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Cutting Off Funding For Military Operations In Libya Posted by Rep. Tom McClintock (R–CA) Jul 8th 2011 at 2:38 pm in Africa Congressman Tom McClintock (CA-04) House Floor remarks in support of an amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act to deny authorization for the use of funds for the war in Libya. Speech in Support of the Amash/ Kucinich Amendment to HR 2219 / Video Link Congressman Tom McClintock July 7, 2011 Mr. Chairman: For more than three months, our nation has been amidst a quiet constitutional crisis that carries immense implications. The Gentleman from Florida is sadly...

From C-SPAN, Rep. Tom McClintock (R-California): 'That's Why This President Is So Dangerous'

Congressman Tom McClintock, House Floor remarks in support of an amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act to deny authorization for the use of funds for the war in Libya. Speech in Support of the Amash/ Kucinich Amendment to HR 2219 Congressman Tom McClintock Mr. Chairman: For more than three months, our nation has been amidst a quiet constitutional crisis that carries immense implications. The Gentleman from Florida is sadly mistaken to dismiss this as a meaningless philosophical discussion. This issue strikes at the very heart of our Constitutional form of government. On March 19th, completely without Congressional authorization,...

House Floor Remarks, June 3rd. M. Speaker: Lets be clear: without prior Congressional authorization, under the War Powers Act, the President may only commit armed forces to hostilities for sixty days if there is a direct attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions or its armed forces. There was none, so there is no sixty day clock and the President’s unprovoked attack on Libya – from Day One – constituted an illegal and unconstitutional act of the highest significance. If the President felt there was moral justification to attack Libya, he was constitutionally required to make his case...

House Floor Remarks, June 3rd M. Speaker: Lets be clear: without prior Congressional authorization, under the War Powers Act, the President may only commit armed forces to hostilities for sixty days if there is a direct attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions or its armed forces. There was none, so there is no sixty day clock and the President’s unprovoked attack on Libya – from Day One – constituted an illegal and unconstitutional act of the highest significance. If the President felt there was moral justification to attack Libya, he was constitutionally required to make his case...

M. Speaker: When the President ordered the attack on Libya without Congressional authorization, he crossed a very bright Constitutional line that he himself recognized in 2007 when he told the Boston Globe “The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.” The reason the American Founders reserved the question of war to Congress was that they wanted to assure that so momentous a decision could not be made by a single individual. They had watched European kings plunge...

March 23, 2011 The Honorable Barack Obama President of the United States The White House Washington, D.C. 20500 Dear Mr. President: I have read your letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate dated March 21, 2011 concerning your order that United States Armed Forces attack the nation of Libya. You cite the authority of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 and your "constitutional authority to conduct U.S. foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive." The Constitution clearly and unmistakably vests Congress with the sole prerogative "to declare...

The California Republican Party's rules committee approved by a 10-8 vote late last night an ambitious endorsement plan that would have the party send out ballots to all registered Republican voters in the state to determine the party's officially endorsed candidates. The plan comes as a response to Proposition 14, passed in 2010, which created a top-two runoff system, regardless of party affiliation. That proposition has drawn the ire of both major parties, which have looked for ways to stay involved in the process of selecting official party candidates, If approved in the party's general session today, as is expected,...

The Subcommittee on Water and Power held an oversight hearing today to examine the FY 2012 budget request for the Bureau of Reclamation. Subcommittee Chairman Tom McClintock made the following opening statement at the hearing: Opening Statement Congressman Tom McClintock Chairman House Water and Power Subcommittee With today’s hearing, the Water and Power Sub-Committee will begin the process of restoring abundance as the principal objective of America’s Federal water and power policy. We meet today to receive testimony from the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Geological Service on their plans for the coming year. We do so in conjunction...

America's taxpayers need to know about a thorny federal program lurking in the Obama budget: the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. It began decades ago as a millionaire's hobby horse and grew into a Frankenstein monster that today feeds millions of taxpayer dollars to green groups that sue the federal government -- and thus sue the taxpayer.

House Chamber, Washington, D.C. February 15, 2011 M. Speaker: Last year I voted to extend the PATRIOT Act for one year. I regret that vote and was glad to have been able to correct it, although I am pained that the House voted otherwise yesterday. During this past year, I have become convinced that the provisions of the so-called PATRIOT Act are an affront to the Bill of Rights and a serious threat to our fundamental liberty as Americans. The Fourth Amendment arises from abuses of the British Crown that allowed roving searches by revenue agents under the guise of...

