IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 417 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 7, 2009 

Ms. BALDWIN submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Armed 

Services, Foreign Affairs, and Select 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 

RESOLUTION 

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. 

Whereas over the past several years, serious questions have 

been raised about the conduct of high ranking Bush/Cheney Administration officials in relation to some of the 

most basic elements of our democracy: respect for the 


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rule of law, the principle of checks and balances, and the 

fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights; 

Whereas the Bush/Cheney Administration misled the American public and the U.S. Congress regarding the threat 

of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and alleged, despite 

all evidence to the contrary, a relationship between Iraq 

and al Qaeda, and this deceit dragged our country into 

a preemptive and unjustified war that has taken the lives 

of more than 4,000 U.S. troops, injured 30,000 more, 

and will cost our Nation more than a trillion dollars; 

Whereas the Bush/Cheney Administration undermined national security by manipulating and exaggerating evidence of Iran’s nuclear weapons capabilities despite no 

real evidence that Iran had the intention or capability of 

attacking the U.S., and then deliberately downplayed the 

December 2007 National Intelligence Estimate that reported with ‘‘high confidence’’ that Iran stopped developing nuclear weapons in 2003 because of international 

pressure; 

Whereas the Bush/Cheney Administration undertook a broad 

assault on civil liberties through the suspension of habeas 

corpus and claiming the power to declare any person an 

‘‘enemy combatant,’’ blatantly ignoring the Geneva Convention protections that the U.S. helped create, ratify, 

and which carry the weight of law; 

Whereas the Bush/Cheney Administration endorsed the torture and rendition of prisoners in violation of stated 

American policy and values, as well as international law, 

and then destroyed videotapes which may have substantiated such torture; 


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Whereas the Bush/Cheney Administration violated the Fourth 

Amendment and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act 

of 1978 by spying on Americans without a court order 

or oversight; 

Whereas the Bush/Cheney Administration abused the state 

secrets privilege in recent legal challenges regarding 

warrantless wiretapping, torture, and rendition, and this 

administration’s use of the state secrets privilege was to 

the detriment of the rights of private litigants harmed by 

egregious misconduct, as well as Americans’ trust in the 

judicial system; 

Whereas Bush/Cheney Administration officials consistently 

impeded congressional investigations into allegations of 

wrongdoing by refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas; 

Whereas the Bush/Cheney Administration claims that thensenior presidential advisers were immune from congressional subpoenas impeded congressional oversight, undermined the rule of law, damaged our democracy, and were 

rejected by a U.S. District Court; 

Whereas U.S. Attorneys pursued politically motivated prosecutions in violation of the law, and allegedly at the direction of the Bush/Cheney Administration; 

Whereas Bush/Cheney Administration officials in the Department of Justice systematically violated the law and committed misconduct in basing hiring decisions for career 

prosecutor positions, detailees to senior Department offices, and immigration judgeships on the applicants’ political affiliations and view; 

Whereas it appears Bush/Cheney Administration officials intentionally revealed the identity of Valerie Plame Wilson 


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as a covert agent of the CIA for political retribution, and 

then intentionally obstructed justice by disseminating 

false information through the White House press office; 

Whereas President Bush showed contempt for the legislative 

branch and disregard for the law through the excessive 

expansion of presidential power in misusing signing statements that declared his intent to ignore provisions of legislation he signed into law; 

Whereas Bush/Cheney Administration officials systematically 

shielded from access and destroyed public documents relevant to the conduct of the Administration by utilizing 

non-governmental e-mail accounts for official communications; 

Whereas Vice President Cheney consistently placed self-interest over serving the American people, exemplified by his 

claim that the Office of the Vice President is not an entity within the executive branch for the alleged purpose of 

shielding the activities of his office from public scrutiny; 

Whereas President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and other 

Bush/Cheney Administration officials were presented with 

ample opportunities to collaborate with Congress and reverse the above listed damaging and abusive actions; 

Whereas despite these opportunities, they instead chose to 

show contempt for the Constitution and the legislative 

branch, compelling Americans and Congress to look to 

the next administration for executive branch accountability; 

Whereas, on November 4, 2008, Americans elected President 

of the United States Barack Obama; 

Whereas, on January 20, 2009, President Obama stood before the American people and took an oath of office, 


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•HRES 417 IH 

swearing to ‘‘. . . preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States’’; 

Whereas this commitment and obligation is so fundamental 

to our democracy that our Nation’s founders proscribed 

this oath in our Constitution; 

