Jay Inslee Admits He Does Not Understand The Role Of Congress And That He Is Really Ineffective

I called Rep. Inslee's office recently and asked for a statement regarding the military action in Libya, specifically the fact that the Obama Administration did not get authorization for military action from Congress. Rep. Inslee replied letting me know that the administration muse be accountable to Congress and that nothing he is for ever seems to happen.

Here is the full reply:

April 7, 2011

Mr. XXXXXX XXXXXXXX
XXXX XXXth XXXX XX
XXXXXXX, Washington 98XXX

Dear Mr. XXXXXXXX:

Thank you for contacting me regarding you concern about U.S. participation in the international no-fly zone over Libya in response to oppressive violence by the country's dictatorship. I appreciate hearing from you on this very important issue.

I have been gravely concerned by the violence carried out by the regime of Muammar Gaddafi upon citizens of Libya who have sought to improve their political and economic freedoms through public protests. As members of the opposition rose up to defend themselves, joined by defecting military forces, the United Nations Security Council acted with unprecedented speed and in concert with NATO and the Arab League to adopt a resolution condemning the Gaddafi regime's actions and calling for international humanitarian intervention including a no-fly zone. After initially leading in the military effort to enforce the no-fly zone starting on March 19th—in time to prevent major civilian bloodshed in the city of Benghazi—the U.S. has shifted to a supporting role in the ongoing humanitarian effort.

I believe that any Administration must be accountable to Congress for the use of military power. That is why I am participating in Congress's ongoing oversight of the Administration to seek definitive answers about plans to quickly transition from a leading role to a supporting role in the international no-fly zone. I will work in Congress to make sure that any costs of the Administration's actions are appropriately budgeted and shared heavily with other with other participating nations, and that the U.S. is not left with the sole responsibility to rebuild yet another middle-eastern country. I will keep your thoughts in mind as events move forward.

As an opponent of the President's costly and dangerous Afghanistan surge strategy, I have voted against war funding and voted for requiring an exit strategy. Most recently, I joined with 98 of my colleagues in voting for an amendment to the Continuing Resolution for 2011 that would have limited funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to no more than $10 billion from the requested amount of $157.8 billion over the next six months. Though that amendment failed to pass, on February 19th, I voted against the full war funding as part of a short-sighted spending bill proposed by the House Republican Majority, which unfortunately passed by a vote of 235-189. This Continuing Resolution, to fund government operations until October, has been rejected by the Senate in its current state.

As you may know, I voted against the authorization to invade Iraq and I organized opposition in Congress to fight that resolution, as well as voting against this year's Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill which funded the continuation of the conflicts. I will continue to pressure the Administration to bring an end to our foreign military operations and bring our troops home responsibly.

Please continue to contact me about the issues that concern you, as I both need and welcome your thoughts and ideas. Because security measures in the House cause delays in receiving postal mail, I encourage you to contact me by telephone, by fax, or through my website at http://www.house.gov/inslee/contact. For more information on my activities in Congress, and for information on services that my office can provide, please visit my website at http://www.house.gov/inslee/ or stay current with my new blog at http://blog.inslee.house.gov/. If you would like to subscribe to my email updates, please visit http://www.house.gov/inslee/signup.htm.

Very truly yours,

JAY INSLEE
Member of Congress

Jay Inslee, not sure what Congress is suppose to do and not very good at doing it.