------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> <FONT COLOR="#000099">Get your FREE credit report with a FREE CreditCheck Monitoring Service trial </FONT><A HREF="http://us.click.yahoo.com/MDsVHB/bQ8CAA/ySSFAA/zgSolB/TM";><B>Click Here!</B></A> ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> From: "Dave Champion" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2001 6:17 PM Subject: What powers come with "national emergency"? All, My friend Rickity sent me an article detailing the declaration of a national emergency by the Pres. Being the curious guy that I am, I decided to look into the United States Code and see what "extraordinary authority" the Pres. is granted by such a declaration. While I won't bore you with code sections, statutory sources, revision notes, advisory notes, etc., I'll give you the end result. The National Emergency Act (by which Congress vests the Pres. with "extraordinary authority" [that phrase is right out of the statute]) simply amends certain sections within a series of United States Code titles. Once I saw the list of Titles, I didn't bother to go read the amended sections because I realized that none of the "extraordinary authority" reaches you and me. Here are the Titles amended: 1) Title 8 - Immigration and Naturalization 2) Title 10 - Armed Forces 3) Title 12 - Banks and Banking 4) Title 40 - Public [federal] Buildings, Property, and Works 5) Title 42 - Public Health and Welfare I think without reading the amended sections, it becomes pretty clear that the President's "extraordinary authority" doesn't extend to the day-to-day affairs of the average American. Without taking the time to read the amended section, I'll hazard a guess and others can tell me if I'm off base. The Title 8 amendments allow the President to secure the borders and round up certain alien groups (defined by the Attorney General) who might place the nation at risk. The Title 10 amendments allow the President to deploy combat troops in hostile areas [in harm's way] without prior Congressional consultation and may obviate certain section of the War Powers Act of 1973. The Title 12 amendments allow the President to exempt the banks from the three-day closure rule. The Title 40 amendments allow the President to secure federal buildings, up to and including closure or relocation if necessary. And finally, the Title 42 amendments allow the President to order to Department of Helath and Human Services to make "emergency assistance" available to the States. However, one of the most intersting parts of the chapter on National Emergencies was the section 1601 entitled, "Termination of existing declared emergencies". It states, " All powers and authorities possessed by the President, any other officer or employee of the Federal Government, or any executive agency, as defined in section 105 of title 5, as a result of the existence of any declaration of national emergency in effect on September 14, 1976, are terminated two years from September 14, 1976." So much for the crowd that beleives that the entire nation has been living under "national emergency" since the Civil War (or whatever event they settle upon). Dave Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
