Trading Away Their Oaths
On the opening day of each new Congress, every member of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives takes an oath of office to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic” and “bear true faith and allegiance to the same.” For many members, no doubt, this solemn act is merely a perfunctory ceremony, but it is a morally and legally binding act, nevertheless, and one that should not be taken lightly. And each member will soon be severely tested regarding that sworn duty.
Will it be possible, for instance, for representatives and senators to honor their oaths to “support and defend” the Constitution and “bear true faith and allegiance” to it, and at the same time to vote for so-called trade agreements that surrender American sovereignty to international tribunals that would be empowered to override that same Constitution — not to mention our state constitutions and national, state, and local laws? To vote for agreements that establish new institutions of supranational governance with evolving powers — legislative, executive, and judicial — that subvert and supplant the Constitution? To vote for these same agreements that have been crafted in secrecy by the Obama administration and select corporate interests — with Congress completely excluded — in violation of the Constitution’s mandate for Congress, not the president, “to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations”?
We are not conjuring up mere theoretical threats here. Previously enacted “trade agreements” have already delivered rulings by NAFTA and World Trade Organization (WTO) tribunals that have overruled U.S. laws and U.S. federal and state court rulings. Georgetown University law professor John D. Echeverria has characterized this development as “the biggest threat to United States judicial independence that no one has heard of and even fewer people understand,” while Hofstra University law professor Peter Spiro says it “points to a fundamental reorientation of our constitutional system.”
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