Senator DeMint spoke yesterday on the Senate floor about President Obama's nominee to be legal adviser for the State Department. He warned that Mr. Koh would give too much power to the United Nations and has shown willingness to rely on International Law over the the U.S. Constitution.
KOH NOMINATION -- (Senate - June 23, 2009)
---
Mr. DeMINT . Mr. President, I rise today, regretfully, to oppose the nomination of Harold Koh to be the State Department legal adviser. It is hard to do because in meeting Mr. Koh, I certainly enjoyed him. I have friends back in South Carolina who know him. He is certainly a very likable person. But his nomination to this important position requires some scrutiny about what his philosophy is when it comes to the United States and our international agreements and the sovereignty of our country.
I oppose Mr. Koh's nomination for many reasons, and most important of these is my belief that if confirmed, he will work to greatly undermine the principles of sovereignty that I believe all Americans expect of our Federal Government.
Let me talk a little bit about his role and what that would be if he is confirmed as the legal adviser to the State Department.
According to the State Department's Web site, the legal adviser would furnish ``advice on all legal issues, domestic and international, arising in the course of the department's work and negotiate, draft, and interpret international agreements involving peace initiatives, arms control discussions, and private law conventions on subjects such as judicial cooperation in recognition of foreign judgments.''...
Senator DeMint tours the Palmetto Health Heart Hospital and listens to Palmetto Health Richland's COO John Singerling explain the concept of Health Savings Accounts at the new facility.
You have to hand it to big government--it really knows how to protect itself. Most of the taxes it collects are hidden, built into the prices of other things or built into the mindset of wage-earners used to seeing a big chunk of their paycheck subtracted from their "take home" pay. If people had to cut a check to the government for their whole tax bill every April 15--or better yet, every Nov. 1--you can bet government would be a lot smaller and more accountable.
The same is true with health care, where the government has set up a system that hides its control and market manipulation. Did you ever wonder why it is that people get health care from their job? Employer-sponsored health care is not the norm around the world, after all, and for most of our history, it hasn't been the norm in the U.S. either...
A CRS Report on North Korea requested to be updated by the office Senator DeMint details the the most recent links Pyongyang has to supporting terrorism. The report contains information on recent evidence that North Korea is working with terrorists groups like Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRG) and Hezbollah. North Korea was taken off of the State Sponsors of Terrorism list in October of 2008, not because they had stopped supporting terrorism, but in misplaced hopes by the Bush Administration that it would encourage Pyongyang would stop their pursuit of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.
Last week, Senator DeMint led a group of senators that wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, urging her to relist North Korea as a State Sponsor of Terrorism. They also introduced an amendment to force the Obama Administration into action, but Majority Leader Harry did not allowed a vote.
This past Sunday, Secretary Clinton was on ABC News and was asked to respond to the senators' letter:
Asked whether she had evidence of the North's support for international terrorism, Clinton said: "We're just beginning to look at it. I don't have an answer for you right now."
Here are some examples of the North Korea's latest terror links from the CRS report:
[PAGE 21] North Korea’s relationship with the IRG appears to be in two areas: (1) coordination in support for Hezbollah and (2) cooperation in ballistic missile development. Reports also suggest that North Korea cooperates with the IRG and other Iranian entities in the development of nuclear capabilities or nuclear weapons.
[PAGE 22] State Department’s Fact Sheet asserted that the IRG “has assisted Hizballah [Hezbollah] in rearming” since the 2006 war, presumably including the supply of new longer-range missiles described by the 2008 Israeli intelligence estimate.
[PAGE 23] Later in 2006, it was reported that North Korea had made an initial shipment to Iran of its new Musudan intermediate range missile. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stated in November 2007 that North Korea had supplied Iran with missiles with a range of 1,562 miles (probably the Musudan). North Korea and Iran reportedly carried out joint tests of the Musudan. In April 2008, several publications reported the existence of a new Iranian missile research and development site that had the same appearance as North Korea’s Taepodong missile assembly facility inside North Korea.
