House resolution condemns Obama for Taliban swap
http://hamptonroads.com/2014/09/house-resolution-condemns-obama-taliban-swap
U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell listens during a session of the Medicare Health Fair & Expo on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013, at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.
House resolution condemns Obama for Taliban swap
By Bill Bartel
The Virginian-Pilot
© September 10, 2014
In a mostly party-line vote Tuesday, the U.S. House endorsed U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell's resolution condemning President Barack Obama for releasing five Taliban prisoners as part of a swap for a U.S. soldier without properly notifying Congress.
The 249-163 vote followed an hourlong debate during which Rigell and other supporters argued that the president violated federal law by failing to tell lawmakers at least 30 days before releasing prisoners held in a U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
However, Democratic opponents said the president acted under his proper constitutional authority as commander in chief. Constitutional powers trump laws passed by Congress, they said, adding that the resolution is no more than a GOP attack on Obama.
"I reject outright... the assertion that this is partisan," said Rigell, a Virginia Beach Republican, adding that he was responding to complaints by his constituents. "An increasing number of men and women in a diverse audience in my district are deeply troubled by the president's continued pattern of going outside the law in executive overreach. This is an example that hits home."