Nancy Kassop argues that the Congress should pass the War Powers Consultation Act (WPCA). She believes that the WPCA gives a more comprehensible method than the one that remains in the Wars Powers Resolution (WPR) of 1973. The WPCA gives a stronger responsibility to the president to deliberate with Congress and is more detailed about when to order armed forces into major armed conflict which has to last more than one week. Before the president can agree to a major armed conflict the WPCA depends upon compliance of a confidential, written report to the Joint Congressional Consultation Committee. The act also provides a lasting staff for the Joint Congressional Consultation Committee and depends on compliance from the executive branch. Unlike…show more content… She argues that the WPCA depends upon congressional to respond or take action by a certain time frame. She believes the WPCA fixes the WPR unintentional habit to intensify the presidential one-sided war-making power, and is less exposed to constitutional assessments. She knows the WPCA is not perfect but believes moves us closer to an efficient war-powers decision-making procedure by reconstructing some of the weak points of the WPR.
William G. Howell disagrees with the argument that Congress should pass the War Powers Consultation Act. He states “The WPCA promises to replace secrecy with forthrightness, obscurity with transparency, happenstance with order.” But, believes the act will not stand by those promises, won’t change how our nation goes to war, is not practical, and will not do much good. He argues that the WPCA success or failure rides on the capability to inspire each branch of government to contribute more of their beliefs and facts on continuous military endeavors and views with hopes that Congress and the president will consider these beliefs, facts, and views into the conclusion they make about war. He does not believe that we can count…show more content… William G. Howell argues against passing the act and one reason being that the president may have hidden motives because in order to accomplish presidential responsibilities the president needs power and seeks power. Two years before the tragic event of 9/11, George. W. Bush tells his ghost writer Mickey Herskowitz “One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a great as a commander in chief…My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it…If I have a chance to invade…If I had that much capital, I’m not going to waste it.” (Two Years Before 9/11, Candidate Bush Was Already Talking Privately About Attacking Iraq, According to his Former Ghost Writer, Russ Baker,2004) George Bush already had his mind made up with strong opinions and was ready to attack long before 9/11. If the WPCA is passed I believe the act will do no difference or restrict a president anymore then what the WPR already does. Two years after George Bush declared war in Iraq He states “We know that dictators are quick to choose aggression, while free nations strive to resolve differences in peace.” (Transcript of Bush’s U.N. Address, CNN.com, 2004) Further proving that even with the WPR in place presidents have nothing restricting them from declaring war and the WPCA will not make much of a difference to whether a president decides to go to war or not because they can later give
