From: Patrick Poole <ppooleat_private> Subject: Conference Call: EO 13083/Presidential Authority Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 10:01:36 -0400 Conference Call Seminar: Executive Order 13083, Presidential Authority and Congress Asleep at the Wheel The Center for Technology Policy at the Free Congress Foundation will be hosting a conference call seminar ... to discuss the impact of President Clinton's Executive Order 13083 on "Federalism." This Executive Order, issued on May 14th, lists nine kinds of issues that would justify unilateral federal "emergency" action, regardless of the 10th Amendment. A short presentation by journalist and noted executive authority expert Cliff Kincaid of America's Survival will be followed by a question and answer session. Additional topics that may be covered are the effect of Presidential Decision Directives and the pending Senate ratification of the UN Criminal Court Treaty. Prior to the conference call, you can view a copy of EO 13083 and other related documents from our home page at: http://www.freecongress.org/ [details omitted] EO 13083 allows the President to declare a national emergency, which would then invest the Clinton-appointed Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with the power to direct federal, state and local governments. This would replicate the executive powers laid down in the 1933 War Powers Act and allow FEMA to control all communication facilities, power supplies, food supplies, airports, transportation of any kind, seaports, waterways and highways - and Congress would not be able to debate the president's declaration for six months. The President could implement these powers under "any threat to national security, perceived or real." One example of a threat that could activate the War Powers Act is the breakdown in the national "cyber infrastructure." Senator Robert Bennett, the Chairman of the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 problem, recently asked the Department of Defense officials if the military would be ready "in the event of a Y2K-induced breakdown of community services that might call for martial law." The subsequent problems arising from the Y2K problem may very well justify the powers claimed under the War Powers Act and EO 13083. [...]
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