Clinton Attempts Rule By Executive Order

By Tom DeWeese Copyright 1998 The Washington Times August 3, 1998

Last time I checked, the Constitution said that a treaty cannot be ratified until it first is approved by the Senate. That little clause in the law of the land apparently is no roadblock for an administration that has proved time and again that it will do as it pleases. The Clinton administration systematically is implementing pieces and parts of the Kyoto Protocol on Global Climate Change negotiated last December in Kyoto, Japan.

In defiance of the Constitution, the Senate's warnings and economic logic, under the direction of Vice President Al Gore the administration has decided to ignore the Senate. President Clinton will not submit the treaty to the Senate for debate and ratification. Instead, he intends to implement parts of the treaty through administrative dictate and executive order. In fact, the process already has begun.

Clinton has started by using all of the environmental-protection tools previously passed by Congress, including issuing broad interpretations of the Clean Air Act by executive order. The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, is trying to sneak provisions of the treaty into an electricity-restructuring bill now before Congress. The EPA wants the authority to force a cap on carbon-dioxide emissions (a major provision of the Kyoto treaty).

Furthermore, Clinton has begun dictating to U.S. businesses that they must change their production policies to comply with the Kyoto provisions - or the federal government no longer will buy those products. In other words, Clinton is using economic blackmail to enforce the unratified treaty on American businesses.

Meanwhile, the president's global-warming propaganda campaign (funded by taxpayer dollars) is running ahead at full steam. The administration carefully is funneling research grants into the hands of those who will produce favorable reports on global warming.

Clinton-friendly environmental groups that are helping to whip up the global-warming hysteria are lining their pockets with taxpayer loot. With their coffers full, "green" groups can let loose a rampage of lawsuits and legal challenges to manufacturers who fail to comply. In addition, the greens can run advertising campaigns to scare the average American out of his or her wits with the dire predictions of global warming. Meanwhile, schools are being inundated with global-warming propaganda so children can work over parents at home - until they, too, toe the party line.

Meanwhile, friendly multinational corporations that owe allegiance to this nation but will move anywhere in the world to get the cheapest labor and the best government deal are being showered with Clinton's tax credits (your money again) to accept the Kyoto provisions. In short, businesses will receive taxpayer-funded payoffs to produce less, create shortages and reduce output. It's what Angela Antonelli of the Heritage Foundation calls a hodgepodge of corporate welfare. Antonelli goes on to say, "If the White House can entice big business with tax-funded payoffs, it can implement the treaty without the Senate's cooperation."

Like a runaway freight train, the administration is implementing a treaty that could wreck the U.S. economy. Congress must stop this process now and block Clinton's schemes at every turn.

Congress alone has the power to approve the funding of federal programs. All of those grants and tax credits that Clinton is promising to businesses and researchers come from congressional actions. Congress must oversee every penny spent by this administration. It is vital that Congress hold hearings to get to the bottom of the Clinton scheme.

The Republican House and Senate leadership must prevent a single tax dollar from being spent on implementing the Kyoto treaty before it has been ratified by the Senate. It is the only way the disaster of Kyoto can be avoided.

But it remains to be seen whether Congress will take the actions necessary to block Clinton's drive to enforce the unratified global-warming treaty. Congress has failed to officially challenge a single executive order issued by Clinton. And this administration has ruthlessly used that power to ignore Congress and implement its agenda time and time again.

In addition, Clinton has not been above stealing money from one program to spend it on one not approved by Congress. The American Heritage Rivers Initiative is a prime example. Though a few members of Congress, such as House Resources Committee Chairman Don Young of Alaska and Rep. Helen Chenoweth of Idaho, have fought to stop that illegal initiative, the House leadership has refused to resist (see "Green Light to Urban Blight," July 27).

If Congress fails to answer the call, two facts are clear. First, Clinton will have proved that Congress is irrelevant to his plans. Lack of congressional action literally will establish the Clinton administration as a dictatorship, immune to the checks and balances so brilliantly provided by the Constitution.

Second, if Clinton isn't stopped, the United States will begin a decline that will affect the quality of life for every single citizen. Americans will begin to learn about food, power and job shortages and the disappearance of the highest standard of living the world has ever known.

Americans, no matter whether they are aware, have begun the fight of their lives. Not since the Civil War has the nation faced such a constitutional crisis. For Congress to stand aside in the face of Clinton's all-out assault is nothing short of a crime.

Tom DeWeese is president of the American Policy Center in Herndon, Va.

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