Nicolas J S Davies

A collection of published articles and letters to policymakers regarding the crisis in United States foreign policy by Nicolas J S Davies.

Name:
Location: North Miami, Florida, United States

Saturday, November 13, 2004

Letter to Senate Judiciary Committee on Gonzalez

Senator Patrick Leahy
433 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510

Saturday, November 13, 2004

“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the Supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”
The Constitution of the United States of America, Article VI Clause 2

Dear Senator Leahy,

I am writing to you in your capacity as Ranking Democratic Member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary to ask that you act in defense of our country and its Constitution by rejecting the nomination of Alberto Gonzalez as Attorney General of the United States.

During his tenure as White House Counsel, Mr. Gonzalez has participated in the deliberate and calculated violation and circumvention of numerous international treaties, in violation of Article VI Clause 2 of the United States Constitution. I am especially concerned by violations of the General Treaty for the Renunciation of War (1928), the United Nations Charter (1945), and the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (1949).

I hope that you will take the opportunity afforded by his hearing before this Committee to question Mr. Gonzalez regarding the advice he gave President Bush regarding the status of these international treaties under our Constitution. Did he fulfill his duty to the President by advising him of the constitutional and international import of violating these treaties, and of the likely consequences for our country and for the President?

Our country and our people are suffering political, economic and diplomatic isolation as the consequence of these violations of international law; our troops are suffering the ignominy of fighting and dying as aggressors in an ill-begotten war that their military prowess cannot win; and yet we need the cooperation of intelligence and law-enforcement agencies around the world in our efforts to prevent terrorism. We have a desperate need for an Attorney General who is an expert in international law, and who understands the vital importance of international law to our country’s interests. Mr. Gonzalez falls woefully short of this most basic requirement for this position.
Yours sincerely