Several reports in 2009 described Iran seeking and receiving the assistance of North Korean missile technicians in preparing to launch a missile bearing an artificial satellite. The launch on February 2, 2009, was successful. A delegation of up to 15 Iranians, from the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group (a company connected with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards), reportedly were observers at the site of North Korea’s test of a Taepodong II long-range missile on April 5, 2009. Officials from this company and IRG officials reportedly also had observed North Korea’s missile launches of July 4, 2006.
[PAGE 26] The Sankei Shinbun report of July 12, 2008, also described two visits of high level Iranian officials to North Korea in February and May 2008. The Iranian delegation included officials of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization and National Security Council. The apparent purpose of these visits, according to the report, was to ensure that North Korea would maintain secrecy about its nuclear collaboration with Iran in its negotiations with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill.
The Sankei Shimbun report of September 12, 2008, also described two forms of non-nuclear military cooperation between Iran and North Korea inside Syria. One of these reportedly involves North Korean scientists and military personnel working with Iranian and Syrian counterparts at a chemical weapons plant in northern Syria. The second reportedly involves a plan by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to deploy small, North Korean-made submarines in a military port in Syria.
Senator DeMint was on Fox News with Neil Cavuto discussing President Obama's appointment of czars who control sections of American industries but aren't accountable to Congress.
In fact, Reuters reports that there are now as many as 21 czars in Washington who oversee everything from the auto industry to the Great Lakes:
Feinberg's appointment adds to a long list of so-called czars -- as many as 21 -- who play powerful roles in Obama's government.
There is a drug czar responsible for trying to control the flood of illegal drugs into the United States. A U.S. border czar works on issues along the turbulent U.S.-Mexican border.
The urban czar works on city issues, while the stimulus accountability czar tries to ensure the $787 billion in economic stimulus funds is spent properly.
An Iran czar is seeking to improve U.S. relations with Iran and head off its nuclear ambitions. An energy czar has the global-warming portfolio.
The idea is to have one person ultimately responsible for an issue and avoid problems of overlapping bureaucracies that previous administrations have experienced. But the system has its critics.
Republican Senator John McCain has complained that Obama has "more czars than the Romanovs," who ruled Russia for three centuries.
Some members of Congress complain about czars, because they did not go through the usual Senate confirmation process like other top officials but have a big hand in government actions involving many billions of dollars.
The car czar, for example, oversees auto company bailouts of around $50 billion, while the bank bailout czar has $700 billion in bailouts to look after.
"You can imagine from the perspective of the Senate that you're dealing with people who do not have confirmation to go through and so are not accountable in the same way. I think that's what rankles some people in the Senate," said Norman Ornstein, a political expert at the American Enterprise Institute.
He also said having czars has the potential of confusing lines of authority that can "create tensions, messiness in government."
Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) and 7 other senators wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling on the administration to immediately relist North Korea on the U.S. State Department's State Sponsors of Terrorism List. The letter was signed by U.S. Senators Chambliss (R-GA), Coburn (R-OK), Cornyn (R-TX), DeMint (R-SC), Ensign (R-NV), Enzi (R-WY), Sessions (R-AL), and Vitter (R-LA).
The letter text is below and you can find a pdf copy of the letter here.
June 2, 2009
The Honorable Hillary Clinton
Secretary
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Madame Secretary:
We are writing to request that you immediately place the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) back on the State Department’s State Sponsors of Terrorism List.
As you know, the DPRK has never ended the activities for which it was listed as a state sponsor of terrorism. A number of reports have demonstrated this fact.
Despite this fact, under the Six-Party Talks framework that focused on “action for action,” former President Bush removed the DPRK from the State Department’s State Sponsors of Terrorism List to encourage the DPRK to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
However, in recent weeks, the DPRK has engaged in a number of nuclear and missile tests that have destabilized the region and increased the threat to U.S. national security. In addition, the DPRK has gone even further in announcing its withdrawal from the 1953 Armistice the United Nations negotiated to end the Korean War.
The DPRK has neither ended its sponsorship of terror activities nor moved in the direction intended when President Bush de-listed the DPRK. In fact, the DPRK has done just the opposite.
In light of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’s announcement that DPRK is preparing to launch a long-range missile capable of reaching the United States, it is critical that the DPRK be placed back on the list without delay and that its regime is denied access to multinational loans and other financial vehicles that help fund their destabilizing activities.
