To the editor:
“These are the times that try men’s souls.” Those words were written by Thomas Paine on Dec. 23, 1776 when Gen. Washington’s Continental Army was on the verge of collapsing. Miraculously, Washington’s soldiers rose to the challenge, crossing the Delaware River during a raging snowstorm and defeating Hessian soldiers in a battle that forever changed the course of history.
Paine’s words are as relevant today as they were 238 years ago and the outcome is just as important. In Washington’s crisis, if his army failed, the colonists would have lost their bid to be free from the English empire. Today’s crisis is not a military crisis, it is a Constitutional one. The question before us is, will the members of the 114th Congress rise to the challenge with the same courage as Washington and his men?
If the Constitution is not re-established as the supreme legal foundation of this country, the United States of America will cease to exist. To quote President-elect Kennedy: “Today the eyes of all people are truly upon us — and our governments, in every branch, at every level, national, State, and local, must be as a city upon a hill — constructed and inhabited by men aware of their grave trust and their great responsibilities.”
Regardless of what some may think, this is not a racial issue, it is not a partisan issue, it is not a birther issue, it is strictly a Constitutional issue that deals specifically with Article I and Article II of U.S. Constitution as adopted by a convention of the States on Sept. 17, 1787. It is an issue that can only be solved by the 535 citizens who worked hard to get elected, either to the House of Representatives or the Senate.
Make no mistake, the fate of our grand experiment in self-government rests on the shoulders of the members of the 114th Congress that was sworn into office Jan. 6, 2015. All members of the House of Representatives and one third of the Senate raised their right hand and promised to “support and defend the
Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
The Founding Fathers were very specific in their formatting of the Constitution and very precise in the sentence structure. It is not accidental that Congress is listed first. It was considered the most important branch of the government. In fact, the very first sentence in Article I Section 1 of the Constitution is specific beyond any doubt: “All legislative Powers herein shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which will consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.”
Article II identifies the duty and responsibilities of the President and specifies the exact wording of his oath of office: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
The issue before us is crucial to the future of the country. President Obama has overstepped the Constitutional boundaries established by both Article I and Article II. Not only has he flagrantly usurped the legislative powers identified in Article I he has ignored his Article II oath of office. President Obama has publicly rewritten laws that he had previously signed into law; the Affordable Care Act is a perfect example of this usurpation of power. Not just satisfied with rewriting laws, the President has publicly directed federal agents not to enforce laws; a direct violation of his oath of office.
Millions of young men and women have raised their right hand and taken an oath “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.” Thousands have died believing in the sanctity of their oath, while many others have been wounded or psychologically scarred for life. Do not let their sacrifices to have been in vain.
On Nov. 4, 1800, Charles Carroll, a leading Colonial theologian, when asked about the future of the country responded “without morals a republic can not subsist any length of time.” Now is the time to see if Carroll was correct. The facts are public and the corrective action is identified in Article II Section 4 “The President … shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” There can be no higher crime in our republic than that of a president who willfully and publicly violates not only his oath of office but also the separation of powers as identified in the Constitution.
Failure of the 114th Congress to do their Constitutional duty is not an option. The members of Congress must garner the moral courage to immediately address the issue or forever live in the infamy of being the Congress that lost the Republic.
We will soon have the answer to the question posed to Benjamin Franklin at the close of the Constitutional Convention in 1787 when he was asked: “Well, Doctor, what have we got – a Republic or a Monarchy? Franklin’s answer: “A Republic if you can keep it.”
Scott Fields
Fort Fairfield
