The Powers and Responsibilities of Congress Under the Constitution

I thank the gentleman for the introduction and I thank you for your leadership. The gentleman from Kentucky is taking us on what hopefully will be a bipartisan effort to restore the responsibilities this Congress has under Article I, and just brings that back to the forefront, because checks and balances are very important in this government. I also want to commend the leadership of our president, Tim Walz, the gentleman from Minnesota, who is an outspoken advocate for the people that he represents and, frankly, that's what Article 1 is all about.

You know, as you point out, when we were elected to Congress, we were elected to represent the people of our districts. Not lobbyists on K Street, and not operatives at the White House, or even the President himself. Our responsibility and our loyalty is to the American people who sent us here, and that means that we have to do the job that they asked us to do. That job is important and we know exactly what that job is, because Article 1 in some ways is a job description.

As you point out, it's not about really just authority, it's about responsibilities. And nowhere in that job description in Article 1 does it say that we have to protect the egos or political interests of the executive branch. Nowhere does it say that we have to do only things that the President tells us to do. And nowhere in that job description does it say that Congress answers to anyone but the American people.

So when past Congresses... and there's sort of been a slope here where past Congresses have ceded legislative power to the executive branch. And when that happens, I feel that Congress is falling down on the job. We're here tonight to reinvigorate and rededicate ourselves to make sure rededicate ourselves to the functions under Article 1 because it's so important... from the war in Iraq to all of these judiciary issues. And at this point, I yield back.