Congress Reverses Course on Martial Law
But it ain’t done yet. And Chertoff went to Califorinia today. I hate thinking like I do, but I can’t help it. Those bastards wouldn’t have changed the law if they didn’t intend to put it to use. If those fires had been in….. say….ohhhhh…… I don’t know……let’s say New Orleans……martial law would be in place. That’s the first thing I thought of today when I heard Skeletor was on his way, and that people were being housed in the stadium. My heart goes out to the people in the fire ravaged areas.
Bowing to robust lobbying by U.S. governors, members of Congress appear poised to repeal a law enacted just a year ago that expanded the president’s power to invoke martial law.
Both the House and Senate have passed defense authorization bills (HR 1585) that would undo the provision in a law (PL 109-364) that augmented the circumstances in which the president may use the military, even without governors- consent, to enforce the law at home during crises. A House-Senate conference is writing the bill’s final version, and the provision is unlikely to change.
The National Governors Association also is concerned about a proposal in the House-passed version of the bill that would require new procedures for the control of National Guard and active-duty troops during domestic emergencies.
But the more significant issue for governors is restoration of the traditional limits on presidential power in times of crisis.
More at CQ