Whereas no President or Congress has the authority to override that document, whereby ‘‘We the People’’ conferred 

upon the branches of government limited and defined 

power, and provided for meaningful checks and balances; 

Whereas the actions taken by President Obama will impact 

the conduct of future Presidents, perhaps for generations; 

Whereas President Obama has already begun work to reaffirm American values of justice and freedom; 

Whereas President Obama issued a January 22, 2009, executive order requiring that Guantanamo Bay detention facility be closed within one year and that until its closure, 

conditions of confinement at Guantanamo must comply 

with Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and 

all other applicable laws; 

Whereas President Obama issued a January 22, 2009, executive order to promote the safe, lawful, and humane treatment of individuals in United States custody by prohibiting any interrogation technique or approach, or any 

treatment related to interrogation, that is not authorized 

by and listed in Army Field Manual, and reaffirms that 

all terrorist suspects held by the United States abroad 

are protected under Common Article 3 of the Geneva 

Conventions; 

Whereas President Obama issued a January 22, 2009, executive order to establish a Special Task Force on Detainee 


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Disposition to thoroughly review detention policy options 

and provide a report to the President within 6 months; 

Whereas President Obama stated in his February 24, 2009, 

remarks to the Joint Session of Congress, ‘‘without exception or equivocation that the United States of America 

does not torture’’; 

Whereas President Obama issued a March 9, 2009, Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and 

Agencies on Presidential Signing Statements to clarify 

his intention to issue signing statements ‘‘to address constitutional concerns only when it is appropriate to do so 

as a means of discharging my constitutional responsibilities’’ and to outline steps to promote greater transparency and accountability in issuing signing statements; 

Whereas President Obama’s efforts to renew America must 

include restoring executive branch accountability through 

proactively preventing future abuses of power by his or 

future administrations; and 

Whereas the actions detailed below may assist in his work to 

restore the public’s faith in our Government: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that President Obama should take the nec3 essary steps to do the following— 

4 (1) AFFIRM OUR NATION’S COMMITMENT TO

5 UPHOLDING THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED

6 STATES.—President Obama must immediately and 

7 publicly reaffirm our Nation’s commitment to the 

8 rule of law, the principle of checks and balances, reVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:58 May 08, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR417.IH HR417

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1 spect for the legislative process, and the funda2 mental freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights. 

3 (2) FULLY INVESTIGATE BUSH/CHENEY ADMIN4 ISTRATION OFFICIALS’ ALLEGED CRIMES AND HOLD

5 THEM ACCOUNTABLE FOR ANY ILLEGAL ACTS.— 

6 President Obama must cooperate fully with congres7 sional oversight efforts to establish an independent 

8 investigation, as well as to address potential statute 

9 of limitation concerns, in order to hold all Bush/Che10 ney Administration officials accountable for any 

11 crimes they may have committed. 

12 (3) HOLD ACCOUNTABLE BUSH/CHENEY ADMIN13 ISTRATION OFFICIALS WHO SHOWED OR SHOW CON14 TEMPT FOR THE LEGAL DUTY TO COMPLY WITH

15 CONGRESSIONAL SUBPOENAS.—President Obama 

16 must fully support Congress’ constitutionally rooted 

17 right of access to the information it needs to per18 form its legislative and oversight functions enun19 ciated in Article I of the Constitution. 

20 (4) HOLD ACCOUNTABLE BUSH/CHENEY ADMIN21 ISTRATION OFFICIALS WHO DISCLOSED THE IDEN22 TITY OF ANY COVERT INTELLIGENCE AGENT.— 

23 President Obama must cooperate fully with congres24 sional efforts to ensure that the disclosure of the 


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1 identity of any United States intelligence agent 

2 could give rise to criminal liability. 

3 (5) HOLD ACCOUNTABLE BUSH/CHENEY ADMIN4 ISTRATION OFFICIALS WHO PURSUED POLITICALLY

5 MOTIVATED PROSECUTIONS.—President Obama 

6 must cooperate fully with congressional efforts to re7 store faith in the American justice system by inves8 tigating and censuring any officials who engage in 

9 misconduct in Federal office. 

