RLC: Vote No on Syria

REPUBLICAN LIBERTY CAUCUS OF TEXAS

STATEMENT TO THE TEXAS DELEGATION REGARDING SYRIA VOTE – September 5th, 2013

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas urges all members of the Texas congressional delegation to vote against any further use of force or intervention by United States forces in the conflict in Syria.  This is an internal conflict which does not meet the basic criteria necessary to justify United States intervention.

Since the founding of our nation and as expressed in the Constitution, the use of military force must be either in immediate response to a clear threat to our territory, our citizens or our vital interests, or on the approval of Congress with a declaration of war or equivalent statement.

This administration has consistently ignored and worked against due process in their domestic security policy and they continue to be hostile to the concept in their foreign policy, resisting calls for Congressional oversight.  The situation in Syria clearly does not meet the Constitutional standard for immediate reprisal in response to an attack on the United States.  The President cannot legally take military action unilaterally in this situation.  He must consult Congress and get their approval.

In the presentation to Congress of their case for an attack on Syria the Obama administration fell far short of proving that intervention is urgently needed or in our national interests.  Their evidence did not prove even the circumstances of the incident prompting their desire to intervene and they did not even make an effort to argue that there is any meaningful threat to the United States or reason for us to get involved beyond an irrational desire, guided by a misplaced sense of humanitarianism, to compulsively meddle in the affairs in other nations.

The use of sarin gas on a civilian population is reprehensible, but it should be addressed as a criminal act by international courts.  It is not our responsibility to act unilaterally merely on suspicion of wrongdoing without due process of law, especially when our actions would inevitably lead to the deaths of more innocents and an escalation of a conflict in which we have no real stake.

The members of  Republican Liberty Caucus chapters all over the state of Texas are unified in their belief that this proposed action in Syria represents a perversion of United States foreign policy and that it is essential that Congress reassert its authority as a coequal branch of government, restoring the balance of powers established by the Constitution.

For too long the leadership in Congress has neglected its oversight responsibilities and allowed the executive branch to assume authority to which it is not entitled.  A line needs to be drawn and this is the right place to draw it.

We demand that every member of our Congressional delegation stand strong and send a clear message to the White House that the authority of the Constitution is supreme and that the era of reckless interventionism and profligate use of our great military is over

Source: www.rlctx.org The Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas was founded in 1991 as a grassroots membership organization within the Republican Party.  We are dedicated to the goal of advancing the principles of limited government and individual liberty within the party.  The RLCTX currently has 21 chapters statewide with a large and growing membership.  For more information please call 512-656-8011 or see our website at http://www.rlctx.org