Hansen Clarke

Passage of this mammoth continuing resolution provided a way for Congress to perpetuate its fiscally irresponsible, unconstitutional spending habits with a minimum of accountability to its constituents.

Warrantless surveillance is unconstitutional and violates privacy and individual liberty. While ostensibly carried out only on "foreign suspects" communicating with U.S. citizens, it is difficult to imagine this surveillance not extending to U.S. citizens.

Extending the tax cuts keeps more money in the hands of citizens, where it can be invested into the economy, thus spurring economic growth. Of course, the deficits need to be eliminated, but the way to accomplish this is to cut spending, not increase taxes.

HR459 Federal Reserve Audit (Passed 327 to 98 on 7/25/2012, Roll Call 513).  Requires a full audit of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System by the comptroller general of the United States.

Amendment to HR5856 Defense of Marriage Act (Passed 247 to 166 on 7/19/2012, Roll Call 487). Amends the Department of Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 5856) "to prohibit the use of funds used in contravention of section 7 of title 1, United States Code."

The massive expenditure on undeclared foreign wars and nation building is unconstitutional and unaffordable.

U.S. participation in the United Nations involves an unconstitutional delegation of our national sovereignty to the UN.

ObamaCare is an unconstitutional government takeover of nearly 20 percent of our nation's economy.

Holder's refusal to comply with a subpoena issued by Congress is a clear violation of the constitutional principle of separation of powers, and as a member of the executive branch he essentially "thumbed his nose" at the legislative branch.

Amendment to HR5855 Immigration Enforcement (Passed 238 to 175 on 6/7/2012, Roll Call 363). Rep. King introduced an amendment to prohibit the use of funds to be used to finalize, implement, administer, or enforce Immigration and Customs Enforcement memos.

The War on Terror must not be allowed to destroy constitutional legal protections, including the issuance of a warrant based on probable cause (Fourth Amendment) and the right to a trial (Sixth Amendment).

The federal government has no constitutional authority risking taxpayers' money to provide loans and terms that the private sector considers too risky to provide. Indeed, U.S. government-backed export financing is a form of corporate welfare, and if the Ex-Im Bank goes bust (as happened to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae), the taxpayers will get stuck holding the bag.

The Constitution does not empower the federal government to regulate the permitting criteria and other requirements of our nation's various economic sectors. Furthermore, ratifying the Law of the Sea Treaty would legitimize the UN's power grab over 70 percent of the Earth's surface and constitute a huge loss of our national sovereignty.

The CISPA bill would permit government access to the private information of citizens, in violation of the Fourth Amendment "right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures."

The IPAB provision of the ObamaCare law is clearly unconstitutional.

HR3408 Oil and Gas Development; Keystone XL Pipeline (Passed 237 to 187 on 2/16/2012, Roll Call 71). Would open up part of Alaska's resource-rich Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development. 

Providing any form of line-item veto power to the President violates the Constitution's separation of powers.

The federal government should live within its means and because most of the spending responsible for the ballooning national debt is unconstitutional.

HR2055 Omnibus Appropriations (Passed 296 to 121 on 12/16/2011, Roll Call 941). This catch-all legislative package (H.R. 2055), which would provide $915 billion in discretionary appropriations for fiscal 2012.

The harm regulation of farm dust would do to the agricultural sector and the federal government has no constitutional authority to impose such regulations.

All legislative powers in the Constitution are vested in Congress, not the executive branch. Mandatory rules issued by the executive branch may not be called laws, but they have the same effect as laws, and what they are called does not change the reality.

Congress has no constitutional authority to fund many of the programs in the bill, including the farm programs, food programs, and housing (under HUD).

The government should not be subsidizing the killing of innocent human life and there is no constitutional authority for the government to manage or finance the healthcare sector.

HR3080 South Korea Trade Agreement (Passed 278 to 151 on 10/12/2011, Roll Call 783). Both the House and Senate approved three separate trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama.

The new EPA cross-state pollution rules will further damage the economy and also because the federal government has no constitutional authority to regulate power plant emissions.

The federal government has no constitutional authority to order a company to reinstate production or make certain investments at a given location, or to block a company's decision to relocate production.

Piling on more and more debt is devastating to the economy, and the bulk of the federal government's spending spree is for unconstitutional programs.

Under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution only Congress has the power "to declare war."

The debt deal allows both the national debt and spending to continue their upward trajectories. Moreover, the budget process established by the legislation is clearly unconstitutional since no Congress can bind the actions of future Congresses via the so-called automatic cuts.

The federal government has no constitutional authority to establish energy efficiency standards that would prevent the production, distribution, and consumer purchase of a previously perfectly acceptable and universally used product, such as the incandescent light bulb.

Obama's Libya deployment is now in violation of the War Powers Act's 60-day requirement for congressional authorization and it violates the Constitution, which clearly assigns to Congress the power "to declare war."

S990 Patriot Act Extension (Passed 250 to 153 on 5/26/2011, Roll Call 376). Extended for four years three provisions of the Patriot Act that were set to expire.

The federal government should not be impeding the exploration for and development of natural resources by entrepreneurs.

There is no constitutional authority for the federal government to require individuals to purchase health insurance or to manage the healthcare industry.

Planned Parenthood is the nation's largest abortion provider, and government should not subsidize the killing of innocent human life. Moreover, under the Constitution, the federal government should not be subsidizing any private entity in the marketplace.

Restricting greenhouse-gas emissions would be harmful to the economy, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are not pollutants, and the federal government has no constitutional authority to limit such emissions.

Federal funding of public broadcasting is unconstitutional.

The burdensome 1099 reporting requirement was added to the ObamaCare legislation as a way to help pay for this unconstitutional program.

Stopping U.S. dues payments to the United Nations is a step toward getting the United States out of the UN. Our membership in the UN undermines U.S. sovereignty -- e.g., when the Security Council passes various resolutions, including resolutions calling for military intervention, that the United States is expected to enforce, irrespective of the U.S. Constitution or congressional powers.

The 2010 healthcare overhaul law known as ObamaCare is thoroughly unconstitutional. There is no constitutional authority for the federal government to require individuals to purchase health insurance or to manage the healthcare industry.