Dear Honorable Congressman;
On April 8th, 1998, President Clinton issued an Executive Order establishing an initiative that, from what I understand, previously failed to make it through Congress. This said Executive Order concerns the AMERICAN HERITAGE RIVERS INITIATIVE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (On the White House Virtual Library: http://www.pub.whitehouse.gov/uri-res/I2R?urn:pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/1998/4/9/ 3.text.1).
To my notion, whether you are a Democrate or Republican (it should make no matter), when Congress votes down a bill, the President should abide by this decision. Instead, it appears that this President has dishonored our Congress by gonig over their head and making this initiative happen by Executive Order. I respectfully submit that if all of the above facts are true, then this is certainly a shameful way for our White House to conduct business.
My concern over this particular initiative is that, like the MAB (Man in a Biosphere Reserve) program, an initiative of U.N.E.S.C.O., it wrangles local control away from the residents who live along these rivers, placing it in the hands of the Federal Government, or possibly worse, U.N. endorsed NGOs (nongovernmental organizations).
Please tell me, if you will, whether you personally support what President Clinton did on April 8th by issuing an Executive Order creating an American Heritiage Rivers Initiative Committee, and what you intend to do about the White House ignoring the will of Congress?
May I add that whether you believe this initiative to be worthy or not, I believe that all Congressmen should support an effort to recind this Executive Order. When Congress votes a bill down, no President should go over the heads of Congress and use his right of Executive Order to make into law what Congress denied. Please do what is right in this regard, no matter what your party affiliation may be, by acting to recind this Executive Order. Please know that I would say the very same if Congress had passed this bill and President Clinton, through Executive Order, had attempted to trample it out of existence.
One other question, I understand that Congress has 30 days to challenge this Executive Order. Does this mean you must challenge it in the Supreme Court or that you can merely recind it with a majority vote? My hope is that Congress will exercise their Constitutional right to make law and not have any President go over their heads.
Thank you very much for reading and considering my views.
Best Regards,
Allan B. Colombo
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