Cong. Quayle Says Obama Acting without Authority

Our Founders designed a government that purposely restricts the President from enacting policy without the approval of the legislative branch.  We have a system of checks and balances for a reason.  Unfortunately, that system is coming under attack from President Obama as he seeks to create policy without approval, or even input, from Congress.We’ve seen numerous examples of this recently.  We saw it when the President unilaterally enacted significant changes to immigration enforcement policy.  We saw it when he sought to undo a Supreme Court decision by ending the 287(g) enforcement agreement with Arizona law enforcement.  We’ve seen it in the form of President Obama’s policy ‘czars’ and the President’s use of ‘recess’ appointments when Congress wasn’t in fact in recess.The American people sternly rebuked President Obama in 2010 by giving Republicans a large majority in the House.  But rather than listen to this profound expression of democratic will, the President has consistently sought to sidestep Congress.  I wrote about these important issues in an Op-Ed published earlier this week in the Washington Times.  Take a look at it, and let me know what you think.The consequences of executive overreach are on full display in the form of Obamacare.  This law was rammed through Congress using every legislative trick in the book.  The American people were shut out of the debate around this bill and it was enacted behind closed doors.  Even before full implementation, Obamacare has extensively damaged our healthcare system, our economy and our freedom.  Premiums have risen, patient choice has declined and jobs have disappeared.  Obamacare epitomizes the worst in government overreach and it must go.On Wednesday, I was proud to join with all of my House Republican colleagues and several Democrats to vote to repeal Obamacare in full.  Once full repeal is achieved, we can make effective, market-based reforms that will cut costs and increase access.  I hope that we will achieve full repeal long before the American people are stuck with all of the astounding costs of this bill, and all of the onerous mandates and regulations it puts in place.  I won’t stop fighting until the bill is repealed.You can see my Floor Speech calling for my colleagues to vote in favor of repeal here.I mentioned the termination of the 287(g) agreement earlier, and I had the chance to bring this up with Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton this week.  Specifically, I asked Mr. Morton why the Department of Homeland Security had terminated the 287(g) agreement with Arizona just hours after the Supreme Court’s decision on S.B. 1070, but has still taken no action to terminate the agreement with Cook County, Illinois even though officials there have been acting in direct contravention to federal immigration statutes.  Director Morton seemed to indicate that the Obama Administration has no plans to take the same measures against Democrat-controlled Cook County as it did against Arizona after S.B. 1070.  You can watch our exchange in the Border and Maritime Subcommittee here.Next week the House will debate and vote on defense appropriations for Fiscal Year 2013.  I’ll be in touch then to update you on that issue, and other events that occur next week.  Have a great week!