Defining Presidential wars not declared by Congress under article I, section 8, clause 11 (Declare War Clause) as impeachable "high crimes and misdemeanors" within the meaning of article II, section 4 of the Constitution and defining the meanings of war and cobelligerency for purposes of the Declare War Clause and Impeachment provisions.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 411 Defining Presidential wars not declared by Congress under article I, section 8, clause 11 (Declare War Clause) as impeachable ‘‘high crimes and misdemeanors’’ within the meaning of article II, section 4 of the Con- stitution and defining the meanings of war and cobelligerency for pur- poses of the Declare War Clause and Impeachment provisions. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 30, 2019 Ms. GABBARD submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary RESOLUTION Defining Presidential wars not declared by Congress under article I, section 8, clause 11 (Declare War Clause) as impeachable ‘‘high crimes and misdemeanors’’ within the meaning of article II, section 4 of the Constitution and defining the meanings of war and cobelligerency for pur- poses of the Declare War Clause and Impeachment provi- sions. Whereas Presidential wars not declared by Congress under article I, section 8, clause 11 are the most flagrant and dangerous of Presidential usurpations; Whereas President George Washington, who had presided over the Constitutional Convention and supported the Declare War Clause, elaborated during his service in of- VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR411.IH HR411 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HRES 411 IH fice: ‘‘The Constitution vests the power of declaring war with Congress; therefore, no offensive expedition of im- portance can be undertaken until after they have delib- erated on the subject and authorized such a measure.’’; Whereas Presidential wars saddle the people with multitrillion dollar indebtedness, diverts national genius from produc- tion to destruction, cripples liberty, silences the law, awakens enemies, and provokes blowback in the United States; Whereas the absence of impeachment standards creates an appearance that impeachment is a partisan exercise, which undermines its legitimacy and deters its use; Whereas the absence of definitions of war and cobelligerency for purposes of the Declare War Clause undermines its enforcement through the impeachment process or other- wise; Whereas the law should warn before it strikes; Whereas article I, section 2, clause 5 provides that, ‘‘The House of Representatives . . . shall have the sole Power of Impeachment’’; Whereas the impeachment power of the House of Representa- tives is a cornerstone safeguard against Presidential tyr- anny; Whereas the past neglect of the House of Representatives to use the impeachment power against Presidential usurpations and lawlessness has concentrated alarming power in the executive branch, crippled liberty, under- mined transparency, and encouraged Presidents to fur- ther aggrandizements; Whereas article II, section 4 of the Constitution provides that, ‘‘The President, Vice President and all civil Officers VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR411.IH HR411 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HRES 411 IH of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors’’; Whereas the Constitutional Convention rejected ‘‘neglect of duty’’ or ‘‘maladministration’’ as impeachment standards in favor of ‘‘high crimes and misdemeanors’’ because the former terms were too broad; Whereas impeachable ‘‘high crimes and misdemeanors’’ has an objective meaning based on the intent of the Constitu- tion’s Framers and British impeachment precedents; Whereas Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 65 explained that impeachable offenses ‘‘proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or viola- tion of some public trust. They are of a nature which may with peculiar propriety be denominated POLIT- ICAL, as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself’’; Whereas the House of Representatives has voted Articles of Impeachment against two Presidents, one Cabinet officer, one Senator, one Supreme Court Justice, and 14 Federal judges without providing a general standard for defining an impeachable offense; and Whereas every participant in the drafting, debating, and rati- fying of the Constitution understood that the Declare War Clause prohibited Presidential wars and entrusted exclusively to Congress the solemn responsibility for de- ciding whether the Nation should cross the Rubicon from a state of peace to a state of war: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, 1 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR411.IH HR411 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HRES 411 IH SECTION 1. DEFINING PRESIDENTIAL WARS AS IMPEACH- 1 ABLE OFFENSES. 2 That the House of Representatives declares the fol- 3 lowing Presidential actions shall constitute impeachable 4 ‘‘high crimes and misdemeanors’’ within the meaning of 5 article II, section 4, which will cause the House to vote 6 an Article or Articles of Impeachment to send to the Sen- 7 ate for trial: ‘‘Initiating wars against state or nonstate ac- 8 tors without prior congressional declarations under article 9 I, section 8, clause 11 (Declare War Clause) by which 10 Congress itself decides to take the United States from a 11 condition of peace to a condition of war against an identi- 12 fied enemy.’’. 13 SEC. 2. DEFINING PRESIDENTIAL WARS. 14 Nothing in this resolution shall be interpreted to pro- 15 hibit the President from responding with proportionate 16 military force in the exercise of national self-defense to 17 actual or imminent aggression or a declaration of war 18 against the United States. 19 SEC. 3. COBELLIGERNCY. 20 This resolution shall be interpreted to prohibit the 21 President from making the United States a cobelligerent 22 in an ongoing war without a congressional declaration 23 under the Declare War Clause. For purposes of this sec- 24 tion, the United States becomes a cobelligerent if it sys- 25 tematically or substantially supplies war materials, mili- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR411.IH HR411 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HRES 411 IH tary troops, trainers, or advisers, military intelligence, fi- 1 nancial support or their equivalent in association, coopera- 2 tion, assistance, or common cause with another bellig- 3 erent. 4 SEC. 4. NONEXCLUSIVITY. 5 This resolution shall not be interpreted to preclude 6 the House of Representatives from concluding that other 7 Presidential actions constitute impeachable ‘‘high crimes 8 and misdemeanors’’ within the meaning of article II, sec- 9 tion 4, either by supplemental resolutions or by ad hoc 10 determinations. 11 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 12 This resolution shall take effect upon passage by the 13 House of Representatives. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR411.IH HR411 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS