Conservatives Challenge Presidential Power Grab, Demand Reforms to Restore Checks and Balances
Bill Haymin
March 21, 2007
**Please note that this article, the "American freedom agenda," and "Freedom Pledge" are written together in this one article for readers benefit. They are requesting only candidates for the Presidency to sign these statements. They are not requesting readers to sign anything just alerting us to what they are requesting of candidates for the Presidency of the U.S.
Conservatives Challenge Presidential Power Grab, Demand Reforms to Restore Checks and Balances, Protect Civil Liberties
Conservative Leaders Outline Legislative Package, Unveil Presidential Signing Pledge to Hold Presidential Candidates Accountable
WASHINGTON – An alliance of prominent national conservatives today announced the formation of the American Freedom Agenda (AFA), a campaign to restore governmental checks and balances and civil liberties protections under assault by the current Administration.
The AFA's mission is to reign in abuses of executive power that reach into three primary realms of our national foundation of government that have the greatest likelihood of adversely affecting personal liberties without appropriate checks and balances: the judicial and criminal justice system; national security; and the proper role of congressional oversight.
The launch of the AFA, and its mission to restore executive accountability, Tuesday coincided on the same day that the Justice Department's Inspector General testified before Congress on his findings regarding DOJ's misuse of its power to use warrantless searches to secretly go through people's financial, Internet and other records. In addition to these hearings, the introduction of the AFA occurred in a week where Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez is facing calls for his resignation from some Members of Congress in light of a series of revelations over the abuse of executive power ranging from the FBI's exploitation of national security letters of inquiry to controversy over misleading statements by DOJ and White House officials regarding the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys.
"The controversy with the Attorney General is symptomatic of a more serious illness within this Administration – which is the desire for unchecked power," said AFA Chairman Bruce Fein. "As fellow conservatives, we believe we have a greater responsibility than most to stand up to this particular Administration and demand that it respect the checks and balances established by the Founding Fathers. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, regardless of party affiliation, and we can no more remain silent to the abuses occurring under President Bush than we could if a President Clinton were in office. In advancing the American Freedom Agenda, we are all Conservatives, we are all Liberals, we are all Republicans, we are all Democrats. We are above all Americans who cherish the Constitution more than partisan advantage."
Fein, a constitutional scholar and former Associate Deputy Attorney General under President Reagan, was joined at the launch of the AFA by David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, the nation's oldest and largest grassroots conservative lobbying organization; Richard Viguerie, a writer and political activist who is considered one of the main architects of the conservative grassroots movement over the past quarter century; and Bob Barr, a former Member of Congress who served as an impeachment manager of President Clinton.
At its launch, the AFA outlined a legislative package that would bind the current and all future occupants of the White House, irrespective of party affiliation, to restore congressional oversight, personal civil liberties, and governmental checks and balances through the following:
Restore habeas corpus to prevent the illegal imprisonment of American citizens;
Prohibit torture and extraordinary rendition;
Narrow the President's authority to designate enemy combatants;
Prohibit unconstitutional wiretaps, email and mail openings via warrantless searches;
Protect journalists from prosecution under the Espionage Act for reporting on stories on national significance that do not reveal troop locations;
Prohibit Presidential Signing Statements that allow the President to sign into law legislation passed by Congress while rejecting line-item aspects of that same law;
Reform the ability of the federal government to win dismissal of constitutional grievances by private parties by claiming state secrets;
Reform executive privilege by creating legislative-executive committees to arbitrate disputes.
"We do not favor a crippled Executive," said Congressman Barr, who will work with his former colleagues to seek passage of the AFA's legislative package. "Rather, it is our belief that in times of danger, checks and balances will make for a stronger – not weaker – government because the people will more readily accept a muscular Executive if barriers against abuses are strong. We want to ensure that no man is above the law."
Keene and Viguerie, two of the most active conservatives in working to build a national grassroots conservative movement during the past decades, noted that one of the key objectives of the AFA would be to create a national grassroots network of support for the effort to return to basic conservative values that cherish individual liberty over excessive governmental power.
