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Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Rich Galen :: Townhall.com Columnist
Recess Should Be Over
by Rich Galen
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From Charleston, South Carolina
The Republican Governors' Association

  • US Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, has his job as the result of a "recess appointment" made by President George W. Bush on August 1, 2005.

  • According to Article II, Section 2, Clause 3 of the US Constitution:
    The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

  • It is generally assumed that this clause was inserted during an era when the Senate had relatively brief periods of sitting, and fairly long recesses.

  • For instance, the 2nd United States Congress organized on March 4, 1791 (the date originally set by the Constitution) and didn't meet again until October 24 of that year. The 3rd Congress organized on March 4, 1793 and didn't meet again until December 2, 1793.

  • So, there was a perceived need for the Executive Branch to be able to operate with senior officers without having to wait six months for the Senate to get back to New York, Philadelphia or, starting in 1800, Washington.

  • According to the Congressional Research Service the expiration of a recess appointment at "the End of their next Session" generally refers to the Senate's adjournment sine die which will probably occur sometime around Thanksgiving in November.

  • That means, unless the Senate confirms him, Bolton's term will come to an end in about 90 days. It is possible for President Bush to give him another recess appointment, immediately after that, but under existing law Bolton wouldn't be able to be paid.

  • Democrats (and a couple of Republicans) opposed the nomination of Bolton last year because of his combative nature and his lack of fawning adoration for the UN as made clear when he more-or-less described it as a nest of dysfunctional, self-serving bureaucrats.

  • Over the past six years Hezbollah armed themselves with what are likely to be THOUSANDS of Katyusha rockets sent from Iran. The United Nations has had observers among Hezbollah for all of those six years.

  • Either the UN observers didn't see truckload after truckload of rockets being delivered through Syria or, they did see them and did nothing about it.

  • Either way you can come to only one conclusion: Bolton was right.

  • Honesty and diplomacy do not, apparently, go hand-in-hand in the minds of Senate Democrats.

    Continued...

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    About The Author

    Rich Galen has been a press secretary to Dan Quayle and Newt Gingrich. Rich Galen currently works as a journalist and writes at Mullings.com

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    (4 comments so Far)
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    Reply # 1
    Date: Aug 8, 2006 - 11:41 PM EST
    John Bolton
    There sure are good comments today. I agree with all of them. Yes, Kofi Annan has got to go and NRAlifer had the right idea: Post # 2:

    NRAlifer writes: "THE UN IS A WASTE
    .....time to ditch this boondoogle....."




    Flag as Offensive

    Reply # 2
    Date: Aug 8, 2006 - 1:02 PM EST
    If words do have meaning...
    ...then why is this institution called "United" Nations?
    Flag as Offensive
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