[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 493 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 493
Expressing disapproval of the failure to uphold the constitutional duty
to ``take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed'' and the
usurpation of the legislative authority of Congress by the President of
the United States.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 23, 2021
Mrs. Boebert (for herself, Mr. Posey, Mr. Bishop of North Carolina, Mr.
Duncan, Mr. Jackson, Mr. Gohmert, Mr. Hice of Georgia, Mr. Good of
Virginia, Mr. Griffith, Mr. Moore of Alabama, Mr. Cawthorn, Mr. Biggs,
Mr. Gaetz, Mr. Fallon, Mr. Massie, Mr. Nehls, Mr. Gosar, Mr. Mooney,
Mr. Norman, Mrs. Harshbarger, Mr. Gooden of Texas, Mr. Weber of Texas,
Mrs. Greene of Georgia, and Mr. Roy) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and
in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing disapproval of the failure to uphold the constitutional duty
to ``take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed'' and the
usurpation of the legislative authority of Congress by the President of
the United States.
Whereas article I of the United States Constitution vests Congress with all
legislative powers;
Whereas article I, section 8, clause 4 of the Constitution grants Congress clear
jurisdiction with regard to citizenship and immigration matters;
Whereas article II, section 3 of the United States Constitution imposes a duty
on the President to ``take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed'';
Whereas the Constitution does not delegate authority to the President to rewrite
or amend constitutionally enacted laws;
Whereas President George Washington explained the Constitution's Take Care
Clause as follows: ``It is my duty to see the Laws executed: to permit
them to be trampled with impunity would be repugnant to'' that duty;
Whereas James Madison wrote in The Federalist No. 47 that the ``accumulation of
all powers, legislative, executive and judiciary, in the same hands,
whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed,
or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny'';
Whereas the text of sections 235(b)(1)(B)(iii), 235(b)(1)(B)(iii)(IV),
235(b)(2)(A), and 239(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
requires detaining inadmissible aliens and issuing Notices to Appear;
Whereas it is the duty of the President of the United States to ensure the
faithful execution of the immigration laws of the United States and
enforce all provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act mandating
removal of inadmissible or removable aliens;
Whereas the Department of Homeland Security (hereafter DHS) has entered into
more than 100 agreements under section 287(g) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(g)) with State and local law enforcement
agencies;
Whereas DHS entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on January 8, 2021, with
the State of Texas; in which DHS agreed to ``consult with Texas before
taking any action or making any decision that would reduce immigration
enforcement,'' including pausing or decreasing deportations;
Whereas the agreement required DHS to provide 180 days' notice of any proposed
action to reduce immigration enforcement;
Whereas, on January 20, 2021, the President's administration unilaterally
ordered a ``100-day pause'' on the removal of any alien with a final
order of removal pending DHS review;
Whereas the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas initially
issued a Temporary Restraining Order against the President's ``100-day
pause'';
Whereas the Court stated the statute ``does not imply total discretion to pause
or suspend a statutory mandate'';
Whereas the same Court followed with a preliminary injunction pending a final
ruling;
Whereas the ``100-day pause'' would suspend action against more than 1 million
aliens subject to final orders of removal;
Whereas in 2015 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held the Obama
Administration's planned expansion of its Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA) program to cover a broad category of persons was
unlawful;
Whereas in 2018 the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
during a hearing challenging the legality of DACA stated that DACA was
likely unlawful and that DHS may defer removal in specific cases and
that exercising discretion to a large class of aliens contravenes the
INA's statutory scheme;
Whereas, on January 20, 2021, the President issued a Memorandum for the Attorney
General and Secretary of Homeland Security ``to preserve and fortify
DACA'';
Whereas in January 2020, the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO)
issued a legal opinion finding ``faithful execution of the law does not
permit the President to substitute his own policy priorities for those
that Congress has enacted into law'';
Whereas GAO found further that the previous administration's temporary
withholding of foreign aid funds was not permitted under the Impoundment
Control Act;
Whereas President Biden may have violated the Impoundment Control Act, in
directing that no funds Congress had appropriated to build the border
wall would be spent on building the wall;
Whereas, on February 5, 2021, the President suspended agreements with certain
Central American countries resulting in a massive surge of people at the
southern border claiming asylum;
Whereas, on February 18, 2021, the President began allowing criminal aliens with
felony records to remain in the United States;
Whereas the President threatens to ensure an immigration crisis continues at the
southern border by offering amnesty to millions of illegal aliens;
Whereas more than 180,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended by Border Patrol
in May 2021;
Whereas one year ago under President Trump, there were 1,400 unaccompanied
minors in Department of Health and Human Services custody, and now under
President Biden there are 22,000;
Whereas Alejandro Mayorkas took an oath to defend and secure our country and
uphold the U.S. Constitution when he was sworn in as Secretary of the
Department of Homeland Security on February 2;
Whereas in more than four months, Secretary Mayorkas has failed to faithfully
uphold his oath and has instead presided over a reckless abandonment of
border security and immigration law enforcement, at the expense of the
U.S. Constitution and security of the United States; and
Whereas the President has endangered the America people: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) calls on the President to remove Alejandro Mayorkas as
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and replace
him with leadership that will prioritize the security of the
United States and faithfully enforce the laws enacted by
Congress;
(2) disapproves of the President's usurpation of the
legislative power of Congress in his withholding of duly
appropriated funding for the southern border wall;
(3) calls on the President to employ all lawful means to
enforce the immigration laws of the United States;
(4) calls on the President to ensure the faithful execution
of the immigration laws of the United States;
(5) reaffirms that the preservation of the Constitution's
separation of powers is essential for the protection of
individual liberty and the maintenance of the rule of law; and
(6) censures the President for his failure to ``take Care
that the Laws be faithfully executed'' as required by the
Constitution.
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