"We've spent the greater part of our lives working to build a national network of like-minded conservatives who remain true to the founding principles of our country, outlined in our Constitution, and we do not believe that any President – Republican or Democrat – trumps these principles," the two men said. "We plan to work through our networks, and to reach out to all Americans, regardless of partisan or ideological affiliation, to build a movement that demands that our government return to those principles upon which our nation was founded."
As a means to gauge the seriousness of current candidates for the Office of the President, the AFA unveiled a "Freedom Pledge," based on the principles outlined in its legislative package, which it is issuing to all Presidential candidates of both parties to sign.
Congressman Ron Paul, who has announced his candidacy for the Presidency, has signed the pledge, and the AFA will continue to work with the campaigns of all other candidates of both parties to secure their signatures, especially Republican aspirants.
Website: www.americanfreedomagenda.org
Contact Bruce Fein at: bruce@thelichfieldgroup.com
The American Freedom Agenda's (AFA) mission is twofold: the enactment of a cluster of statutes that would restore the Constitution's checks and balances as enshrined by the Founding Fathers; and, making the subject a staple of political campaigns and of foremost concern to Members of Congress and to voters and educators. Especially since 9/11, the executive branch has chronically usurped legislative or judicial power, and repeatedly claims that the President is the law. The constitutional grievances against the White House are chilling, reminiscent of the kingly abuses that provoked the Declaration of Independence.
President Bush asserts the power to detain American citizens indefinitely as illegal combatants at Guantanamo Bay based on evidence extracted by torture, with a presumption of guilt, and before a biased military tribunal. He is intercepting or claims the right to intercept the conversations, emails, and letters of Americans and to break and enter their homes on his say-so alone. The President is shielding counter-terrorism programs from congressional scrutiny by bogus invocations of executive privilege. He is disregarding hundreds of provisions of bills he has signed into law by declaring them unconstitutional. He has authorized the prosecution of alleged war criminals with secret and coerced evidence. With the consent of Congress, he has suspended the Great Writ of habeas corpus for alleged war criminals or illegal enemy combatants. He has created secret prisons abroad to interrogate kidnapped suspected terrorists or delivered them to foreign intelligence organizations anticipating torture. He has denied that Congress may limit his power to initiate warfare. And he has threatened criminal prosecutions of the news media for exposing his usurpations. Now is no time for summer soldiers or sunshine patriots in defense of American freedom.
The 10-point AFA statutory agenda would repeal the Military Commissions Act's authorization of military commissions for the trial of alleged war criminals based on coerced or secret evidence. The trials should proceed in civilian courts or by courts-martial which feature time-honored procedural safeguards to insure reliable verdicts.
The Act's suspension of habeas corpus for alleged war criminals or unlawful enemy combatants would also be repealed. The Great Writ of habeas corpus requires the executive branch to justify detentions before an independent and impartial judge. Habeas corpus has been a hallmark of the rule of law since Magna Charta in 1215.
The Act's open-ended definition of "unlawful enemy combatant" would be repealed. It reaches both citizens and non-citizens,and any person affiliated in marginal ways with international terrorist organizations. The substitute definition would confine unlawful enemy combatants to persons engaged in actual hostilities against the United States.
The National Security Agency's warrantless domestic surveillance program targeting American citizens on American soil in contravention of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 would be denied funding. Appropriations would also be prohibited for any executive spying programs that have not been fully disclosed to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees.
The state secrets privilege would be revoked. It denies victims of constitutional violations any remedy where proof of the government's wrong doing would disclose national security information, for example, an agreement by the United States to assist kidnappings by a foreign intelligence service.
Presidential signing statements, which declare the President's intent to disregard provisions of bills he has signed into law because he asserts they are unconstitutional, would be subject to challenge by the House and Senate collectively in the Supreme Court. The signing statements are tantamount to line-item vetoes which unconstitutionally encroach on legislative prerogatives.
Legislative-executive committees in the House and Senate would be empowered to decide claims of executive privilege invoked by the President to withhold information from Congress based on national security. Controlled by the legislative branch, the committee rulings would be final and binding.
