Ilhan Omar: “If a President decides to deploy troops domestically, the very least we can do as Congress is demand the same level of…”

“If a President decides to deploy troops domestically, the very least we can do as Congress is demand the same level of transparency that we expect when our troops are sent abroad. It is true that the Insurrection Act was used to integrate Little Rock Central High School and the University of Mississippi. It is also true that it was used to crush slave revolts and labor organizing. This amendment will go a long way towards helping inform Congress and the American people how a President intends to use the authority. This is not an abstract conversation. When the President threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act recently, he was threatening my constituents and our constituents. Unmistakably, he was threatening people exercising their First Amendment rights. There can be genuine emergencies when these powers are needed. We must protect against all possible abuses in situations where the emergencies do not exist.”