From: Stan Grams
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Clinton and Executive Orders
Power Grab Through Executive Orders
Not only does President Clinton not feel any shame about his impeachment (as
he told Dan Rather), Clinton now feels stronger than ever, able to override
the U.S. Constitution and ignore Congress. He has been exercising
extraordinary new powers-never asserted by any prior President-both through
Executive Orders (EO) and abuse of his title of Commander in Chief. Rep.
Jack Metcalf (R-WA) says that Clinton has "made himself a super-legislator
by issuing executive orders that require the appropriation of funds."
Clinton's good friend and defender of Oval Office misbehavior, Paul Begala,
put it like this: "Stroke of the pen. Law of the land. Kinda cool." No, it
isn't cool; it's hot with disdain for the constitutional rules that "all"
legislative powers belong to Congress and that "all bills for raising
revenues shall originate in the House." James Madison called the
accumulation of executive and legislative powers in the same branch "the
very definition of tyranny."
Clinton will be President for another year and a half. By what the press has
variously called a "blizzard" or a "blitz" of Executive Orders,
Clinton has
grabbed new powers for the executive branch, made broad public policy
changes, spent non-appropriated taxpayers' money, and even tried to
restructure our governmental system. Clinton's Executive Orders are in
awesome tandem with his other power grabs through phony "peacekeeping"
expeditions, unauthorized bombing of four sovereign countries, plans to
create a "Homelands Defense Command" to use the Army for domestic law
enforcement, monitoring of our bank accounts, and databasing of our health
records.
The term Executive Order does not appear in the Constitution. The Executive
Order authority derives from the President's Article II, Section 3 power to
"take care that the laws be faithfully executed." However, "laws" must
mean
laws that are already passed, not laws that an Executive Order purports to
create. The validity of particular Executive Orders has often been
questioned, but neither Congress nor the Supreme Court has ever defined the
extent of their power, and courts have rarely invalidated or even reviewed
EOs.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed a national emergency and issued
wide-reaching Executive Orders, notably his 1933 bank holiday and
prohibition on private possession of gold, but those orders were
subsequently ratified by Congress. The notorious EO 9066, under which some
Japanese-Americans were interned during World War II, was subsequently
upheld by the Supreme Court under FDR's war powers. In 1952, the U.S.
Supreme Court struck down Harry Truman's EO 10340 to seize the nation's
steel mills.
In 1996, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit invalidated Clinton's EO
12954, which attempted to prohibit federal agencies from doing business with
companies that had permanently replaced strikers.
Clinton has issued 279 Executive Orders, but many others are not numbered.
The Presidential Decision Directives (PDD) have a different sequence of
numbers, and many of them are kept secret, such as the notorious PDD 25, by
which Clinton presumed to give himself the power to assign U.S. troops to
serve under foreign commanders and under foreign rules of engagement.
Some of Clinton's Executive Orders are federal land grabs over property that
belongs either to the states or to private landowners. Land use and zoning
are quintessentially matters of state or local, not federal, jurisdiction.
By Executive Order 13061, the American Heritage Rivers Initiative , Clinton
purported to give himself the power to take over 10 rivers a year (later
extended to 14), whose adjacent lands will be put under the control of
Clinton-appointed River Navigators, each with a salary of $100,000. Congress
never authorized this land grab or appropriated any money for it, so Clinton
says he will divert funds from 12 departments. This EO on rivers takes
governing authority away from states and localities, and threatens private
property rights guaranteed by the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.
Clinton's surprise grab of 1.7 million acres of Utah land for a national
park in 1996 just happened to include a trillion dollars' worth of
clean-burning, low-sulfur hard coal. Clinton's removal of this huge natural
resource from commercial availability tremendously enhanced the value of the
world's second largest source of environmentally-safe coal, which just
happens to be owned by Clinton's Indonesian friends the Riadys, who gave
millions of dollars to Clinton's presidential campaigns in 1992 and 1996.
For the Mexican and Brazilian bailouts, Clinton used executive authority to
raid a U.S. Treasury Department fund set up in the 1930s for the specific
purpose of being available to stabilize the U.S. dollar. The President
certainly was not authorized to give this money to foreign governments so
they could make their loan payments due to Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin's
old firm, Goldman Sachs.
Clinton's EO 13107 on Implementation of Human Rights Treaties attempts to
bypass the constitutional requirement that treaties, to be valid, must be
ratified by the Senate. This EO sets up a framework to implement our alleged
"obligations" under UN treaties on human rights "to which the United States
is now or may become a party in the future."
