Concerning the use of military force by the United States against Iran.

Madam Speaker, I would like to place the following article written by eminent conservative commentator Patrick Buchanan into the Congressional Record. In this fine op-ed, Mr. Buchanan makes reference to the recent efforts by my colleague and good friend, Rep. Walter Jones, Jr, to derail the march to war with Iran. I am very pleased to have been an original co-sponsor of the legislation referenced by Mr. Buchanan, H.J. Res. 14, which puts forth the very simple idea that if we are going to have a war with Iran we must follow the Constitution. The resolution clarifies the fact that the President shall consult with Congress, and receive specific authorization pursuant to law from Congress, prior to initiating any use of military force against Iran. I hope my colleagues will read this article closely and consider what Mr. Buchanan has written--and what Rep. Jones is trying to do.

January 16, 2007.

Mr. Bush, Meet Walter Jones

(By Patrick J. Buchanan)

America is four years into a bloody debacle in Iraq not

merely because Bush and Cheney marched us in, or simply

because neocon propagandists lied about Saddam's nuclear

program and WMD, and Iraqi ties to al-Qaeda, anthrax attacks,

and 9/11.

We are there because a Democratic Senate voted to give Bush

a blank check for war. Democrats in October 2002 wanted the

war vote behind them so they could go home and campaign as

pro-war patriots.

And because they did, 3,000 Americans are dead, 25,000 are

wounded, perhaps 100,000 Iraqis have lost their lives, 1.6

million have fled, $400 billion has been lost, and America

stands on the precipice of the worst strategic defeat in her

history.

Yet, Sens. Clinton, Biden, Kerry, and Edwards--all of whom

voted to give Bush his blank check--are now competing to

succeed him. And how do they justify what they did?

``If only we had known then what we know now,'' they plead,

``we would never have voted for the war.'' They are thus

confessing to dereliction in the highest duty the Founding

Fathers gave Congress. They voted to cede to a president

their power to take us to war.

Now they wash their hands of it all and say, ``It's Bush's

war!''

And now George Bush has another war in mind.

In his Jan. 11 address, Bush said that to defend the

``territorial integrity'' of Iraq, the United States must

address ``Iran and Syria.''

``These two regimes are allowing terrorists and insurgents

to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq. Iran is

providing material support for attacks on American troops. We

will disrupt the attacks on our forces. We will interrupt the

flow of support from Iran and Syria. And we will seek out and

destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training

to our enemies in Iraq.''

The city sat bolt upright. If Bush was talking about

Iranian agents inside Iraq, he has no need of a second

aircraft carrier in the Gulf, nor for those Patriot missiles

he is sending to our allies.

But does Bush have the authority to take us to war against

Iran?

On ABC last Sunday, National Security Adviser Stephen

Hadley, while denying Bush intends to attack Iran,

nonetheless did not deny Bush had the authority to escalate

the war--right into Iran.

George Stephanopoulos: ``So you don't believe you have the

authority to go into Iran?''

Stephen Hadley: ``I didn't say that. That is another issue.

Any time you have questions about crossing international

borders, there are legal questions.''

Any doubt how Attorney General Gonzales would come down on

those ``legal questions''? Any doubt how the Supreme Court

would rule?

Biden sputters that should Bush attack Iran, a

constitutional crisis would ensue.

I don't believe it. If tomorrow Bush took out Iran's

nuclear facilities, would a Senate that lacks the courage to

cut funds for an unpopular war really impeach him for denying

a nuclear capability to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Bush's lawyers

would make the same case Nixon made for the 1970

``incursion'' into Cambodia--and even a Nixon-hating

Democratic House did not dare to impeach him for that.

Bush's contempt for Congress is manifest and, frankly,

justified.

Asked if Congress could stop him from surging 21,500 troops

into Iraq, Bush on 60 Minutes brushed aside Congress as

irrelevant.

``I fully understand [the Congress] could try to stop me

from doing it. But I've made my decision. And we're going

forward.'' Asked if he had sole authority ``to put the troops

in there no matter what the Congress wants to do,'' Bush

replied, ``In this situation I do, yeah.''

Is Congress then impotent, if it does not want war on Iran?

Enter Rep. Walter Jones, Republican of North Carolina.

The day after Bush's threat to Iran, Jones introduced a

Joint Resolution, ``Concerning the Use of Military Force by

the United States Against Iran.'' Under HJR 14, ``Absent a

national emergency created by attack by Iran, or a

demonstrably imminent attack by Iran, upon the United States,

its territories, possessions, or its armed forces, the

President shall consult with Congress, and receive specific

authorization pursuant to law from Congress, prior to

initiating any use of force on Iran.''

Jones' resolution further declares, ``No provision of law

enacted before the date of the enactment of this joint

resolution shall be construed to authorize the use of

military force by the United States against Iran.''

If we are going to war on Iran, Jones is saying, we must

follow the Constitution and Congress must authorize it.

If Biden, Kerry, Clinton, and Obama refuse to sign on to

the Jones resolution, they will be silently conceding that

Bush indeed does have the power to start a war on Iran. And

America should pay no further attention to the Democrats'

wailing about being misled on the Iraq war.

Mr. Speaker, if the President were to ask me for advice on foreign affairs, this is what I would say: Don't do it, Mr. President. It is a bad idea. There is no need for it. There is great danger in doing it. America is against it, and Congress should be. The United Nations is against it. The Russians, the Chinese, the Indians, the Pakistanis are against it. The whole world is against it. Our allies are against it. Our enemies are against it. The Arabs are against it. The Europeans are against it. The Muslims are against it.

We don't need to do this. The threat is overblown. The plan is a hysterical reaction to a problem that does not yet exist. Hysteria is never a good basis for foreign policy. Don't we ever learn? Have we already forgotten Iraq?

The plan defies common sense. If it is carried out, the Middle East and possibly the world will explode. Oil will soar to over $100 a barrel, and gasoline will be over $5 a gallon.

Despite what some think, it won't serve the interests of Israel. Besides, it is illegal. It is unconstitutional. And, Mr. President, you have no moral authority to do it.

We don't need it. We don't want it. So, Mr. President, don't do it. Don't bomb Iran.

The moral of the story, Mr. Speaker, is this: If you don't have a nuclear weapon, we will threaten to attack you. If you do have a nuclear weapon, we will leave you alone. In fact, we will probably subsidize you. What makes us think Iran does not understand this?

Mr. Speaker, I would like now to yield to my friend from North Carolina (Mr. Jones).

I thank you very much for those comments.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Paul for so many years coming down to the floor to defend the Constitution of the United States.

The United States Constitution, article I, Section 8, clause 11, vests in the Congress the exclusive power to declare war. Many of us in the past few days have put in a resolution, H.J. Resolution 14, to say that the President should not go into and bomb Iran unless he comes to the Congress so that the Congress can meet its constitutional responsibility.

James Madison said, `` . . . The power to declare war, including the power of judging the causes of war, is fully and exclusively vested in the legislature . . . the Executive has no right, in any case, to decide the question, whether there is or is not cause for declaring war.''

I want to thank you, Ron Paul, for always being a spokesman and a protector of the Constitution.