House Resolution 72 Remarks by Congressman Tom McClintock House Chamber, Washington, D.C As Chairman of the Water and Power Subcommittee of Natural Resources, my colleagues and I are excited and eager to undertake the mission outlined in House Resolution 72: to identify the federal regulations in this field that are impeding job creation and slowing the economy. The only problem is deciding where to begin. A generation ago, the principal objective of our water and power policy was to create an abundance of both. It was an era when vast reservoirs and hydro-electric facilities produced a cornucopia of clean and...

New water panel chairman wants more California projects built Michael Doyle | McClatchy Newspapers last updated: January 14, 2011 07:49:40 PM WASHINGTON — Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, could start making waves in California water. As new chairman of the House water and power subcommittee, McClintock can promote his pet projects while he squeezes environmentalists. Politically, this means renewed talk of an Auburn dam, stricter scrutiny of San Joaquin River restoration and more support for hydropower. "We need to change the central objective of our federal water and power policy, to one of abundance," McClintock said in an interview. "That...

House Chamber, Washington, D.C. January 18, 2011. Remarks by Congressman Tom McClintock. M. Speaker: The central promises of Obamacare were that it would bend health costs down and wouldn’t threaten existing plans. We now know that both these claims were false. The CBO warns that this law will increase average private premiums by $2,100 within five years above what they otherwise would have been without Obamacare. The administration’s own actuary admits that the law bends the cost curve up – not down – by $311 billion over the next ten years. And we now know that many existing plans are...

Congressman McClintock interview, “On the Record with Greta VanSusteren.” January 26, 2011. Chief Medicare Actuary on President's health care claims: "I would say false, more so than true"

Congressman Tom McClintock issued the following statement in response to the President’s State of the Union Address to Congress: “The President missed the message of the 2010 election. It is not government that creates prosperity. It is freedom. We cannot bring about prosperity by locking government spending at unsustainable levels, wasting billions of dollars on subsidies for outrageously inefficient industries, increasing taxes on energy, managing our local schools from Washington and usurping the countless decisions made every day by families, consumers and businesses. “These policies are squandering our wealth, impoverishing our nation and mortgaging our future. “After the Republican sweep...

WASHINGTON – Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, could start making waves in California water. As new chairman of the House water and power subcommittee, McClintock can promote his pet projects while he squeezes environmentalists. Politically, this means renewed talk of an Auburn dam, stricter scrutiny of San Joaquin River restoration and more support for hydropower. "We need to change the central objective of our federal water and power policy to one of abundance," McClintock said in an interview. "That means building more water projects." In theory, McClintock's position strengthens the staunch conservative's ability to pursue his agenda. The House panel...

During the despotic eras of Norman and Plantagenet England, the Crown declared one third of the land area of Southern England to be the royal forest, the exclusive preserve of the monarch, his forestry officials and his favored aristocrats. The people of Britain were forbidden access to and enjoyment of these forests under harsh penalties. This exclusionary system became so despised by the people that in 1215, five clauses of the Magna Carta were devoted to redress of grievances that are hauntingly similar to those that are now flooding my office. The Royal Forests House Chamber, Washington, D.C. January...

Republican Rep. Tom McClintock offered the House a history lesson today as he urged members to wrap up their business and get out of town. "This lame duck session is rapidly descending into farce," McClintock, of Elk Grove, said in a speech on the House floor. "I believe this House is now in danger of becoming a caricature of everything the American people rejected in November: incompetence, arrogance, and a complete detachment from reality. "Nearly two months ago, the American people said very clearly they don't want this Congress legislating for them any longer. And instead of graciously and humbly...

More than a year ago, Pollster Frank Luntz stood before a group of about 40 House Republicans in a cramped conference room. “I need to tell you something,” he said. “I’ve been looking at polling data from Congressional districts across America for the last three months. I’m convinced that you are going to be in the majority next year.” After a long pause, he added, “This time, please don’t screw it up again.” I don’t think we will. The message of the last two elections could not be louder or clearer. Great parties are built upon great principles and they...