distress; for the important power in declaring war is vested in the legislature at large.’’

Rep. Conyers is also an original cosponsor of H. Con. Res. 31, which states that it is the sense of Congress that the President is required to obtain in advance specific statutory authorization for the use of United States Armed Forces in response to civil unrest in Libya.

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