President Seeks Dissmisal of Lawsuit Challenging Withdrawal From ABM Treaty [edited for space]

AP ^ | 8/6/02 | Christopher Newton

[hchutch]

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Justice Department asked a federal court Tuesday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by 31 House members challenging President Bush's authority to withdraw the United States from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

The United States officially left the treaty in June, six months after Bush announced his intentions to do so. The plaintiffs are all Democrats, except for one independent who usually votes with Democrats.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, the lead plaintiff, has said the president must first seek the consent of Congress before pulling the United States from the treaty.

In a court document seeking dismissal of the case, the government said the Constitution grants the president full control over the conduct of foreign affairs and most treaty matters.

"The plaintiff's position also does not take into account Congress' failure in over 200 years to seek to set for itself a more definite role in treaty termination," government attorneys wrote.

Precedents also show that federal courts can only become involved in disputes between the executive and legislative branches of government when a plaintiff can prove he or she was personally harmed, the government argued. Allegations that legislative authority has been diminished do not qualify, as those complaints can be remedied by the lawmaking process.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, also names Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell as defendants.

It states that while the Constitution is silent on the role of Congress in treaty terminations, treaties have the status of "supreme law of the land" equivalent to federal laws and that laws can be repealed only by an act of Congress.

"I am troubled that many in Congress appear willing to cede our constitutional responsibility on this matter to the executive branch," Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis, said earlier this year.

In House debate in June, Republicans argued that past presidents have terminated dozens of treaties without consulting Congress. Kucinich pointed to an 1835 House vote blocking President Jackson from pulling out of a treaty with France.

In 1979 the late Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., sued President Carter over his decision to terminate a mutual defense treaty with Taiwan when he established diplomatic relations with the Beijing government. The Supreme Court, without ruling on the constitutional issue, vacated or threw out an appeals court ruling in favor of Carter and ordered it sent back for reconsideration.

Four of the justices said it was a political matter that should be decided between Congress and the president.

AP-ES-08-06-02 1030EDT

[hchutch]

Looks like the Dems are still whining.

They're out of luck. U.S. v. Curtiss-Wright and Goldwater v. Carter make it pretty clear in my opinion.

Unless it's Judge Kessler hearing the case...

[hchutch]

FYI.

[boris]

"Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio"

Didn't he used to be a Republican?...in name only maybe?...

I guess I haven't been paying attention. Somebody help me out here.

--Boris

[JohnHuang2]

Thanks for the ping, friend.

[JohnHuang2]

[RightWhale]

The right to withdraw from the treaty is written in the treaty itself. Congress has given approval for the President to activate the withdrawal clause by approving the treaty in the first place. Pre-approved, done deal, no grounds.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[JohnHuang2]

Welcome =^)

[cardinal4]

I think you are thinking of Kasich,he was a republican congressman from Ohio,and is now a Fox contributor.

[TheBigB]

Nope. He used to be Mayor of Cleveland (D) at age 30. Un-elected as soon as possible. He defeated Rep. Martin Hoke (R) in...1996, maybe?

[Miss Marple]

Maybe you are thinking of Senator Voinovich. Kucinich has always been a democrat, and an especially smarmy one at that.

[hchutch]

Agreed.

That guy is VERY naive about the world at best.

[KarlInOhio]

"Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio"

Didn't he used to be a Republican?...in name only maybe?...

You may be thinking of Voinovich. They both used to be mayors of Cleveland. Voinovich was governor of Ohio for two terms and is now a RINO senator.

[Paleo Conservative]

First, the House has no role with respect to treaties. Second, do the DemocRATS really want to go down this road? If Senate DemocRATS could argue that the President has no authority to terminate the treaty himself, Republicans could counter by saying that the ABM treaty was rendered obsolete by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Clinton declared the Russian Federation to be the successor state to the Soviet Union without any advice or consent of the Senate. If the Supreme Court were to rule Bush's termination of the treaty invalid, it would also have to rule that Clinton's declaration of Russia as the successor state is invalid. Either way the treaty dies.

[hchutch]

I think the President gets wide latitude in foreign affairs.

If Congress doesn't like it, they can pass a law requiring adherence to a treaty he withdraws from OR they can cut off funding.

Both actions are subject to a veto, of course.

[boris]

"I think you are thinking of Kasich,he was a republican congressman from Ohio,and is now a Fox contributor."

Yeah. Sorry for the confusion. Ohio, starts with "K"...

[Kaslin]

Kucinich

Kasich

[Timesink]

Second, do the DemocRATS really want to go down this road?

Of course they do! They've become so intellectually bankrupt, and so morally whored out to their various special interest groups (You do what Uncle Jesse tells you to do, son!) that the only chance they have is to throw as much mud as possible and pray something sticks.

[MeekOneGOP]

Hmm? I went to search Google for "Whining Democrats" and guess what? Nuttin' ! Here's the only picture they list for that!:

Incredible!

Whining Democrats
http://images.google.com/images?q=Whining+Democrats&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en

But using this Hotbot Search for "Whining Democrats", I found links to these:

Anybody really want to
re-elect Gore in 2004?
(Photo by Slobadan Dimitrov)

---

And this (arse-holes)........

Thanks to Mo Paul

Today's Quote
"...there is no compelling evidence that Baghdad was involved in the September 11th attacks, and... Saddam's human rights record, while appalling, is not demonstrably worse than a dozen other tyrants... Unless Bush can mount a more persuasive case that Saddam is uniquely dangerous, the Iraqi's overthrow by force would send a powerful message that might is right and that the United States alone determines the rules of the game."

Dupont is with the Australian National University, writing in the International Herald Tribune
Alan Dupont, 06-Aug-02

Search #3 even found THIS link to a FreeRepublic.com article !:

3.	Democrats to dismiss 'extreme' nominees [Free Republic]
	FreeRepublic.com "A Conservative News Forum" [ Last | Latest Posts | Latest Articles | Self Search | Add Bookmark | Post | Abuse | Help! ] Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are th 5/4/2002 http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3af638456ff2.htm The Hotbot Search had MORE, too !