U.S. Constitutional Accountability

Last year I heard about a bill proposed by Rep. Shadegg (R-Az) (H. R. 1359) that caught my attention but unfortunately it never made it out of committee for a vote. Then, just the other day I read an article that again referenced the bill so I tried to look it up in Thomas.gov and discovered on 1/9/09 Rep. Shadegg resubmitted the bill to the 111th Congress, 1st Session as H. R. 450, The “Enumerated Powers Act”, and as of this date there are no cosponsors. The intent of this bill is; “To require Congress to specify the source of authority under the United States Constitution for the enactment of laws, and for other purposes”. Rep. Shadegg has been seeking passage of this bill since 1995 without success and to me this sounds like the old fox guarding the hen house scenario, how about you?

By the way, there was a similar bill in the Senate last session that met the same fate.

While reading the above mentioned article the proverbial light bulb went off in my head that could be the answer to the “What can I do that will make a difference” question . Rep. Shadegg needs help securing the Constitutional accountability that we should be able to take for granted so I propose we the people provide that help in a few simple ways:

1. Contact your respective Representative in the House and emphatically request they cosponsor this bill for all the obvious reasons; and


2. Each and every time you communicate with a representative of your government, be they City, County, State or Federal and/or appointees thereof, we close with this request; “In the event you do not agree with me on this issue, please respond, at your earliest opportunity, with a concise and definite statement of the Constitutional authority that explains your vote (legislation or decision); and


3. Keep a copy of all your written forms of communication, all responses and be sure to take copious notes of verbal communications. In the event an accountability response to any form of communication is not received, after an extended period of time, record a dated comment on your original copy.

It is plainly obvious to me that Rep. Shadegg is after accountability. What is even more obvious is the fact the majority of lawmakers want no part of his plan so we have a challenge/opportunity in front of us to do what he has been unable to do.

I’m currently unsure of what value the accumulated information will be so a couple questions come to mind that I intend to get answered. One is, if after massive participation in this effort results in apparent dereliction to duty, will it be possible to have a grievance strong enough to Petition the Government as allowed in the 1st Amendment of our Bill of Rights? Another is, depending on responses received or lack thereof, are there legal consequences for possible violations of their oath to defend and protect the Constitution? If all else fails, there’s a good possibility our elected representatives, and/or their appointees, that get overloaded with demands for Constitutional accountability for every piece of legislation, vote or decision he/she makes will start thinking Constitutional on their own to avoid the questions they know are on the way.