WE CONTROL THE POWER OF THE PURSE (Transcript of Congressman Jeff Duncan’s (R-SC) 12/10/2014 powerful and passionate testimony before the House Rules Committee in support of the Mulvaney Amendment to defund President Obama’s executive actions on immigration) ~~Karen Iacovelli “I’ve thought a lot about this and why we are here on a spending Bill, CR, Omnibus when the real issue of the day is the Constitution. The men of 1787 could have set up a lot of different types of governments. They could have anointed a king—George Washington was really popular. They could have made him a dictator. They could have vested power within themselves—a small group of men, an oligarchy. They didn’t. Instead, they set up a government with clearly defined separation of powers. They set up a Republic, if you can keep it, according to Ben Franklin—a government that’s lasted longer than any other form of government in the history of mankind. Think about that. The issue before us is less about immigration, less about perceived amnesty or what the memo says, or what the memo doesn’t say. It’s more about the crossing of a sacred line—a sacred line that delineates power, and separates power, and three branches of government. This document (the Constitution) that I carry in my pocket spells that out. There are seventeen enumerated powers that the legislative branch has, not the executive branch, not the judicial branch, but that we have…and that’s the power to make law. The legislative branch creates law, not the executive branch, and I feel like that line has been breached with this memo, regardless of how we feel about the specific issue. In the past, when the legislative branch has disagreed with the executive branch, they’ve used the power of the purse, as only we have that power to appropriate money. That’s why we’re here on this Bill, at this time, on a CR or an omnibus or cromnibus, whatever we want to call it---it’s a funding Bill. With the power of the purse, I think we owe it to our constituents and the Founders that wrote this document to say, NO, Mr. President, NO, executive branch, you can’t cross that line. You don’t have the power to do that, and we’re going to get your attention because we control the power of the purse. I appreciate the analogy that the gentleman from Arizona had. I hope we do have the fight in January, Mr. Chairman, because the Constitution, separation of powers, continues to erode. As the banks of a river erode, eventually that bank falls in. This Constitution and this government lasted longer than any others. I don’t want to see it go away. I believe in this institution. I believe in the Constitution and legislative branch of Congress, that’s why I ran. I appreciate your giving me time. Many would say we’re wasting the time of the Rules Committee by being here on an amendment that is set up, that is not going to be part of this funding Bill---and we’re wasting time. But we’re not, because it’s that important to set the stage for future fights or have the fight today---but the fight is coming. I appreciate the gentleman from South Carolina, Mr. Mulvaney, who showed his leadership on this issue. I support the Mulvaney Amendment. I hope the Rules Committee will, because it’s that important to me and my constituents.”
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 04:45:57 +0000
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