EXECUTIVE ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2009 HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME, TERRORISM, AND HOMELAND SECURITY OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON H.R. 743 JULY 27, 2009 Serial No. 111–72 Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://judiciary.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 51–345 PDF WASHINGTON : 2010 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:52 Apr 27, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 H:\WORK\CRIME\072709\51345.000 HJUD1 PsN: 51345 COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY JOHN CONYERS, JR., Michigan, Chairman HOWARD L. BERMAN, California LAMAR SMITH, Texas RICK BOUCHER, Virginia F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., JERROLD NADLER, New York Wisconsin ROBERT C. ‘‘BOBBY’’ SCOTT, Virginia HOWARD COBLE, North Carolina MELVIN L. WATT, North Carolina ELTON GALLEGLY, California ZOE LOFGREN, California BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas DANIEL E. LUNGREN, California MAXINE WATERS, California DARRELL E. ISSA, California WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia ROBERT WEXLER, Florida STEVE KING, Iowa STEVE COHEN, Tennessee TRENT FRANKS, Arizona HENRY C. ‘‘HANK’’ JOHNSON, JR., LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas Georgia JIM JORDAN, Ohio PEDRO PIERLUISI, Puerto Rico TED POE, Texas MIKE QUIGLEY, Illinois JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah LUIS V. GUTIERREZ, Illinois TOM ROONEY, Florida BRAD SHERMAN, California GREGG HARPER, Mississippi TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin CHARLES A. GONZALEZ, Texas ANTHONY D. WEINER, New York ADAM B. SCHIFF, California LINDA T. SA´ NCHEZ, California DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Florida DANIEL MAFFEI, New York PERRY APELBAUM, Staff Director and Chief Counsel SEAN MCLAUGHLIN, Minority Chief of Staff and General Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME, TERRORISM, AND HOMELAND SECURITY ROBERT C. ‘‘BOBBY’’ SCOTT, Virginia, Chairman PEDRO PIERLUISI, Puerto Rico LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas JERROLD NADLER, New York TED POE, Texas ZOE LOFGREN, California BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas DANIEL E. LUNGREN, California MAXINE WATERS, California J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia STEVE COHEN, Tennessee TOM ROONEY, Florida ANTHONY D. WEINER, New York DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Florida MIKE QUIGLEY, Illinois BOBBY VASSAR, Chief Counsel CAROLINE LYNCH, Minority Counsel (II) VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:52 Apr 27, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 0486 H:\WORK\CRIME\072709\51345.000 HJUD1 PsN: 51345 C O N T E N T S JULY 27, 2009 Page THE BILL H.R. 743, the ‘‘Executive Accountability Act of 2009’’ .......................................... 3 OPENING STATEMENTS The Honorable Robert C. ‘‘Bobby’’ Scott, a Representative in Congress from the State of Virginia, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security ....................................................................................... 1 The Honorable Ted Poe, a Representative in Congress from the State of Texas, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security ............................................................................................... 6 WITNESSES The Honorable Walter B. Jones, a Representative in Congress from the State of North Carolina Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 7 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 19 Mr. Louis Fisher, Specialist in Constitutional Law, Law Library of the Li- brary of Congress, Washington, DC Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 23 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 26 Mr. Bruce Fein, Legal Consultant, Washington, DC Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 42 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 44 Mr. Jonathan F. Cohn, Partner, Sidley and Austin, Washington, DC Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 57 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 61 APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING RECORD Senate Intelligence Committee Report submitted by the Honorable Walter B. Jones, a Representative in Congress from the State of North Carolina ..... 83 (III) VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:52 Apr 27, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\WORK\CRIME\072709\51345.000 HJUD1 PsN: 51345 VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:52 Apr 27, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\WORK\CRIME\072709\51345.000 HJUD1 PsN: 51345 EXECUTIVE ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2009 MONDAY, JULY 27, 2009 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME, TERRORISM, AND HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 3 p.m., in room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, the Honorable Robert C. ‘‘Bobby’’ Scott (Chairman of the Subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Scott, Jackson Lee, Gohmert, Poe, and Lungren. Staff Present: (Majority) Bobby Vassar, Subcommittee Chief Counsel; Jesselyn McCurdy, Counsel; Joe Graupensperger, Coun- sel; Veronica Eligan, Professional Staff Member; (Minority) Caro- line Lynch, Counsel; and Robert Woldt, FBI Detailee. Mr. SCOTT. The Subcommittee will now come to order. I am pleased to welcome you today to the hearing before the Sub- committee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security on the Ex- ecutive Accountability Act of 2009. There are no more important communications from the executive branch to Congress than those which urge sending our troops into harm’s way. Our soldiers and their families sacrifice in so many ways, some making the ultimate sacrifice in order to protect us. We owe them our best judgment based on the best, most complete, and most accurate information as to when sending them into battle is absolutely just and necessary. The President, Senators and Members of the House take an oath to defend the Constitution, as do our soldiers; and in so doing we pledge to respect the limitations of each branch’s role established by the Constitution’s systems of checks and balances. Our branches of national government are separate but interdependent; and can- did communications between them is critical for our citizens to be effectively and honestly represented, particularly on an issue such as military action. Today, we will examine legislation focused on ensuring that Con- gress can rely on the truthfulness of statements made by the Presi- dent and executive branch officials about when it is necessary to use our military. The bill before us seeks to amend the Federal Code to specifically prohibit false statements that are made know- ingly and willfully by the President or other executive branch offi- cials for the purpose of influencing a Member of Congress to au- thorize the use of the Armed Forces of the United States. (1) VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:52 Apr 27, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 H:\WORK\CRIME\072709\51345.000 HJUD1 PsN: 51345 2 We have a number of things to keep in mind as we discuss this legislation, such as the historical background of communications between the executive branch and Congress with respect to the need for war, the nature of the relationship between the branches of the national government, and our desire to encourage, not dis- courage, open and truthful dialogue between them. When Congress amended the False Statements Act in 1996 to en- sure that certain misrepresentations to Congress were prohibited, we were concerned about going too far and discouraging people from engaging in advocacy and furnishing information to Congress. I want to hear from our witnesses about whether this legislation raises any similar concerns. We also need to consider the extent to which current law covers the types of misleading communications that have prompted this legislation and whether the provisions of current statutes may not apply in this context because, for example, particular communica- tions may not be under oath or pursuing a Committee’s inquiry. I hope our witnesses will be able to address this issue, too. Our first witness will be the author of the bill, Representative Walter Jones from North Carolina, who will discuss his motivations for introducing the legislation. We will then hear from a panel of witnesses who will discuss the historical context for the legislation, any constitutional issues that may be involved, and the text of the bill. [The bill, H.R. 743, follows:] VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:52 Apr 27, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 H:\WORK\CRIME\072709\51345.000 HJUD1 PsN: 51345 3 VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:52 Apr 27, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 H:\WORK\CRIME\072709\51345.000 HJUD1 PsN: 51345 HR743-1.eps 4 VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:52 Apr 27, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 H:\WORK\CRIME\072709\51345.000 HJUD1 PsN: 51345 HR743-2.eps 5 VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:52 Apr 27, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 H:\WORK\CRIME\072709\51345.000 HJUD1