Posted on 08/03/2007 9:46:51 AM PDT by kristinn
WASHINGTON - President Bush said Friday that Congress must stay in session until it approves legislation modernizing a U.S. law governing eavesdropping on foreigners.
"So far the Democrats in Congress have not drafted a bill I can sign," Bush said at FBI headquarters, where he was meeting with counterterror and homeland security officials. "We've worked hard and in good faith with the Democrats to find a solution, but we are not going to put our national security at risk. Time is short."
The president, who has the power under the Constitution to keep Congress in session, said lawmakers cannot leave for their August recess this weekend as planned unless they "pass a bill that will give our intelligence community the tools they need to protect the United States."
Earlier Friday, the White House offered an eleventh-hour accord to Democrats in the negotiations over the matter, saying it would agree to a court review of its foreign intelligence activities instead of leaving certification up to the attorney general and director of national intelligence.
But it attached several conditions that could be unacceptable to Democrats: that the review would only be after-the-fact and would only involve the administration's general process of collecting the intelligence, not individual cases, said a senior administration official speaking on condition of anonymity to more freely discuss internal deliberations.
SNIP
The two sides, however, still are far from striking a deal on what all agree needs to happen, and soon: an update of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
At issue is how the government would spy on foreign terror suspects overseas without invading Americans' privacy rights. Democrats want the special FISA Court to review the eavesdropping process to make sure the surveillance does not focus on communications that might be sent to and from Americans.
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
The President has been facing down Congress time and time again on War-related issues since they came in.
They haven't won once yet.
Putting his foot down on their vacation!
Oh, I didn't know the Pres. had been remiss in that particular area but, OK, I can be happy this lying Congress is being forced to put their work first.
Would what happen if the Congress recessed anyways? Anyone know?
I love you Mr. President :)
We should demand they stay in D.C. until a border fence is built.
You might have misunderstood my post. I’m well aware of the clause that gives the President the power to keep Congress in session until he says they can adjourn.
My question, because I haven’t studied the matter, is whether he can compel the attendance of individual members. That’s the issue, IMO, because if he can do that, then he can empower U. S. Marshals to go git ‘em and bring ‘em into the House and Senate for the session.
I’d pay money to see that.
like??? no, precisely.
The congressional rats are playing games with the tally board right now.
Same thing that happens when they don’t, just quieter! :p
I don’t like how their view comment system is. Silly Democrats
The media love to right so fake stories based on their wet dreams "The Congress orders Bush to do so and so" where in reality the Congress has zero power over the President if they do not have 2/3 of the votes in both Houses to overcome his veto, and they very rarely get it, and for sure they are not going to get it these days and with this Congress. However in a single order, one man, the President of the United States orders 535 members of Congress to stay and work and he has the power to do so according to the Constitution.
God bless the Founding Fathers :)
Of course, if he actually does this, he loses the ability to make recess appointments since they won’t be in recess. I have no idea whether there are any he would like to make in that fashion, but if he does, then this decision would come at a cost.
It’s a beautiful thing when he makes these one-stroke wonder moves! Nobody is better at it or ever has been, IMHO. They must be furious, to be treated like scolded children. What went around, came around! LOL!
Amen to your post.
The president, who has the power under the Constitution to keep Congress in session, said lawmakers cannot leave for their August recess this weekend as planned unless they "pass a bill that will give our intelligence community the tools they need to protect the United States."
ooops right = write
I'm looking forward to that.
Carolyn
Check out cspan now. Fireworks are going on in the house. Dems are trying to railroad through a motion to adjourn, despite the fact the voting machine are broken down.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.