Roscoe Bartlett: “I would like to start my discussion by referring to something that Congressman Paul has just referred to, and that is…”

“I would like to start my discussion by referring to something that Congressman Paul has just referred to, and that is there really is not just one, but two constitutional issues involved here. The first of those constitutional issues is Article 1, section 8 of the Constitution, and it is a little document, a very important one; I carry it in my pocket. Article 1, section 8 says that one of the responsibilities of the Congress is to declare war. There is no hint of that in the responsibilities of the President, who is Commander in Chief, who commands the troops after they are committed by the Congress. Yeltsin said that if we bomb, that could start World War III. By our President's own admission we were going to take casualties. I think it is very difficult to argue that this bombing would not have been the equivalent of what our Forefathers were talking about when they mentioned declaration of war. And that is not the only part of the Constitution that would have been violated by this. Article 1, section 9 says that no moneys shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law.…”