Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that President Barack Obama should immediately work to reverse damaging and illegal actions taken by the Bush/Cheney Administration and collaborate with Congress to proactively prevent any further abuses of executive branch power.
Latest action · Jun 12, 2009 Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.
Progress
Where this resolution reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried. A simple resolution is the business of one chamber alone: it is not sent to the other chamber or to the President, and does not become law.
- IntroducedMay 7, 2009
- Agreed to in HouseNot reached
Summary
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that President Obama should : (1) reaffirm the nation's commitment to the rule of law, checks and balances, the legislative process, and the Bill of Rights; (2) support Congress's right of access to information to perform its legislative and oversight functions; (3) cooperate with congressional investigations into the lack of prosecutions under the War Crimes Act and the Federal Anti-Torture Act despite allegations of serious violations; (4) reaffirm U.S. treaty obligations under the Geneva Conventions and ensure that all individuals held by the United States have access to petition for a writ of habeas corpus; (5) ensure that all suspected terrorists at Guantanamo are immediately tried in fair judicial proceedings; (6) engage the international community to ensure the release of innocent detainees; (7) require independent judicial review of claims of state secrets privilege by executive branch officials; (8) reaffirm that the Office of the Vice President is part of the executive branch; (9) collaborate with Congress to investigate presidential pardons and articulate comprehensive standards to guide future pardons; and (10) commit to providing all signing statements for publication, affirm Congress' right to participate in court proceedings regarding the constitutionality of such statements, and ensure that Congress can obtain testimony from administration officials claiming executive privilege to justify such statements.
Calls on the President to cooperate with congressional efforts to: (1) establish an independent investigation to hold all Bush Administration officials accountable for any crimes; (2) ensure that the disclosure of the identity of any U.S. intelligence agent could give rise to criminal liability; (3) restore faith in the American justice system by investigating and censuring officials for misconduct in office; (4) repeal the redefinition of grave abuses of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions included in the Military Commissions Act of 2006; (5) tighten standards for when a declaration of war is required for military action; (6) strengthen federal perjury laws to prohibit the issuance of false statements, concealment, or false documentation in any matter related to a presidential request for a declaration of war; (7) codify strong anti-torture language and approve uniform standards for interrogation of individuals in U.S. custody; and (8) prohibit the transfer of persons by the U.S. for detention, interrogation, or trial to a country that supports torture, cruel, or degrading treatment in the detention or interrogation of individuals.
Cosponsors
Members who signed on, in the order they did.
Committees 4
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred May 7, 2009 |
| Crime and Federal Government Surveillance Subcommittee | Referred Jun 12, 2009 | |
| Constitution and Limited Government Subcommittee | Referred Jun 12, 2009 | |
| House | Armed Services Committee | Referred May 7, 2009 |
| House | Foreign Affairs Committee | Referred May 7, 2009 |
| House | Intelligence (Permanent Select) Committee | Referred May 7, 2009 |
Actions 8
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jun 12, 2009Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
- Jun 12, 2009Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.
- May 7, 2009Introduced in House
- May 7, 2009Referred to House Judiciary
- May 7, 2009Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, and Intelligence (Permanent Select), 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.
- May 7, 2009Referred to House Armed Services
- May 7, 2009Referred to House Foreign Affairs
- May 7, 2009Referred to House Intelligence (Permanent)
Titles 1
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that President Barack Obama should immediately work to reverse damaging and illegal actions taken by the Bush/Cheney Administration and collaborate with Congress to proactively prevent any further abuses of executive branch power.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Government Operations and Politics.
- Caribbean area
- Congressional oversight
- Correctional facilities and imprisonment
- Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
- Criminal procedure and sentencing
- Cuba
- Detention of persons
- Due process and equal protection
- Evidence and witnesses
- Federal officials
- Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
- Government information and archives
- Government Operations and Politics
- Government studies and investigations
- Human rights
- Intelligence activities, surveillance, classified information
- International law and treaties
- Judicial review and appeals
- Latin America
- Military facilities and property
- Presidential administrations
- Presidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents
- Terrorism
- War and emergency powers
- War crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- May 7, 2009Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this resolution on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
