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Lawsuit Challenges Bush's Authority to Launch War on Iraq

By Denise Lavoie, Associated Press, 02/13/03

BOSTON —

Saying President Bush is "not a king," a group of U.S. soldiers, parents of soldiers and six U.S. House members filed a lawsuit in federal court Thursday seeking to stop the president from launching a war against Iraq without Congressional approval.

The lawsuit seeks an immediate injunction against Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to prevent them from launching an invasion of Iraq.

U.S. Reps. John Conyers, D-Mich., and the other plaintiffs in the lawsuit say a resolution passed by Congress in October did not specifically declare war and unlawfully ceded the decision to Bush.

Conyers cited an excerpt from Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution that states, "Congress shall have power ... to declare war."

"Get it? Only Congress," Conyers said at a news conference in Washington, D.C., Thursday.

John Bonifaz, the Boston attorney who filed the lawsuit, said Bush is rushing to war without seeking approval or even a thorough debate by Congress.

"We have a message for President Bush today -- read the Constitution," Bonifaz said.

"The president is not a king," he said. "He does not have the power to wage war against another country absent a declaration of war from Congress."

Congress has not formally declared a war since World War II.

The War Powers Act, passed in 1973 in response to the Vietnam War and the actions of then-President Nixon, was intended to rein in executive control by requiring the president to seek congressional approval before or shortly after ordering military action abroad. It also requires the president to report to Congress.

Taylor Reveley, dean of the William and Mary School of Law and author of a book on the War Powers Act, said a majority in both houses of Congress passing a resolution authorizing military action -- as the House and Senate did last October -- passes constitutional muster, and provides wide presidential discretion.

The Congressional resolution states: "This joint resolution may be cited as the `Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq'."

"I would imagine that they're aware the lawsuit is a very long shot, an extremely long shot, but they're probably interested in doing anything they can to throw sand in the wheels of American military action in Iraq," Reveley said of the plaintiffs. "It just strikes me as extremely unlikely that this kind of suit could succeed."

A similar lawsuit filed against Bush's father before the Gulf War by 54 members of Congress was denied by a federal judge in December 1990.

That judge said he agreed in principle that the president must seek congressional authorization for war, but said the president at that time had not clearly committed to a course of action.
The judge also noted that only about 10 percent of the Congress had asked for the injunction -- a percentage he said wasn't representative of the entire body.

Bonifaz said this case is different because in addition to the six members of Congress, soldiers have asked for the injunction.

"They are facing the possibility of death," he said.

Nancy Lessin, step-mother of 25-year-old Marine Joe Richardson, said the people planning the war aren't facing the possibility their loved ones will be killed. She said Richardson has a twin brother.

"We'd like to challenge George Bush to send one of his twins to war. Then let's have a discussion about whether or not we should go to war," she said.

Bonifaz said several similar lawsuits filed by soldiers during the Vietnam War were unsuccessful. But he said those lawsuits failed because the courts found Congress had taken concrete steps to authorize a war, including appropriating money and authorize the draft.

The plaintiffs include a member of the Massachusetts National Guard who was recently activated, an Air Force Reservist from Massachusetts, and a U.S. Marine stationed in the Persian Gulf, Bonifaz said. Their identities are not being made public, Bonifaz said.

The other members of Congress named as plaintiffs are: Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio; Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill.; Jim McDermott, D-Wash.; Jose Serrano, D-N.Y.; and Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas.

In a statement, Jesse Jackson Jr. said that the Congressional Iraq resolution from October "did not declare war and unlawfully ceded to the President that decision."

"Congress cannot willingly or voluntarily relinquish its constitutional authority and responsibility in this critical area," he said.

Page created February 8, 2003 by Charlie Jenks.