July 26, 2019 10:10 a.m.
Congressman Peter DeFazio will hold 3 town hall meetings next week focused on what he claims are President Trump’s repeated violations of the Constitution and Congress’s authority to declare war.
A release from DeFazio said just this week, President Trump and officials in his administration have said they might pursue military action in Iran without the approval of Congress. DeFazio said he has repeatedly called on President Trump, just as he has with past presidents of both parties, to respect Congress’s constitutional powers to declare war and to consult with Congress before committing U.S. troops to any military conflict. DeFazio said that procedure is laid out in Article 1 of the Constitution and the War Powers Act of 1973.
DeFazio said the American people deserve to know the full scope of any potential conflict, including an exit strategy, before the U.S. considers another military campaign in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world.
The release said although the U.S. Constitution grants Congress, not the executive branch, the power to declare war, the war powers of the legislative branch have eroded over time. DeFazio claims that over the last fifty years, many presidents of both parties have unlawfully exerted sole authority to commit U.S. forces to armed conflict overseas.
DeFazio will be joined by constitutional law professor and author Garrett Epps, said to be a noted expert on the subject of congressional war-making authority.
The meetings will be:
*Wednesday July 31st at the Chintimini Senior and Community Center in Corvallis at 1:30 p.m.
*Wednesday July 31st at the Albany Public Library at 3:30 p.m.
*Thursday August 1^st at Harris Hall in Eugene AT 6:00 p.m.