The first treaty listed in EO 13107 is the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, which was ratified by the Senate during George Bush's
Administration in 1992. Aggressive implementation of this treaty can open up
a can of worms in regard to our First Amendment rights, criminal law, our
unique system of federalism, and sex discrimination. The treaty's Article 23
even binds governments "to ensure equality of rights and responsibilities of
spouses during marriage," one of the UN "rights" to be monitored by the
Article 28 "Human Rights Committee" on which the United States may have only
one out of 18 members.
There are several unratified UN human rights treaties that could be
"implemented" under EO 13107:
1.The International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights was
rejected by the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Reagan
and Bush Administrations because it refuses to recognize one of the most
fundamental American economic rights, the right to own property. This UN
treaty tries to bind us "to take steps," including "legislative
measures,"
to the "maximum" of our resources in order to achieve "full
realization" of
"adequate food, clothing and housing" for everyone in the world. It would
obligate us "to ensure an equitable distribution of world food supplies in
relation to need."
2.The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child would bring about massive UN
interference in family life, education, daycare, health care, and standard
of living. Article 43 sets up a committee of ten UN "experts" to monitor the
raising of children and our "progress" in complying with the treaty's
"obligations."
3.The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW) would require us to follow UN/feminist dictates about
"customs and practices," "social and cultural patterns of conduct of men
and
women," "family education," and even revision of textbooks. It's easy to
see
that Clinton's EO on UN treaties is a payoff to the radical feminists who
stuck by him during his Paula, Monica and Juanita scandals, as well as a
pursuit of his own global agenda.
Other Clinton Executive Orders include his EO 12919 of June 3, 1994,
entitled National Defense Industrial Resources Preparedness, which asserts
plenary and dictatorial authority over citizens, food, transportation,
energy, health, contracts, materials and resources to be exercised by the
National Security Council and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency).
Many wonder if this EO's real purpose is to grab emergency powers if we are
bitten by the Y2K bug.
Clinton's EO 13083 on Federalism of May 14, 1998, which was a transparent
attempt to rescind the Tenth Amendment (as well as President Reagan's EO on
Federalism), did give Congress a wake-up call. After congressional protest,
Clinton said he would suspend it, but it's still viable and Congress should
pass legislation to render it inoperative.
Congress and the American people must call a halt to Clinton's assault on
our separation-of-powers form of government by his unprecedented use of
Executive Orders. One constructive step would be to pass Rep. Jack Metcalf's
bill, H.Con.Res. 30. It provides that any Executive Order that "infringes on
congressional powers and duties," or requires spending federal funds "not
specifically appropriated for the purpose of the executive order," would be
advisory only and have no effect.
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From: Eddie Chumney
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Congresswoman is suing President Clinton
Yesterday, I received a letter in my regular mail at my house
from Congresswoman Helen Chenoweth from Idaho. She has a website
located at:
http://www.helenchenoweth.com/
She is suing President Clinton over Executive Order 13061. Her
letter reads as follows:
Dear Fellow American,
Do you believe that Bill Clinton should have to obey the
law
and respect the United States Constitution?
If you do, please sign your crucial "Stop Executive
Order
13061" Petition today.
Make no mistake, fi we allow Bill Clinton's Executive Order
13061 to go unstopped, they may be NO END to his lawbreaking in the
future.
You see, through this dangerous Executive Order,
Clinton is
trying to make himself America's "DICTATOR-In-Chief."
Let me explain.
I have been a member of Congress since 1995.
And I was
elected by the American people to write, debate and enact the laws
that govern our country.
The Constitution is crystal clear that it is
thejob of
Congress --- the Legislative branch --- to enact the laws. And it's
the job of the President --- the Executive Branch --- to enforce and
uphold the law.
This "Separation of Powers" is
critically important to our
Constitutional government. That's why we teach it to our children as
soon as they enter grade school.
But Bill Clinton has forgotten all about
the United States
Constitution he swore to uphold. By forcing EXECUTIVE ORDER 13061 on
the American people, Clinton is now claiming that he has the right to
ignore Congress. He's trying to take over both the Executive AND the
Legislative Branches! This is an outrageous and UN-CONSTITUTIONAL
power grab!
Bill Clinton is trying to enact his
liberal agenda as a
one-man DICTATOR ... accountable to no one. And if his scheme
succeeds, not even Congress will be able to stop his socialist
programs and his shameful abuses of power.