10 (6) ENSURE THAT ANY BUSH/CHENEY ADMINIS11 TRATION OFFICIAL GUILTY OF A WAR CRIME IS

12 PROSECUTED UNDER THE WAR CRIMES ACT AND

13 THE ANTI-TORTURE ACT.—President Obama must 

14 cooperate fully with congressional efforts to repeal 

15 the redefinition of grave abuses of Common Article 

16 3 of the Geneva Conventions included in the Military 

17 Commissions Act of 2006, which limits the scope of 

18 the original War Crimes Act and makes this repeal 

19 retroactively operable to the beginning of the inva20 sion of Iraq. President Obama must also cooperate 

21 fully with congressional investigations into the lack 

22 of prosecutions under the War Crimes Act and the 

23 Federal Anti-Torture Act despite countless allega24 tions of serious violations. 


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1 (7) AFFIRM THAT IT IS THE SOLE LEGAL

2 RIGHT OF CONGRESS TO DECLARE WAR.—President 

3 Obama must cooperate fully with congressional ef4 forts to tighten the standards for when a declaration 

5 of war is required for military action. 

6 (8) CRIMINALIZE LYING TO CONGRESS AND THE

7 AMERICAN PUBLIC ABOUT THE REASONS FOR GOING

8 TO WAR.—President Obama must cooperate fully 

9 with congressional efforts to strengthen Federal per10 jury laws to prohibit the issuance of false state11 ments, concealment, or false documentation in any 

12 matter related to a presidential request for a dec13 laration of war. 

14 (9) RESTORE THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS AS

15 AN ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLE OF OUR DEMOCRACY.— 

16 President Obama must reaffirm our Nation’s treaty 

17 obligations under the Geneva Conventions and en18 sure all individuals held by the United States have 

19 access to the courts to petition for a writ of habeas 

20 corpus. 

21 (10) ENSURE TORTURE IS UNIFORMLY PROHIB22 ITED UNDER UNITED STATES LAW.—While recog23 nizing that President Obama has taken important 

24 steps in asserting his position that torture is anti25 thetical to American values, he must cooperate fully 


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1 with congressional efforts to codify strong anti-tor2 ture language and approve uniform standards for in3 terrogation techniques applicable to individuals 

4 under control or custody of the United States Gov5 ernment. 

6 (11) ENSURE RENDITION IS UNIFORMLY PRO7 HIBITED UNDER UNITED STATES LAW.—President 

8 Obama must cooperate fully with congressional ef9 forts to outlaw torture ‘‘outsourcing’’ by prohibiting 

10 the direct or indirect transfer or return of persons 

11 by the U.S. for the purpose of detention, interroga12 tion, trial, or otherwise to a country listed by the 

13 Secretary of State as supporting torture, cruel, or 

14 degrading treatment used in detention or interroga15 tion of individuals. 

16 (12) RESPONSIBLY CLOSE THE GUANTANAMO

17 BAY DETENTION CAMP.—While President Obama 

18 has boldly declared his intention to close Guanta19 namo by January 2010, he must do everything in 

20 his power to ensure that all suspected terrorists held 

21 at Guantanamo are immediately tried in fair judicial 

22 proceedings and are not subjected to trial by secret 

23 evidence. He must also engage the international 

24 community to swiftly ensure the release of innocent 

25 detainees, including the Chinese Uighurs. 


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1 (13) ENSURE THAT AMERICANS CAN BRING

2 CLAIMS AGAINST THEIR GOVERNMENT.—President 

3 Obama must guarantee that the state secrets privi4 lege shall not constitute grounds for dismissal of a 

5 case or claim and instead require independent judi6 cial review of claims of state secrets privilege by ex7 ecutive branch officials. 

8 (14) IMMEDIATELY TAKE AFFIRMATIVE STEPS

9 TO PROTECT ALL BUSH/CHENEY ADMINISTRATION

10 DOCUMENTS.—President Obama must publicly reaf11 firm that the Office of the Vice President is part of 

12 the executive branch. 

13 (15) PUBLICLY REVIEW POTENTIAL ABUSES OF

14 THE PRESIDENTIAL PARDON PROCESS.—President 

15 Obama must collaborate fully with Congress to in16 vestigate the granting of presidential pardons and 

17 articulate comprehensive standards to guide future 

18 presidential pardons. 

19 (16) FURTHER REFORM THE USE OF PRESI20 DENTIAL SIGNING STATEMENTS.—While President 

21 Obama has affirmed his intention to issue signing 

22 statements sparingly and with a high degree of 

23 transparency, he must commit to providing all sign24 ing statements for publication, affirm Congress’ 

25 right to participate in court proceedings regarding 


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1 the constitutionality of any presidential signing 

2 statements, and ensure that Congress can obtain 

3 testimony from administration officials who may at4 tempt to claim executive privilege to explain or jus5 tify any signing statements. 

Æ 


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