Congresswoman Kendra Horn votes yes on resolution blocking emergency declaration
Washington, D.C. – Rep. Kendra Horn (OK-05) voted Tuesday to uphold the constitution and protect the federal government’s separation of powers.
Horn, along with 244 of her colleagues from both sides of the aisle voted yes on the resolution to block the President’s use of emergency declaration.
House Joint Resolution 46 uses the termination mechanism in the National Emergencies Act to block the President’s declaration. The law allows Congress to limit the President’s emergency declaration power if it is being abused, as it is in this case.
“When I took the oath of office, I swore to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution,” Congresswoman Horn said. “Our country’s founders gave the power of the purse to Congress, not the President. This is not an emergency, it is a blatant constitutional violation, and it strips billions of dollars from our armed forces.”
Eliminating this funding would hurt our nation’s security, Oklahoma’s economy and workers in Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District. Vital Oklahoma projects are on the chopping block. More than $160 million in planned investment in Tinker Air Force Base is at risk. Altus Air Force Base, facilities in McAlester and in Lexington could also lose critical investments in the tens of millions.
“This is not a partisan issue; it’s about doing what’s right,” she said.
Two dozen former Republican members of Congress submitted an open letter to their current counterparts urging a yes vote. That list included the Congresswoman’s Republican predecessor, Mickey Edwards, who represented the 5th Congressional District from 1977 to 1993.
“Like us, you have taken an oath of office,” that letter reads in part. “You were elected to Congress to carry out the constitutional duties and responsibilities of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate.
“You were sent to Congress to be the voice of the people. That is an awesome burden and it may require you to exercise restraint to protect the constitutional model—that which is the root of American exceptionalism—and to keep it from being sacrificed on the altar of expediency.”
Copyright February 27, 2019 @ 12:25 p.m. CST.