Quasi-War with France E. NINETY-SEVEN MILITARY ACTIONS LASTING MORE THAN THIRTY DAYS 1798-1800: 1906-1909: Cuba TIREE F. ONE HUNDRED/MILITARY ACTIONS BY THE UNITED STATES OUTSIDE THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE 1813-1814: Marquesas Islands (South Pacific) 1899-1901: Sumatra 1900-1901: Samoan Islands "Boxer" Rebellion (Peking) Indicates operation occurred under Act of 1819 or Treaty of August 9, 1842, with Great Britain, both relative to the suppression of slavery, 2Indicates military activity may have occurred pursuant to broad inbergentation of authority conferred by certain Acts of Congress against pirez. March 3, 1819 (3 Stat. 510), Act of Jamary ik, 1829 (3 stab. 75 ast 5, 1861 (1 Stat. 324). 3Though reliance was also placed on the U. N. Charter, the Truman Administration based its authority to commit troops squarely on the President's In fact President Eisenhower sent troops into Lebanon without seeking specific Congressional approval and without specifically basing his authority on the 1957 Middle East Resolution. Id. 5According to Secretary of State Rogers, "the Cuban Resolution, unlike the other area resolutions contained no grant of authority to the President." Id. STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK HORTON OF NEW YORK Mr. Chairman, I am grateful for the opportunity to address this subcommittee on the crucial question of war powers legislation. As you know, Mr. Chairman, I sponsored legislation in the last Congress which was very similar to the Javits-Eagleton-Stennis war powers bill passed by the Senate. The major difference between my bill and the Senate bill is that I propose the creation of a new joint committee.1 As a result, my legislation is again pending before our Rules Committee even though its basic thrust is appropriately under this subcommittee's purview. I should begin by commending this subcommittee for promptly returning to the question of war powers after the failure last year to gain House and Senate agreement on a single bill. I must also voice my hope that this subcommittee will report out a bill that is significantly stronger than those previously sent to the House floor. The subcommittee has numerous measures before it that would accomplish that goal. In the war powers area, as in others, there is a compelling need for Congress to redress an imbalance of power. I say imbalance because the President not only wields virtually unilateral power to defend our Nation, but also to involve us in future Vietnams. For that reason, many of my colleagues and I are seeking ways to govern the commitment of Armed Forces "in the absence of a declaration of war by the Congress." While the framers of the Constitution did not envision an era of undeclared warfare, they had much to say about war powers. Article I, section 8 of the Constitution enumerates the comprehensive war powers of Congress as follows: Provide for the common defense. To define and punish * * * offenses against the law of nations. To raise and support armies. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws *** and repel invasions. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the milita, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States. In contrast to this specific enumeration, the war powers actually granted the President are far less clear. Article II, section 1 states: The executive power shall be vested in a president of the United States of America. Article II, section 2 goes on to state without further elaboration: The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the United States. 1 Membership of the proposed joint committee appears at end of statement on p. 379. |