-Caveat Lector-
> Published Date July 30, 1999, in Washington, D.C.
> www.insightmag.com
>
>
> <Picture:
> buttonbar2.gif><Picture><Picture><Picture><Picture>Emergency
> Rule, Abuse of Power?
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> ------- By Catherine Edwards
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> -------
>
> It was never intended that the president should rule by executive
> decree, usurping the legislative role of Congress. But a top
> Clinton aide has called this option 'kinda cool.'
>
> <Picture: M>any older Washingtonians will tell you they used to
> have a view of the river from their house. Now they no longer
> have a river view; they no longer have their house. Instead,
> federal offices filled with bureaucrats populate the city. During
> the course of the last 150 years, the role of president of the
> United States has grown exponentially, as has his team of
> workers. Many Americans, critics claim, have been asleep as one
> stealth presidency after another has usurped the judicial
> authority of Congress by means of executive orders, presidential
> directives and proclamations. . . . . The Constitution dictates
> that the laws shall originate in Congress and the executive
> branch shall see that they are "faithfully executed" (Article II,
> Section 3). In George Washington's day, executive orders were no
> more than administrative directives to federal employees. "They
> have grown," says Bill Olsen, a constitutional lawyer and former
> Reagan administration official, "to be a deliberate strategy to
> circumvent the Congress and the legislative function." The more
> executive orders on the books, the more the need for a huge
> tax-funded bureaucracy to administer them. . . . . President
> Clinton has not been shy about signing his name to executive
> orders. Since his inauguration he has issued nearly 300, and his
> critics claim that he has been reckless, ordering more than his
> predecessors. Not so. Franklin D. Roosevelt issued 3,522, Woodrow
> Wilson issued 1,803, and Honest Abe Lincoln is the only U.S.
> president to have declared martial law by executive order --
> which he did twice. Unlike Clinton, "all three of these
> presidents, however, governed in wartime, a national emergency
> which often gives rise to expanded executive authority," says
> political analyst Michael Warder of the California-based
> Claremont Institute. . . . . In 1974, a special Senate Committee
> on National Emergencies and Delegated Emergency Powers was
> alarmed to find that the United States had been governed under
> emergency authority since 1933. Committee cochairman Sen. Frank
> Church of Idaho cautioned: "It is distressingly clear that our
> constitutional government has been weakened by 41 years of
> emergency rule." Emergencies declared by FDR and Harry Truman
> still were in effect, for example, and the committee found that
> over time aggressive presidents had subsumed 470 legally
> delegated powers from permissive Congresses to govern beyond
> normal constitutional powers. The law allowed presidents to seize
> property, control production, restrict travel and institute
> martial law. In other words, "Presidents could manage every
> aspect of the lives of all American citizens," Church wrote. . .
> . . The 1974 National Emergencies Act sunsetted all existing
> emergencies at that time. Congress then passed legislation in
> 1976 and in 1985 allowing termination of any national emergency
> by joint resolution, though no such resolution has been offered.
> . . . . Olsen argues that more citizens know about executive
> abuses than do congressmen, whom he chastises for having been
> "supine" in their response to presidential excess. . . . . This
> may be changing, however. Republican Rep. Jack Metcalf of
> Washington state introduced a resolution this year (HR30) to
> express the sense of Congress that any executive order infringing
> on the constitutionally delegated congressional powers must be
> considered for advisory purposes only and be ineligible for
> federal funds. . . . . Cliff Kincaid of the American Sovereignty
> Action Project believes Metcalf's approach is the best course of
> action. Kincaid's group held a conference in early July to
> highlight unconstitutional executive orders and presidential
> abuses of power. Because the Metcalf bill is a resolution, it
> only can serve to heighten awareness of the issue, and Kincaid
> rightly notes that any legislation with teeth is almost certain
> to be vetoed by the president. . . . . Republican Rep. Ron Paul
> of Texas has a different approach. He notes that some executive
> orders are necessary, legitimate and constitutional. "Others are
> abused and are way overstepping their bounds," he tells Insight.