A Sword of Damocles would be removed from the media by creating a journalist exception for the publication of national defense information leaked by the executive branch, Congress, or otherwise.
Renditions to foreign countries where torture or worse can be reasonably anticipated or secret prisons operated or employed by the United States abroad would be prohibited. Both practices have been prominent features of the "war on global terrorism," but are flagrantly inconsistent with the rule of law. They invite chilling injustices, for example, MaharArar, that fuel the recruitment efforts of Al Qaeda and thus make the United States less safe.
Finally, the President's authority to list organizations or persons as implicated in global terrorism based on secret evidence, a marginal connection with terrorists, and no opportunity for genuine judicial review would be repealed. The criminal law, including conspiracy and aiding and abetting provisions, has proven sufficient to deter, to thwart, and to punish terrorism in all is moods and tenses consistent with due process safeguards indispensable to reliable verdicts.
The AFA eschews any sunset clauses. It is intended to celebrate an enlightened equilibrium among the three branches of government for the ages.
Biographies of the Principles
Bruce Fein
Bob Barr
David Keene
Richard Viguerie
Freedom Pledge
I, (candidate), hereby pledge that if elected President of the United States I will undertake the following to restore the Constitution's checks and balances, to honor fundamental protections against injustice, and to eschew usurpations oflegislative or judicial power.These are keystones of national security and individual freedom:
1. No Military Commissions Except on the Battlefield. I will not employ military commissions to prosecute offenses against the laws of war except in places where active hostilities are ongoing and a battlefield tribunal is necessary to obtain fresh testimony and to prevent local anarchy or chaos.
2. No Evidence Extracted by Torture or Coercion. I will not permit the use of evidence obtained by torture or coercion to be admissible in a military commission or other tribunal.
3. No Detaining Citizens as Unlawful Enemy Combatants. I will not detain any American citizen as an unlawful enemy combatant. Citizens accused of terrorism-linked crimes will be prosecuted in federal civilian courts.
4. RestoringHabeas Corpus for Suspected Alien Enemy Combatants. I will detain non-citizens as enemy combatants only if they have actively participated in actual hostilities against the United States. I will urge Congress to amend the Military Commissions Act of 2006 to permit any individual detained under the custody or control of the United States government to file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in federal courts.
5. Prohibiting Warrantless Spying bythe National Security Agency in Violation of Law. I will prohibit the National Security Agency from gathering foreign intelligence except in conformity with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, and end the NSA's domestic surveillance program that targets American citizens on American soil for warrantless electronic surveillance.
6. Renouncing Presidential Signing Statements. I will not issue presidential signing statements declaring the intent to disregard provisions of a bill that I have signed into law because I believe they are unconstitutional. Instead, I will veto any bill that I believe contains an unconstitutional provision and ask Congress to delete it and re-pass the legislation.
7. Ending Secret Government by Invoking State Secrets Privilege. I will not invoke the state secrets privilege to deny remedies to individuals victimized by constitutional violations perpetrated by government officials or agents. I will not assert executive privilege to deny Congress information relevant to oversight or legislation unless supreme state secrets are involved. In that case, I will submit the privilege claim to a legislative-executive committee for definitive resolution.
8. Stopping Extraordinary Renditions. I will order the cessation of extraordinary renditions except where the purpose of the capture and transportation of the suspected criminal is for prosecution according to internationally accepted standards of fairness and due process.
9. Stopping Threats to Prosecuting Journalists under the Espionage Act. I will urge Congress to amend the Espionage Act to create a journalistic exception for reporting on matters relating to the national defense. As a matter of prosecutorial discretion, until such an amendment is enacted I will not prosecute journalists for alleged Espionage Act violations except for the intentional disclosure of information that threatens immediate physical harm to American troops or citizens at home or abroad.
10. Ending the Listing of Individuals or Organizations as Terrorists Based on Secret Evidence. I will not list individuals or organizations as foreign terrorists or foreign terrorist organizations for purposes of United States or international law based on secret evidence.
