Political Quotes

“Madam President, Senator Kaine has spoken eloquently about events of today. I wish to speak for a few moments about events of 200- plus years ago. On Tuesday, August 17, 1787, at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, the delegates debated the question of war. They debated it passionately and with a sense of history and human nature. They understood the propensity of the Executive--any Executive throughout history, a prince, a king, a potentate, a sultan--to lead their country into war for good reasons or no good reasons. They understood that this was a basic question before the body--before the Constitutional Convention, and I would assert that the Framers knew what they were doing. Interestingly, in the first draft of the Constitution, the clause in article I, section 8 that says the Congress shall have the power to declare war, said: The Congress shall have the power to make war. That was the first draft. The debate was about whether Congress could effectively make and execute war. They wisely, I believe, realized that was impractical, given the nature of Congress and the large number of representatives, and the exigencies of war. So they left the power to the Commander in Chief, to the Chief Executive. They also recognized the Chief Executive's inherent power to repel an attack on this country. But in all other cases what the Constitution says is very clear. Article 1, section 8, says the Congress shall declare war. There was some discussion about this.…”