Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in opposition to H.J. Res. 68 and all of this afternoon's privileged resolutions on this matter. The International Emergency Economic Powers Act created a process by which the President could declare a national emergency, create sanctions authorities for that emergency, and impose those sanctions on the malign actors that are causing the emergency in the first place. While I agree with my colleagues about the need for congressional oversight and modernization of Presidential emergency powers, I strongly disagree with the process by which they are trying to force change. The national emergencies we are discussing today provide the legal basis for critical sanctions programs targeting some of the most evil people on Earth. Although some of these authorities were enacted years ago, many of these sanctioned individuals continue to pose a clear and present danger to U.S. national security interests today. These ill-thought-out joint resolutions, by terminating these national emergencies, would immediately eliminate these sanctions programs without allowing adequate time for Congress or the executive branch to establish an alternative sanctioning authority. It would also unfreeze sanctioned individuals' assets, immediately putting millions of dollars into the hands of some of the world's most dangerous criminals. Even if a new authority were created, these monsters would not be automatically resanctioned.…”