I will issue a public report annually elaborating on how the actions enumerated in paragraphs 1-10 have strengthened the ability of the United States to defeat international terrorism, secure fundamental freedoms, and preserve the nation's democratic dispensation.
(Candidate)
Date: ______________________
Presented by Bill haymin, 2007
Conservatives Challenge Presidential Power Grab, Demand Reforms to Restore Checks and Balances, Protect Civil Liberties
Conservative Leaders Outline Legislative Package, Unveil Presidential Signing Pledge to Hold Presidential Candidates Accountable
WASHINGTON – An alliance of prominent national conservatives today announced the formation of the American Freedom Agenda (AFA), a campaign to restore governmental checks and balances and civil liberties protections under assault by the current Administration.
The AFA's mission is to reign in abuses of executive power that reach into three primary realms of our national foundation of government that have the greatest likelihood of adversely affecting personal liberties without appropriate checks and balances: the judicial and criminal justice system; national security; and the proper role of congressional oversight.
The launch of the AFA, and its mission to restore executive accountability, Tuesday coincided on the same day that the Justice Department's Inspector General testified before Congress on his findings regarding DOJ's misuse of its power to use warrantless searches to secretly go through people's financial, Internet and other records. In addition to these hearings, the introduction of the AFA occurred in a week where Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez is facing calls for his resignation from some Members of Congress in light of a series of revelations over the abuse of executive power ranging from the FBI's exploitation of national security letters of inquiry to controversy over misleading statements by DOJ and White House officials regarding the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys.
"The controversy with the Attorney General is symptomatic of a more serious illness within this Administration – which is the desire for unchecked power," said AFA Chairman Bruce Fein. "As fellow conservatives, we believe we have a greater responsibility than most to stand up to this particular Administration and demand that it respect the checks and balances established by the Founding Fathers. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, regardless of party affiliation, and we can no more remain silent to the abuses occurring under President Bush than we could if a President Clinton were in office. In advancing the American Freedom Agenda, we are all Conservatives, we are all Liberals, we are all Republicans, we are all Democrats. We are above all Americans who cherish the Constitution more than partisan advantage."
Fein, a constitutional scholar and former Associate Deputy Attorney General under President Reagan, was joined at the launch of the AFA by David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, the nation's oldest and largest grassroots conservative lobbying organization; Richard Viguerie, a writer and political activist who is considered one of the main architects of the conservative grassroots movement over the past quarter century; and Bob Barr, a former Member of Congress who served as an impeachment manager of President Clinton.
At its launch, the AFA outlined a legislative package that would bind the current and all future occupants of the White House, irrespective of party affiliation, to restore congressional oversight, personal civil liberties, and governmental checks and balances through the following:
Restore habeas corpus to prevent the illegal imprisonment of American citizens;
Prohibit torture and extraordinary rendition;
Narrow the President's authority to designate enemy combatants;
Prohibit unconstitutional wiretaps, email and mail openings via warrantless searches;
Protect journalists from prosecution under the Espionage Act for reporting on stories on national significance that do not reveal troop locations;
Prohibit Presidential Signing Statements that allow the President to sign into law legislation passed by Congress while rejecting line-item aspects of that same law;
Reform the ability of the federal government to win dismissal of constitutional grievances by private parties by claiming state secrets;
Reform executive privilege by creating legislative-executive committees to arbitrate disputes.
"We do not favor a crippled Executive," said Congressman Barr, who will work with his former colleagues to seek passage of the AFA's legislative package. "Rather, it is our belief that in times of danger, checks and balances will make for a stronger – not weaker – government because the people will more readily accept a muscular Executive if barriers against abuses are strong. We want to ensure that no man is above the law."
Keene and Viguerie, two of the most active conservatives in working to build a national grassroots conservative movement during the past decades, noted that one of the key objectives of the AFA would be to create a national grassroots network of support for the effort to return to basic conservative values that cherish individual liberty over excessive governmental power.
"We've spent the greater part of our lives working to build a national network of like-minded conservatives who remain true to the founding principles of our country, outlined in our Constitution, and we do not believe that any President – Republican or Democrat – trumps these principles," the two men said. "We plan to work through our networks, and to reach out to all Americans, regardless of partisan or ideological affiliation, to build a movement that demands that our government return to those principles upon which our nation was founded."
