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Baker and Christopher: Replace 'War Powers Act'

July 08, 2008 2:31 PM

ABC News' Teddy Davis and Gregory Wallace Report: Former Secretaries of State James Baker and Warren Christopher recommended Tuesday that the 1973 War Powers Act be replaced by a new law that would provide for more meaningful consultation between the president and Congress.

"It's ineffective a best; unconstitutional at worst," said Baker, referring to the 1973 resolution that Congress passed over President Nixon's veto.  "The rule of law is undermined and is damaged when the main statute in this vital policy area is regularly questioned or ignored."

Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, Baker and Christopher stressed that the unanimous recommendation of the bipartisan National War Powers Commission they chaired was not in response to the Iraq war which was authorized by a vote of Congress.

Baker and Christopher sidestepped which previous U.S. military actions did not exhibit consultation between the executive and legislative branches.

"We have tried very hard not to call balls and strikes on past history," said Christopher.

Following the press conference, a member of the commission's staff told ABC News that the proposed statute, if it had been in place, would have boosted the president's consultation of Congress during military actions in Kosovo, Panama, Lebanon, Grenada, and the missile strikes on Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi.

The War Powers Act, which was passed in response to the Vietnam War, was intended to formalize a role for Congress in making the decision whether to go to war. Critics of the law believe that it has had the unintended effect of giving presidents free rein to conduct any military action for 90 days. After this window, the War Powers Act calls for the president to terminate the military engagement if Congress has not authorized it. 

The commission is calling on Congress to repeal the 1973 War Powers Act -- key parts of which many scholars consider unconstitutional -- and to replace it with a new statute providing that the president shall consult with Congress before deploying U.S. troops into combat operations lasting, or expected to last, more than a week.  Congress would then have 30 days to approve or decline to approve military action -- and declining a vote of approval would order the military action be ended. 

The War Powers Consultation Act of 2009 would create a 20-member Joint Congressional Consultation Committee which would include leaders of the House and Senate from both parties as well as the chair and ranking members of key House and Senate committees covering foreign affairs, armed services, intelligence, and appropriations.

"The way for the president to get independent advice is to go to the Congress," said former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., a member of the commission.

Baker said the commission has been in contact with key congressional leaders as well as both the McCain and Obama campaigns.

Asked how the commission's proposal was received by the White House hopefuls, Baker told reporters, "We haven't gotten a negative reaction. We'll wait to see what they say when you ask them about it."

Randy Scheunemann, McCain's director of foreign policy and national security, called the proposal "an interesting approach" without saying whether McCain would support it.

"Discussions about the extent of Presidential constitutional powers are as old as the republic itself, as the debates between James Madison and Alexander Hamilton illustrated," said Scheunemann. "Senator McCain has long held that any President should work cooperatively with Congress as much as possible.  This is particularly important when it comes to the most difficult question facing a country:  sending its men and women into harm's way."

"The Baker Christopher war powers proposal is an interesting approach to this enduring issue," added Scheunemann. "As President, Senator McCain would make consultations with Congress a priority, especially in the issues of war and peace."

Nick Shapiro, a spokesman for Barack Obama, was similarly complimentary and non-commital about the commission's proposal.

"Senator Obama commends this bipartisan study for advocating that the President consult Congress more closely on issues of critical national importance like the use of military force," said Shapiro.

In addition to Baker and Christopher, the commission members include former Sen. Slade Gorton (R-WA), former Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-IN), Reagan's Housing and Urban Development Secretary Carla Hills, former Rep. and Reagan's Secretary of the Army John Marsh (D-VA), Reagan's Attorney General Edwin Meese, former Rep. and judge Abner Mikva (D-IL), former Navy Admiral J. Paul Reason, Ford National Security Adviser Brent Sowcroft, Princeton University Professor Anne-Marie Slaughter, and Clinton Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott. 

July 8, 2008 in Tancredo, Tom, Thompson, Fred, Veepstakes | Permalink | User Comments (25)

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