Floor Statement of House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte on H. Res. 639, authorizing the Speaker to appear as amicus curiae on behalf of the House of Representatives in the matter of United States v. Texas
Chairman Goodlatte: Without enforcement of the law, there cannot be accountability under law, and political accountability is essential to a functioning democracy.
We in the House of Representatives, who face reelection every two years under the Constitution, are perhaps reminded of that more often than others. And while there is at least one political branch willing to enforce the law, we will not fail to act through whatever means by which we can successfully avail ourselves.
When the President fails to perform his constitutional duty that he take care that the laws be faithfully executed, the Congress has appropriations and other powers over the President. But none of those powers can be exercised if a sizable Senate minority controlled by the President’s own political party refuses to exercise them, or in the absence of veto-proof majorities in both Houses. Nor would the exercise of those powers solve the problem at hand, because they would not actually require the President to faithfully execute the laws.
Of course, the most powerful and always available means of solving the problem at hand is to vote out of office a President who abuses his power. In the meantime, however, the need to pursue the establishment of clear principles of political accountability is of the essence. So today we consider a resolution to authorize the Speaker to file a brief on behalf of the House in litigation brought by a majority of the States challenging the constitutionality of the President’s unilateral immigration amnesty program.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court agreed to hear that constitutional challenge to the President’s immigration plan, which the people’s legislative representatives never approved. So far, a federal judge in Texas has issued a preliminary injunction in the case, blocking the enforcement of the President’s unilateral immigration amnesty. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that injunction. Importantly, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in the case, and rather than limiting the issue the way President Obama requested, it took the states’ suggestion and requested briefing on the following question: “whether the [President’s action] violates the Take Care Clause of the Constitution, Article II, Section 3.” That clause of the Constitution requires the President to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”
The Founders would have expected Members of the House of Representatives — known as the “People’s House” for its most direct connection to the will of the people — to aggressively guard their role in the constitutional legislative process. The resolution before us today will provide another means of doing just that.
The stakes of inaction are high. The lawsuit challenges the President’s failure to enforce key provisions of the immigration laws. We should all support this resolution today, as it aims to help deliver a simple message: Congress writes the laws, and the President enforces them. Our own constitutionally-required oath—to support the Constitution of the United States—requires no less.