As a means to gauge the seriousness of current candidates for the Office of the President, the AFA unveiled a "Freedom Pledge," based on the principles outlined in its legislative package, which it is issuing to all Presidential candidates of both parties to sign.
Congressman Ron Paul, who has announced his candidacy for the Presidency, has signed the pledge, and the AFA will continue to work with the campaigns of all other candidates of both parties to secure their signatures, especially Republican aspirants.
Website: www.americanfreedomagenda.org
Contact Bruce Fein at: bruce@thelichfieldgroup.com
The American Freedom Agenda's (AFA) mission is twofold: the enactment of a cluster of statutes that would restore the Constitution's checks and balances as enshrined by the Founding Fathers; and, making the subject a staple of political campaigns and of foremost concern to Members of Congress and to voters and educators. Especially since 9/11, the executive branch has chronically usurped legislative or judicial power, and repeatedly claims that the President is the law. The constitutional grievances against the White House are chilling, reminiscent of the kingly abuses that provoked the Declaration of Independence.
President Bush asserts the power to detain American citizens indefinitely as illegal combatants at Guantanamo Bay based on evidence extracted by torture, with a presumption of guilt, and before a biased military tribunal. He is intercepting or claims the right to intercept the conversations, emails, and letters of Americans and to break and enter their homes on his say-so alone. The President is shielding counter-terrorism programs from congressional scrutiny by bogus invocations of executive privilege. He is disregarding hundreds of provisions of bills he has signed into law by declaring them unconstitutional. He has authorized the prosecution of alleged war criminals with secret and coerced evidence. With the consent of Congress, he has suspended the Great Writ of habeas corpus for alleged war criminals or illegal enemy combatants. He has created secret prisons abroad to interrogate kidnapped suspected terrorists or delivered them to foreign intelligence organizations anticipating torture. He has denied that Congress may limit his power to initiate warfare. And he has threatened criminal prosecutions of the news media for exposing his usurpations. Now is no time for summer soldiers or sunshine patriots in defense of American freedom.
The 10-point AFA statutory agenda would repeal the Military Commissions Act's authorization of military commissions for the trial of alleged war criminals based on coerced or secret evidence. The trials should proceed in civilian courts or by courts-martial which feature time-honored procedural safeguards to insure reliable verdicts.
The Act's suspension of habeas corpus for alleged war criminals or unlawful enemy combatants would also be repealed. The Great Writ of habeas corpus requires the executive branch to justify detentions before an independent and impartial judge. Habeas corpus has been a hallmark of the rule of law since Magna Charta in 1215.
The Act's open-ended definition of "unlawful enemy combatant" would be repealed. It reaches both citizens and non-citizens,and any person affiliated in marginal ways with international terrorist organizations. The substitute definition would confine unlawful enemy combatants to persons engaged in actual hostilities against the United States.
The National Security Agency's warrantless domestic surveillance program targeting American citizens on American soil in contravention of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 would be denied funding. Appropriations would also be prohibited for any executive spying programs that have not been fully disclosed to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees.
The state secrets privilege would be revoked. It denies victims of constitutional violations any remedy where proof of the government's wrong doing would disclose national security information, for example, an agreement by the United States to assist kidnappings by a foreign intelligence service.
Presidential signing statements, which declare the President's intent to disregard provisions of bills he has signed into law because he asserts they are unconstitutional, would be subject to challenge by the House and Senate collectively in the Supreme Court. The signing statements are tantamount to line-item vetoes which unconstitutionally encroach on legislative prerogatives.
Legislative-executive committees in the House and Senate would be empowered to decide claims of executive privilege invoked by the President to withhold information from Congress based on national security. Controlled by the legislative branch, the committee rulings would be final and binding.
A Sword of Damocles would be removed from the media by creating a journalist exception for the publication of national defense information leaked by the executive branch, Congress, or otherwise.