That's why it is so important
for you to send you signed
"Stop Executive Order 13061" Petition back to me today. You see,
it'ts not too late to stop Bill Clinton dead in his tracks.
I have filed a
historic lawsuit --- that's right. I've
taken Bill Clinton to court ---- to try to stop him and his Executive
Order 13061. You see Executive Order 130661 deals with Bill Clinton
and Al Gore's controversial American Heritage Rivers Initiative
(AHRI). AHRI would take YOUR hard-earned tax dollars and spend them
on a new, expensive federal bureaucracy to control rivers and land
across America.
Remember, thanks
to our Constitution and it's Separation
of Powers, the President can't spend ANY tax dollars unless Congress
has approved the expense. Wisely, my fellow Congressman saw that AHRI
was a bogus program.
It's
designed to waste taxpayer's money and give
radical environmentalists unlimited control over America's rivers.
And Bill Clinton realized that AHRI was not going to get Congress'
important "stamp of approval."
That's
why Clinton decided to ignore Congress, ignore
the Constitution, and ignore the American people. He signed Executive
Order 13061 and effectively began STEALING your tax dollars to
support his liberal program!
Bluntly,
there is no federal law allowing Clinton to
create this program. Also, it is un-Constitutional in that he did it
without Congressional approval.
I
know what you are thinking: "How can Bill Clinton
get away with this?" Well, he shouldn't be able to. That's why I'm
suing Bill Clinton in federal court. SOMEONE has to stop Clinton ...
and restore the Constitution! The outcome of this case is very
serious.
If
I lose, there will be nothing stopping Bill
Clinton --- or any other liberal President in the future --- from
passing big-government programs without Congressional approval. This
could be a disaster!
Fortunately,
I think I have a very strong case
against Bill Clinton. But he has Janet Reno's Justive Department on
his side, fighting tooth-and-nail against me. And I have run up
against some liberal judges who support Clinton and his
big-government plans.
One
federaal judge --- a Clinton appointee ---
threw out my case saying that Members of Congress don't have the
right to sue the President ... even when he is trashing the
Constitution!
Now
I have taken my historic case to the U.S.
Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia. For the sake of our
country, we must win at this level. Because if we lose, NOTHING can
stop Bill Clinton. That's why he's fighting me with everything's he's
got:
1) his attorney General, Janet Reno
2) his partisan Justive Department
3) all his liberal judicial appointees
But thankfully, I
have a courageous nonprofit, public
interest law firm on my side: "Mountain States Legal Foundation".
You see, as a Member of
Congress, I couldn't afford to
hire a team of high-priced lawyers to take on the hundreds of Justive
Department attorneys Clinton has working for him.
If it weren't for Mountain
States Legal Foundation (MSLF),
I would have been all by myself against the President and his team of
TAXPAYER-FUNDED lawyers. But, MSLF agreed to help me with my historic
case. And they agreed to do it FREE of CHARGE!
Dont' be mistake, this
is going to be a very expensive
case for MSLF to handle. But helping the American people fight big
government is what MSLF does best. Still, in order to make sure we
win against Bill Clinton and his army of lawyers, we need YOUR
crucial help. First, we need to show that the public will not stand
for Bill Clinton's un-Constitutional plot to make himself dictator.
And to be heard, we need to receive an outpouring of public support.
That is where
your emergency "Stop Executive Order
13061" Petition comes in.
Please sign
the Petition immediately --- and rush it to
me today in your special return envelope. Second, will you please
send your most generous gift possible to help Mountain State Legal
Foundation pay for the many costs involved with this historic case?
Your crucial $50, $100, $500 or even $1000 shows that you believe
that America is still a nation of laws. And that Bill Clinton is not
above the Constitution. Or if that is too much to ask right now,
could you please help out with an urgent gift of $20 or $35?
It will
certainly cost you more than $35 if Bill
Clinton wins and is allowed to pass any big-government plans he
pleases! And remember, Mountain States Legal Foundation is a
non-profit organization. So your gift to help this vital project and
all of MSLF's work is tax-deductible.
I'll
be looking forward to your "Stop Executive Order
13061" Petition in the mail. And I hope you can include your
tax-deductible gift of $20, $35 or more to help the great folks at
Mountain State Legal Foundation stand by my side in this important
battle.
Thanks
for being someone I can count on!
For
America,
Hon.
Helen Chenoweth
U.S.
House of Representatives
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