IB 
Union Calendar No. 281 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4138 
[Report No. 113–377] 
To protect the separation of powers in the Constitution of the United States 
by ensuring that the President takes care that the laws be faithfully 
executed, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 4, 2014 
Mr. GOWDY (for himself, Mr. ISSA, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. GERLACH, Mr. 
SMITH of Texas, Mr. FORBES, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. 
CHAFFETZ, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. SMITH of Missouri, Mrs. 
BLACK, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. KELLY of Pennsyl-
vania, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. LABRADOR, and Mr. BACH-
US) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on the Judiciary 
MARCH 7, 2014 
Additional sponsors: Mrs. WAGNER, Mr. POE of Texas, Mr. WESTMORELAND, 
Mr. RIGELL, and Mr. SESSIONS 
MARCH 7, 2014 
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 
and ordered to be printed 
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A BILL 
To protect the separation of powers in the Constitution of 
the United States by ensuring that the President takes 
care that the laws be faithfully executed, and for other 
purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Executive Needs to 
Faithfully Observe and Respect Congressional Enact-
ments of the Law Act of 2014’’ or the ‘‘ENFORCE the 
Law Act of 2014’’. 
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION TO BRING CIVIL ACTION FOR VIO-
LATION OF THE TAKE CARE CLAUSE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Upon the adoption of a resolution 
of a House of Congress declaring that the President, the 
head of any department or agency of the United States, 
or any other officer or employee of the United States has 
established or implemented a formal or informal policy, 
practice, or procedure to refrain from enforcing, applying, 
following, or administering any provision of a Federal 
statute, rule, regulation, program, policy, or other law in 
violation of the requirement that the President take care 
that the laws be faithfully executed under article II, sec-
tion 3, clause 5, of the Constitution of the United States, 
that House is authorized to bring a civil action in accord-
ance with subsection (c), and to seek relief pursuant to 
sections 2201 and 2202 of title 28, United States Code. 
A civil action brought pursuant to this subsection may be 
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brought by a single House or both Houses of Congress 
jointly, if both Houses have adopted such a resolution. 
(b) RESOLUTION DESCRIBED.—For the purposes of 
subsection (a), the term ‘‘resolution’’ means only a resolu-
tion— 
(1) the title of which is as follows: ‘‘Relating to 
the application of article II, section 3, clause 5, of 
the Constitution of the United States.’’; 
(2) which does not have a preamble; and 
(3) the matter after the resolving clause which 
is as follows: ‘‘That lllllll has failed to 
meet the requirement of article II, section 3, clause 
5, of the Constitution of the United States to take 
care that a law be faithfully executed, with respect 
to lllllllll.’’ (the blank spaces being 
appropriately filled in with the President or the per-
son on behalf of the President, and the administra-
tive action in question described in subsection (a), 
respectively). 
(c) SPECIAL RULES.—If the House of Representa-
tives or the Senate brings a civil action pursuant to sub-
section (a), the following rules shall apply: 
(1) The action shall be filed in a United States 
district court of competent jurisdiction and shall be 
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heard by a 3-judge court convened pursuant to sec-
tion 2284 of title 28, United States Code. 
(2) A final decision in the action shall be re-
viewable only by appeal directly to the Supreme 
Court of the United States. Such appeal shall be 
taken by the filing of a notice of appeal within 10 
days, and the filing of a jurisdictional statement 
within 30 days, of the entry of the final decision. 
(3) It shall be the duty of the United States 
district courts and the Supreme Court of the United 
States to advance on the docket and to expedite to 
the greatest possible extent the disposition of any 
such action and appeal. 
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Union Calendar No. 281 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4138 
[Report No. 113–377] 
A BILL 
To protect the separation of powers in the Con-
stitution of the United States by ensuring that 
the President takes care that the laws be faith-
fully executed, and for other purposes. 
MARCH 7, 2014 
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
22:07 Mar 07, 2014
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