Congress, Call YOURSELF Back Into Session! You Can, And You Know It!
Michael Matthew Bloomer, August 30, 2013
Rigell has called on Obama to bring Congress back to Washington early to consider the authorization of military force against Syria. “If you deem that military action in Syria is necessary, Congress can reconvene at your convenience,” the letter states. [Emphasis added]
Congressman Scott Rigell (R-VA-02)
Letter to Barack Obama from 140 House Members
Reported by The Hill&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
“Congress is not a potted plant in this process, and President Obama should call us back into emergency session before authorizing the use of any military force,” Rigell’s press release said. “We stand ready to share the burden of decisions made regarding U.S. involvement.”
. . .
“I don’t care whether people are on vacation, I don’t care where they are; it doesn’t matter,” Rigell said. “With the kind of involvement being contemplated here, this is a most serious matter.”
Congressman Scott Rigell (R-VA-02)
Roll Call: Rigell Wants ‘Emergency Session’ for Syria, August 26, 2013
Reported at Rep. Rigell’s official website
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Not Just One Way To Skin A Recess. Rigell’s statements are deceptively misleading – they implies that the President alone has the power to call Congress back into session during an adjournment, and, indeed, the President does hold that power under the Constitution via Article II, Section 3:
[The President] shall from time to time give to the Congress Information on the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them . . .
Yet, despite the dearth of comment by the press during the past week, Congress itself may reconvene on its own motion through a simple mechanism routinely included in an agreement between the House and the Senate called a “conditional adjournment.” Employed so often the conditional adjournment appears in the U.S. Senate glossary:
“When Congress adjourns for more than three days, authority is often provided the Speaker and president pro tempore (or the Senate majority leader) to reconvene Congress at an earlier date to address an emergency or important issue.” [“recess” defined here]
Thereby, on August 1, 2013, Senator Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, introduced S. Con. Res. 222 in the Senate. Entitled Providing for a conditional adjournment or recess of the Senate and an adjournment of the House of Representatives, it proposed two things:
- in section one, for its two August 2013 recesses, it set the adjournment and reassembly dates, with this caveat, “or until the time of any reassembly pursuant to section 2 of this concurrent resolution, whichever occurs first.”
- And here is section two, freighted with its implication for Rigell’s misrepresentation is clear.- and for other’s of both parties.
- Sec. 2. The Majority Leader of the Senate and the Speaker of the House, or their respective designees, acting jointly after consultation with the Minority Leader of the Senate and the Minority Leader of the House, shall notify the Members of the Senate and House, respectively, to reassemble at such place and time as they may designate if, in their opinion, the public interest shall warrant it. [emphasis added]
The Senate, and the House passed this concurrent resolution within 24 hours, without debate by unanimous consent. As a concurrent resolution, it did not require the President’s signature.
The Humbugometer Just Exploded.
It would be a wonderful thing for mankind if some philosophic Yankee would contrive
some kind of “ometer” that would measure the infusion of humbug in anything. A
“Humbugometer” he might call it. I would warrant him a good sale. — P. T. Barnum
Congressman Rigell’s words and the excerpt from his letter quoted at the outset (“If you deem that military action in Syria is necessary, Congress can reconvene at your convenience.”) go well beyond humbug. They are “lies direct,” what philosopher of language Max Black defined as “the deceitful generation of a false belief by concealed violation of the standard framework,” the “standard framework” being the truthfulness expected by the listener or the reader.
Veiled in political posturing, Riggel (and his remarkable group of 140 some odd House members, including 21 Democrats) “lied direct” to the American people. As you see, Congress may indeed, and by its own bicameral agreement, call itself back into session at any time during its recess under the terms of section two of the conditional adjournment. This is nothing new either. The conditional adjournment language in various forms has a long history.
Rigell, and each of his 140 signatories, know this, certainly their their constituents charge with with knowing it. They can’t escape the implication of their “deceitful generation” of disinformation. Nor may others spouting the same nonsense. Attempting to shift the entire decision-making burden upon President Obama, they act as if they are powerless to present a united front in any form other than a letter, or a mass yelling at hurricane force.
This shell game is as patently rigged as it gets, even for politicians. In a surreal irony, they belie their displeasure by hiding behind a feigned inability to reconvene, which as we’ve seen they may do at a moments notice. Despite expressions of deep concern regarding President Obama’s apparent will to war – a concern that manifestly merits Congressional attention in the Capitol – neither the Speaker nor the Senate Majority Leader have used section two authority under the conditional adjournment resolution.
This crisis reached a high level of importance a week ago, yet Congress remained, and still remains, on a vote- and money-finding vacation. On this issue, after maintaining the necessity for a communal decision about military power again brought raining down on another Arab nation, our national legislators – Republican and Democrat alike – are a thoroughly craven group.
The concurrent resolution under section two designates Speaker of the House John Boehner with authority to recall Congress to Washington (with his Senate counterpart, Harry Reid). Boehner’s attitude toward the bellicose mood of the White House has itself been equally bellicose. Initially briefed by the White House on August 26, his spokesman Brendan Buck commented for the Speaker:
“The Speaker made clear that before any action is taken there must be meaningful consultation with members of Congress, as well as clearly defined objectives and a broader strategy to achieve stability.” [Emphasis added] [full story]
As for the Democratic side of this equation, Majority Leader Harry Reid was, as the saying goes, conspicuously absent for much of the crisis. so absent, in fact, that Reid didn’t take part in the Syrian crisis conference call arranged by the White House last Thursday night. Also absent from the conference call, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has remained mum. And note, under section two Boehner and Reid must consult about recalling Congress from recess with McConnell and his House counterpart Nancy Pelosi (who supported the President’s positions with galactically irresponsible premature gusto on Thursday night).
In light of the above, the misrepresentations on all sides court disgraceful. To refuse to do nothing in the face of the ability to do so by the simple expedient of reconvening Congress under section two of S.Con.Res. 222 renders legislators’ mass cris de couer with no content other than posturing to serve a craven desire to shift responsibility to the White House. In fact, cowardly is the best description.
