NEWFANE — The 1973 War Powers Act was passed as a reaction to the Vietnam War.
It provides a layer of checks and balances on the president before war can be declared.
Since then, presidents have (or should have) taken action whenever Americans were in “clear and present danger.” They were called conflicts or police actions if they even were named. Nobody has blinked an eye.
Now we have the Congress wanting more power over the president. This is a very bad and dangerous idea.
Consider this: The president (any president from any party) is told that there are planes headed for the United States with bombs on board and the intel says that New York City is the target. So he calls the House speaker, who tells him to call back. Then when he does get her, Congress is on recess.
So she calls everyone back to Washington, D.C., then all 535 representatives get to weigh in, and finally they vote whether to authorize the president to take measures to protect the country.
Can anyone think this is a good idea?
In addition, if the president can't offer protection to our embassies in other countries, then we need to close them and bring our people home.
Americans everywhere around the world, especially those working for our government, deserve 100-percent support.
Did we learn nothing from Benghazi?