Washington, D.C. - Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-09) issued the following statement after voting in favor of five separate resolutions that seek to terminate national emergency declarations that have been abused and used against foreign nations:

“Emergencies are by definition temporary.  That is why the law governing national emergency declarations provide the president temporary powers and are intended to be short-lasting and require Congressional review and oversight no later than six months after being declared, and every six months thereafter. 

The “emergencies” at issue here are between 10 and 20 years old, and are clearly not urgent, temporary or short lasting.  Congress has failed to perform its most basic Constitutional duty: checking the powers of the executive branch.  Not once has Congress reviewed any of these decades-old emergency declarations, as required by law. 

Sadly, in many instances, the sanctions imposed by these national emergency declarations aid and abet conflicts thousands of miles away, destroy innocent lives and exacerbate human suffering.  For example, the emergency declaration used against Libya essentially destroyed that nation, a nation that today is struggling to reform, but is beset by political violence and economic hardship created in large part by the United States when it assassinated its President.  The United States had no business or need to assassinate the Libyan leader, but it did so, and it set off a chain of events thereafter that has resulted in death, destruction and open slave markets in Benghazi.

No president, regardless of party, should be handed a blank check and endless special powers that can be used to circumvent the normal democratic process, exceed their constitutional authority, and violate the balance of power. 

Problems lasting years, decades even, are not emergencies and should not be treated as such.  Rather, they should be addressed by Congress with due process, debate and transparency, not with endless emergency declarations which give neo-cons, warmongers, the military industrial complex and bureaucrats free reign to control policy and spending.

I voted in support of terminating these never-ending declarations. There is no emergency in the United States that warrants the continuation of any of them,” concluded Congressman Gosar.

Background:

There are currently 41 national emergency declarations that are subject to congressional review pursuant to the National Emergencies Act (NEA). The extended national emergency declarations related to the Congo, Libya, Iraq, Yemen, and Syria allow the President to access 135 special statutory powers, including the authority to:

• Draft certain Americans, without consent, into active duty
• Test chemical and biological weapons on human beings, including American citizens (50 U.S.C. § 1515)
• Takeover or shut down radio stations and U.S.-based internet traffic (47 U.S.C. § 606(c))
• Requisition certain private property of U.S. citizens (46 U.S.C. § 56301)
• Detail members of the U.S. Armed Forces (10 U.S.C. § 712(a)(3))
• Waive sanctions on violations of confidentiality provisions related to public health services (42 U.S.C. § 1320b-5)
• Freeze American citizens’ assets and bank accounts and restrict anyone from selling them groceries, renting them an apartment, representing them as an attorney, providing dental or medical treatment, and much more, without due process (50 U.S.C. § § 1701)