> Paul has proposed legislation called the Separation of Powers
> Restoration Act, which would provide that whenever the president
> signs an executive order under the auspices of Article II it may
> be applied only to federal employees, with constitutional duties
> such as activities pursuant to the military and his role as
> commander in chief protected. Presidential orders issued to
> accord with unratified treaties would be illegal, as would orders
> to support ratified treaties that violate the laws of states and
> local governments. . . . . The Paul bill would rescind existing
> laws that have violated the separation of powers, put to bed
> every national emergency in effect and give standing in court to
> members of Congress, local governments and other people aggrieved
> by executive orders. An aide to Paul tells Insight that a
> possible presidential veto would provide momentum to get the
> two-thirds votes necessary to override a veto. . . . . A
> nonprofit grass-roots organization of concerned citizens and
> congressmen recently was formed to redress alleged presidential
> abuse of executive orders. On the Internet at
> www.executiveorders.org, the group is part of the Liberty Study
> Committee. "For many years the president, regardless of what
> party, has been concentrating more power into his own hands by
> taking away legislative powers of Congress," says Kent Snyder,
> executive director of the Liberty Study Committee. "We are going
> to be relentless." The new group will focus entirely on informing
> the public and Congress about progress of the Paul legislation
> through the Internet, fax and direct mail. . . . . Why can't this
> powers conflict be left to the judiciary? Only two executive
> orders have been overturned by the courts: a Truman order seizing
> strike-threatened steel mills during the Korean War (Youngstown
> Steel and Tube Company vs. Sawyer, 1952) and a Clinton order
> prohibiting federal contracts being awarded to companies that
> hire permanent replacements for striking employees (U.S. Chamber
> of Commerce vs. Reich, 1995). . . . . FDR's Executive Order 9066
> was upheld by the Supreme Court authorizing the dislocation of
> Japanese-Americans to confinement camps during World War II. The
> court ruled that the president had acted to safeguard the
> national interest during wartime. . . . . Congressional action
> and court cases to deal with legislative usurpation by the
> president take time. The president, however, can issue executive
> orders quickly. Last summer, presidential aide Paul Begala became
> enamored of this option. "Stroke of the pen, law of the land.
> Kinda cool," he commented as the president discussed plans to
> issue a series of executive orders upon returning from his 1998
> trip to China. . . . . Tom DeWeese of the American Policy Center
> cites what he regards as severe abuses of executive orders by
> Clinton. He has plenty of company. Among current irritants are:
>
>
> •Invasive Species Executive Order 13112, issued in February,
> prevents the introduction of invasive species to public property.
> DeWeese cautions that because alien species is defined as any
> species, "including seeds, eggs spores or other biological
> material capable of propagating that species that is not native
> to that ecosystem," alien species could be defined to include a
> farmer's cattle or even the family dog.•Implementation of Human
> Rights Treaties Executive Order 13107 calls on the U.S.
> government to implement human-rights treaties to which the United
> States now is or may become party in the future. According to the
> Constitution the Senate alone may ratify treaties, not the
> president acting on his own authority.•American Heritage Rivers
> Initiative Executive Order 13061 has caused considerable
> consternation in Congress. The president designated 14 rivers as
> federal property -- part of America's heritage to be seized by
> the federal government regardless of whether they run through
> private property. Estimates of the program's cost reach $5
> million, none of which has been appropriated by Congress. House
> Natural Resources Committee Chairman Don Young of Alaska and Rep.
> Helen Chenoweth of Idaho, both Republicans, have filed suit to
> halt the initiative.•Federalism Executive Order 13083 established
> federal jurisdiction over states in matters not enumerated in the
> Constitution. The president suspended this order after a public
> outcry and much media attention that accused him of attempting to
> rewrite the Constitution.•Council on Sustainable Development
> Executive Order 12852 centers on the fact that federal and local
> programs are being set up to ensure that Americans sustain the
> environment. Suburban housing, air conditioning, high meat
> intake, frozen and convenience foods, fossil fuels and kitchen
> appliances are not listed as sustainable.•Revocation of Certain
> Executive Orders Concerning Federal Contracting 12833 overturned
> President Bush's endorsement by executive order of the Supreme
> Court ruling in the Communications Workers vs. Beck case that
> workers for companies under federal contract do not have to pay
> union dues as a condition of employment.
>
> . . . . Meanwhile, Clinton has declared no less than 14 states of
> national emergency. This compares to five for Bush and six for
> Ronald Reagan. In early July, the president declared a state of
> national emergency based upon a suspected terrorist threat
> allegedly posed by the Afghan Taliban. Most Americans, no doubt,
> are unaware that Clinton also declared a national emergency based
> upon Burma's oppression of democracy. . . . . "The usurpation of
> power started quietly and has gained respect over time," warns
> Metcalf. And Republican Rep. Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland cautions
> that if something doesn't change soon the executive branch will
> continue to expand by executive order and "we'll need another
> revolution."
>
>
>
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