Sincerely,
Jim DeMint
John Cornyn
Jeff Sessions
Tom Coburn
Saxby Chambliss
Michael B. Enzi
David Vitter
John Ensign
From yesterday's Senate Banking Committee hearing with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner:
SEN. DEMINT: If over the next six months $50 billion comes back, will $50 billion go into the general fund of the United States?
SEC. GEITHNER: The way the TARP is designed -- and I didn't design this -- but the way it's designed is every dollar that comes back goes into the general fund but that does still create additional head room under the $700 billion authority for us to make capital investments -- make investments. So we have the ability to still use the $700 billion if we think there's a strong case for doing that, but the way the program works is a dollar comes in and goes to the general fund but still creates additional room for us to make a new --
SEN. DEMINT: So your understanding of what we did is that the Treasury now has $700 billion that it can use permanently, rotating in and out of the capital markets as you see fit?
SEC. GEITHNER: Well, I'm not quite sure permanent, but you're right.
---
SEN. DEMINT: Are you working on a plan to show us of how you are going to move out of all this market, the ownership of General Motors, the ownership of AIG, all the money in the private banking? I mean, you've got a plan?
SEC. GEITHNER: Senator, as I said to Ranking Member Shelby at the beginning, this is a very important issue to me. We think about this a lot and there will be a time when we will be able to come to you and say here's how the unwinding process will work. But it's too early to do that now.
Last week, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on Harold Koh, President Obama's nominee to serve as the top legal advisor to the State Department. After reading several of Mr. Koh’s articles and meeting with him in my office, I am particularly concerned about the role he sees for international law when making and interpreting U.S. laws and how they apply to the Department of State. His judicial philosophy suggests that he believes international law supersedes U.S. federal law, and that the Constitution should be just one of many guide posts for the American legal system. I fear Mr. Koh’s positions could undermine American sovereignty and the unique role the United States plays in the world.
After the hearing last week, I submitted a number of additional "Questions for the Record" for Mr. Koh in order to more fully understand his positions on these issues. I thought you may want to see Mr. Koh’s responses. They are posted here.
Two weeks ago I took a trip to Europe and the Middle East. It was an honor to be the first member of the United States government to welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu back to office. After meeting with him and many other leaders in Jerusalem during my visit, it is clear to me that Israel remains committed to a strong, special friendship with the United States.
However, during my trip it became evident that the U.S. policies in the Middle East are changing in a way that could undermine efforts to ensure peace and security in the region. The shared principles and values that unite Israel and the United States are at risk, and at the heart of the problem lies Iran.
Whether it is their exportation of terrorism, their funding and arming of Hamas and Hezbollah, or their single-minded pursuit of nuclear weapons, the Iranian regime’s behavior poses a clear and present danger to Israel. And no ally of the United States should have to live in fear of state-sponsored terror.
No evidence exists suggesting a diminishment of Iran’s penchant for violence and international mischief. Just last week, Iran announced it had enough centrifuges to produce enough uranium for a nuclear bomb. It is only a matter of time until Tehran, an unrepentant nexus of nuclear weapons and organized terrorism, represents the world’s biggest threat to the security of the United States, Israel, and the rest of the Middle East. Therefore, I believe it is time the United States confronts Iranian influence in the Middle East and takes the necessary steps toward improving the peace and prosperity of the region.
The United States should impose serious and targeted sanctions on Iran, including limits on their supply of refined gasoline. Unfortunately, the Obama administration would rather talk to Iran in the vain hope that its apocalyptic tyrants don’t actually want to produce a nuclear weapon. Such naiveté not only further erodes Israel’s security and destabilizes the entire Middle East, but it also subtly encourages Iran’s continued and unpunished mischief.
The Obama administration needs to stand by our allies, not force a false peace upon them. Though it is clear to me that Israel remains committed to working with the United States, we must do our part to protect Israel from Iran-sponsored terror, ultimately ensuring our friendship with them. If the administration wants to help Israel and the Palestinians, it needs to confront Iran and undo Iran’s capacity to support the terrorists that hold the entire region in a state of perpetual oppression.
