GOP congressman complains he had 'no time to review' 54-word resolution

On Monday, Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) threw a fit because he is unable to find 15 seconds to read and review a House resolution terminating Trump’s fake national emergency declaration. The House is scheduled to vote Tuesday on the resolution.

“I do not understand the haste with which the majority is pushing this disapproval resolution through,” Cole, ranking member of the House Rules Committee, complained. “We’ve had no time to review the bill and no committee has held a hearing or marked it up.”

To put Cole’s gripes in context, here is the entire text of the resolution he says he needs more time to review:

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, pursuant to section 202 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622), the national emergency declared by the finding of the President on February 15, 2019, in Proclamation 9844 (84 Fed. Reg. 4949) is hereby terminated.

That’s it. The one sentence, all 54 words, is the entirety of the resolution. It’s only slightly longer than Cole’s statement complaining about not having enough time to read the resolution.

The resolution is necessary because Trump declared a fake national emergency at the southern border as an excuse to swipe taxpayer money to build a wall he repeatedly promised Mexico would pay for. Trump spent months throwing tantrums and demanding Congress fork over $5.7 billion to pay for the wall.

When Congress refused, a humiliated Trump decided to make up an emergency at the border and steal the money from other programs, maybe including school construction funds meant for children of military members.

In response, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) drafted the one-page resolution, using the authority the National Emergencies Act gives Congress to terminate any declaration by a president.

A group of almost 60 former national security officials says there is no national emergency at the border. Almost two dozen former Republican members of Congress sent a letter to current Republican members, pleading with them to support the Democratic resolution.

But Cole insists he just can’t find the time to read those 54 words.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.