Gowdy: It’s About Damn Time We Use the Power of the Purse (Video)

On Wednesday, Republicans in the House passed a bill that funds DHS for the rest of the year, but stipulates that none of the funds may be used for Obama’s executive amnesty.

Obama has of course, vowed to veto the bill, and with terrorism in the news again, Democrats are using national security as a way to hammer the GOP for allowing the DHS funding to lapse.

On the House floor, Wednesday, Congressman Steve Israel (D-NY) gave a “rousing” speech recalling the national unity that followed the terrorist attack of 9/11/2001. Speaking truth to power, he declared, “this bill is not about homeland security, it’s about Republicans political security!” (An amazing admission of what Dems know amnesty is all about, n’est pas?) He characterized the Republican bill to stop Obama’s executive amnesty as “an injustice to those who suffered on 9/11 and still remember that.” He continued, “for the first time in history they are holding security hostage to the ugly politics of immigration!” He went on like that for about five more excruciating minutes, of course eliciting enthusiastic applause from many of the same people who for eight years did everything they could to undermine national security under Bush.

When it was Gowdy’s turn to speak, he blasted Obama for his executive overreach on immigration reform.

“This, Madam Speaker, despite the fact that the very same president, over twenty different times, said he lacked the power to do what he just did.

And he repeatedly said he is not a king. Now, Madam Speaker, his position may have changed, after the election I hasten to add, but the Constitution has not.”

After a disruption on the House floor interrupted Gowdy’s speech for a few moments, he continued, and with the Democrats in mind, said, “I’ll back up in case they missed it,”  which elicited grins from the reps behind him (Mia Love on the right, Scalise to his left – not sure who the guys directly behind him were.) Gowdy received enthusiastic applause when he implored Congress to stand up for the American people:

This is not a fight between Republicans and Democrats. This is not even a fight over immigration reform. This is a fight over whether this branch of government will ever find the courage to stand up for itself.

This same document that this and all presidents swears to defend gives this body certain tools – tools like the power of the purse. And it’s about damn time we use that tool.

Gowdy was one of the 67 congressmen who voted against the Cromnibus bill in December.

Last February, he told Jeanine Pirro on Fox News that congress could remove funding for Obama’s pet projects and vacations using the appropriations process.

People don’t like the Affordable Care Act but they don’t like our tactic of shutting down the government,” he said. “OK. Fine. We got that. We still have appropriation bills that are coming. So what we ought to do is say, Mr. President, you want to run roughshod over the Constitution, we have the power of the purse. We’re not going to fund your pet projects. We’re not going to fund your green energy initiatives. We are not going it fund your vacations.”

In March of 2014, Congressman Gowdy along with Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) introduced “the Executive Needs to Faithfully Observe and Respect Congressional Enactments of the Law (ENFORCE the Law) Act (ENFORCE the Law) Act (H.R. 4138) to rein in the growing problem of executive overreach and restore balance to the separation of powers enshrined in our Constitution.”

The introduction of this bill follows the House Judiciary Committee’s careful consideration of the President’s failure to faithfully execute our laws. The Committee has held two hearings on this issue, at which members heard from constitutional scholars on the scope of this problem and legislative solutions. The House Judiciary Committee will markup the ENFORCE the Law Act tomorrow at 10:30am in 2141 Rayburn.

The bill passed the House on March 12 but died in the Senate. Now with a Republican controlled Senate, it should be taken up again.