Congressional Progressive Caucus,
http://cpc.lee.house.govBarbara Lee Calls For Aggressive Oversight on Bush Move Towards Permanent Military Presence in Iraq
(Washington, DC) - Today Congresswoman Barbara Lee, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, sent a letter to the Speaker requesting that appropriate Committee Chairs quickly schedule oversight hearings regarding the recent Bush Signing Statement to circumvent a key provision in the Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 4986) against a permanent military presence in Iraq.
The letter, co-authored by Congresswomen Lee, Lynn Woolsey and Maxine Waters, states, “We believe that Congress must find out and the American public made aware of the serious consequences of long-term military basing agreements or treaties that bypass congressional action as the ‘Declaration of Principles’. In addition, it is critical to shed light on the implications of the President’s signing statement and intention to ignore the law. At the same time it is also imperative to give greater scrutiny to the Bush administration’s efforts to maintain a long-term or indefinite military presence in Iraq. Holding hearings will complement the 166 hearings on Iraq that Democrats have held since you became our speaker in January 2007.”
Congresswoman Lee issued the following statement:
“Circumventing this important provision is contrary to the law and oversight hearings are clearly needed for Congress to get answers and for the American public to be assured the law is not being side stepped.
“We need to know why President Bush wants to ignore a key provision he signaled he would uphold by signing the bill into law in the first place.
“This latest action by this Republican administration seems to flagrantly disregard the law of the land. The President has signed into law, five times, legislation that included similar provisions to prohibit permanent military bases in Iraq since 2006 (PL109-289, PL 109-364, PL 110-28, PL 110-116, and PL 110-161.). Now he arbitrarily wants an exemption from the provision in the FY08 Defense Authorization bill.
“We need answers and we need them now. Congress must immediately hold the Bush administration accountable.”
# # #
Congresswoman Barbara Lee (Oakland-D) is co-chair of the Progressive Caucus and a co-founder of the Out of Iraq Caucus. She sits on the House Appropriations Committee, where she serves on the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Subcommittee, the State Foreign Operations Subcommittee and is Vice-Chair of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee.
LETTER TEXT FOLLOWS:
February 1, 2008
Hon. Nancy Pelosi
Speaker
US House of Representatives
The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Speaker Pelosi:
President George W. Bush issued a signing statement on Monday, January 28, 2008 where he signaled his intent to ignore a provision in the FY08 Department of Defense Authorization Bill (PL 110-181) that prohibits permanent military bases in Iraq. We urge you to request the appropriate committee chairs to quickly schedule oversight hearings on this important issue.
We believe this is a particularly contradictory and serious development given that the President has signed similar provisions into law five times before. (PL109-289, PL 109-364, PL 110-28, PL 110-116, and PL 110-161.)
When a majority of the American people are committed to ending our occupation in Iraq on a timeline within a year, in making this proclamation President Bush has only reinforced what we have always known; that he intends our occupation in Iraq to be indefinite.
Sadly, this is a pattern of behavior from a White House that seems intent on cutting Congress out of any decisions relating to the permanent stationing of the US military in Iraq. At the end of last year, without any congressional input, President Bush and Prime Minister al-Maliki signed a “Declaration of Principles for a Long-Term Relationship of Cooperation and Friendship Between the Republic of Iraq and the United States of America” that will set the stage for future agreements on the disposition of US troops in Iraq and other wide-ranging aspects of this important bilateral relationship. (We introduced H.R. 5128, legislation disapproving of any agreement that doesn’t have the approval of both houses of Congress and that of the Iraqi Parliament, too)
We believe that Congress must find out and the American public made aware of the serious consequences of long-term military basing agreements or treaties that bypass congressional action as the ‘Declaration of Principles’. In addition, it is critical to shed light on the implications of the President’s signing statement and intention to ignore the law. At the same time it is also imperative to give greater scrutiny to the Bush administration’s efforts to maintain a long-term or indefinite military presence in Iraq. Holding hearings will complement the 166 hearings on Iraq that Democrats have held since you became our speaker in January 2007.
We appreciate your strong leadership and commitment in ending the US occupation of Iraq and look forward to working with you on this matter.
Sincerely,
BARBARA LEE
Member of Congress
LYNN WOOSLEY
Member of Congress
MAXINE WATERS
Member of Congress
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