Political Quotes

“Mr. President, there is a reason Article I of the Constitution is about the structures around the legislative branch and Article II of the Constitution imagines structures around the executive branch. It was the legislative branch that was most important to the Founders. It was rooted in the desires and dreams and priorities of the people. The way in which we structure ourselves and how we have become chosen to these bodies has changed over the years, but we are Article I for a reason. The division of labor between the Article I branch and the Article II branch was not limited only to domestic policy. The Founding Fathers spent a lot of time talking about making sure that the Article I branch had a significant say, a dispositive say over foreign matters as well. That is why we have the power to declare war, not the executive. That is why we have the power of the purse when it comes to funding overseas activities, and it is the reason Congress gave itself the power to have oversight over the arms that we sell to the rest of the world. It is because these arms and the relationships that surround the sale of these arms are amongst the most important foreign policy decisions that we make. We don't have to look far to understand how arms sales can go wrong very quickly.…”