Political Quotes

“I came to the floor previously to speak about President Obama's unconstitutional appointments of Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and of three new members to the National Labor Relations Board. I spoke about why this blatant overstep of executive authority violates the President's right to make recess appointments under article II, section 2 of the Constitution. I described its unequivocal reversal of years of precedent which the Obama Justice Department's Office of Legal Council has since defended, essentially stating that pro forma sessions no longer matter. This issue is far from over. We cannot allow it simply to go away and the illegal appointments must eventually be set aside. The 23-page Justice Department opinion, written by Assistant Attorney General Virginia A. Seitz, wrongly advises that, despite the convening of pro forma sessions, the President ``has discretion to conclude that the Senate is unavailable to perform its advise-and-consent function and to exercise his power to make recess appointments.'' Under this misguided opinion, the Obama administration is suggesting that the executive branch--not Congress--can determine when the legislative branch is in session. The egregious overreach undermines the checks and balances at the very heart of our Constitution. I am deeply concerned that this presumptuous action by the President poses profound and dangerous implications.…”