It seems as though Congress does its best to roadblock President Trump’s pro-America agenda at every turn. They takes continual prodding to get even the most common sense measures passed. Just as President Trump has power to motivate and admonish Congress to carry out a conservative agenda, so too does Congress have a plethora of powers with which to get things done. Unfortunately, Congress often becomes too squeamish to use their power. That’s why Phyllis Schlafly used her November 2015 Phyllis Schlafly Report to proclaim that “Congress Must Reclaim Article One.”
Article One, Section 8, Clause 4 of the Constitution vests in Congress the exclusive right to “establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization.” It takes action by Congress to end chain migration, end visa lotteries, and end so many other destructive immigration policies that hurt the interests of American citizens. Don’t let Congress pass the buck.
On the critical issue of trade, Congress has thrown away its Article One power to “regulate commerce with foreign nations.” Rather than doing its job by crafting pro-America terms for the massive trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership or simply sinking it outright, Congress voted to yield unprecedented authority to the executive branch to negotiate the specific terms of the agreement. Although they gave this power to the Obama Administration, thankfully President Trump was chosen by the American people to end that train wreck. The fact that we did not end up entering TPP should not distract us from the fact that Congress should have been the ones to end it long before President Trump was elected.
Essentially, people dislike Congress as a whole, yet they still believe that their particular legislator is not a part of the problem. That is what gives members of Congress the audacity pass the buck and convince their constituents that they are the solution, but never take any steps to change things.
That means we need to hold our legislators individually accountable for their decision to exercise Congress’s Article One powers. The words of the Constitution are openly available to all. If we are informed about Congress’s powers, we have all the tools we need to make Congress use the tools they have.
