Democrats Sue Over War Powers

A group of 45 House Democrats led by California Rep. Ronald V. Dellums (D-Berkeley) filed suit today to try to force President Bush to seek authority from Congress before ordering a U.S. military attack to drive Iraqi troops out of Kuwait.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction to bar Bush “from launching or initiating an offensive military attack by United States forces against Iraq without obtaining a declaration of war or other explicit authorization from the Congress.”

“We believe the President has a responsibility to send to Congress a declaration of war,” Dellums told reporters outside the U.S. Courthouse.

The issue should be debated in Congress because “there are millions of American people in this country who have serious questions about going to war,” Dellums said. “The President of the United States on his own cannot make that kind of determination.”

Rep. Don Edwards (D-San Jose), chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution, said Bush “has no business avoiding the Constitution or violating the Constitution, which he would be doing if he unilaterally goes to war.”

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court a day after Iraq ordered an 250,000 more troops into Kuwait and nearly two weeks after Bush began deployment of about 200,000 more U.S. troops to the region. About 230,000 U.S. troops already are in Saudi Arabia.

“This case poses a question of supreme importance to this nation and one uniquely for the courts to decide: whether a major war, not partaking of the element of surprise and leaving ample room for deliberation, may be initiated by the President without the consent of Congress,” the lawmakers said in court papers.

“The framers of our Constitution thought not; most members of today’s Congress think not; the President evidently thinks so,” they said.

The Center for Constitutional Rights, which also Ange, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the 45 lawmakers.

At issue is whether Bush is required by the Constitution to get a declaration of war from Congress before attacking Iraqi troops in Kuwait.