Renditions to foreign countries where torture or worse can be reasonably anticipated or secret prisons operated or employed by the United States abroad would be prohibited. Both practices have been prominent features of the "war on global terrorism," but are flagrantly inconsistent with the rule of law. They invite chilling injustices, for example, MaharArar, that fuel the recruitment efforts of Al Qaeda and thus make the United States less safe.
Finally, the President's authority to list organizations or persons as implicated in global terrorism based on secret evidence, a marginal connection with terrorists, and no opportunity for genuine judicial review would be repealed. The criminal law, including conspiracy and aiding and abetting provisions, has proven sufficient to deter, to thwart, and to punish terrorism in all is moods and tenses consistent with due process safeguards indispensable to reliable verdicts.
The AFA eschews any sunset clauses. It is intended to celebrate an enlightened equilibrium among the three branches of government for the ages.
Biographies of the Principles
Bruce Fein
Bob Barr
David Keene
Richard Viguerie
Freedom Pledge
I, (candidate), hereby pledge that if elected President of the United States I will undertake the following to restore the Constitution's checks and balances, to honor fundamental protections against injustice, and to eschew usurpations oflegislative or judicial power.These are keystones of national security and individual freedom:
1. No Military Commissions Except on the Battlefield. I will not employ military commissions to prosecute offenses against the laws of war except in places where active hostilities are ongoing and a battlefield tribunal is necessary to obtain fresh testimony and to prevent local anarchy or chaos.
2. No Evidence Extracted by Torture or Coercion. I will not permit the use of evidence obtained by torture or coercion to be admissible in a military commission or other tribunal.
3. No Detaining Citizens as Unlawful Enemy Combatants. I will not detain any American citizen as an unlawful enemy combatant. Citizens accused of terrorism-linked crimes will be prosecuted in federal civilian courts.
4. RestoringHabeas Corpus for Suspected Alien Enemy Combatants. I will detain non-citizens as enemy combatants only if they have actively participated in actual hostilities against the United States. I will urge Congress to amend the Military Commissions Act of 2006 to permit any individual detained under the custody or control of the United States government to file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in federal courts.
5. Prohibiting Warrantless Spying bythe National Security Agency in Violation of Law. I will prohibit the National Security Agency from gathering foreign intelligence except in conformity with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, and end the NSA's domestic surveillance program that targets American citizens on American soil for warrantless electronic surveillance.
6. Renouncing Presidential Signing Statements. I will not issue presidential signing statements declaring the intent to disregard provisions of a bill that I have signed into law because I believe they are unconstitutional. Instead, I will veto any bill that I believe contains an unconstitutional provision and ask Congress to delete it and re-pass the legislation.
7. Ending Secret Government by Invoking State Secrets Privilege. I will not invoke the state secrets privilege to deny remedies to individuals victimized by constitutional violations perpetrated by government officials or agents. I will not assert executive privilege to deny Congress information relevant to oversight or legislation unless supreme state secrets are involved. In that case, I will submit the privilege claim to a legislative-executive committee for definitive resolution.
8. Stopping Extraordinary Renditions. I will order the cessation of extraordinary renditions except where the purpose of the capture and transportation of the suspected criminal is for prosecution according to internationally accepted standards of fairness and due process.
9. Stopping Threats to Prosecuting Journalists under the Espionage Act. I will urge Congress to amend the Espionage Act to create a journalistic exception for reporting on matters relating to the national defense. As a matter of prosecutorial discretion, until such an amendment is enacted I will not prosecute journalists for alleged Espionage Act violations except for the intentional disclosure of information that threatens immediate physical harm to American troops or citizens at home or abroad.
10. Ending the Listing of Individuals or Organizations as Terrorists Based on Secret Evidence. I will not list individuals or organizations as foreign terrorists or foreign terrorist organizations for purposes of United States or international law based on secret evidence.
I will issue a public report annually elaborating on how the actions enumerated in paragraphs 1-10 have strengthened the ability of the United States to defeat international terrorism, secure fundamental freedoms, and preserve the nation's democratic dispensation.
(Candidate)
Date: ______________________
Presented by Bill haymin, 2007
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