Congressman Adam Schiff Visits Flintridge Preparatory School

Fresh off a Cromnibus vote and the recently publicized Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture, Congressman Adam Schiff (Democrat, House of Representatives) made time to speak to some of the youngest members of his district, Sarah Cooper’s 8th graders at Flintridge Preparatory School. They were joined by a generation of almost-voters, Christine Madsen’s AP Government seniors.

It all started in Cooper’s 8th grade history class, which has recently been studying the Constitution, particularly Article I, Section 8, which grants Congress the power to declare war, and Article II, Section 2, which states that the President is the Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces. Together, these articles intentionally divide war responsibilities among the executive and the legislative branches of the US government, except in times of crisis, when they might create legislation granting more power to the President.

Naturally, the war powers discussion landed on current events, particularly President Obama’s execution of the fight against ISIS, even though the 60-day War Powers Act stipulation has expired.

Cooper asked her students, “Should President Obama be able to continue this military action without Congressional approval?”

“About half the students felt Obama should [be able to act on his own] because of the moral imperative, while the other half felt he should get approval first because he is working outside the Constitution, with the potential for eventual dictatorship,” Cooper says. “We have talked at great length about ISIS this year as part of our daily current events discussions, especially whether the US should be interventionist or isolationist with regard to this and other world issues.”

Then Cooper read Congressman Schiff’s Nov. 17 LA Times op-ed piecec, which crystalized the discussion. She sent the Congressman an email to let him know the discussion that students in his district are having on this subject. She was delighted when the Congressman said he would be able to visit and answer questions.

Congressman Schiff addressed the responsibilities of Congress to hold the President to his constitutional limits, acknowledging that dysfunctions in Congress may prevent everyone from coming together even on topics where most people agree, such as the war against ISIS. Now that our country no longer faces nation-state enemies, but geographically indeterminate terrorist organizations, a new Congressional authorization would have to address important questions about scope and time tables.

Before heading off to his next function, Congressman Schiff answered student questions regarding the Torture Report, 4th amendment privacy issues with the government’s collection of cell phone metadata and more. Cooper asked her 8th graders to respond to their talk with the Congressmen, and they were uniformly impressed with his candor and command of every subject. Noted one student, “He took responsibility for how the Congress is being dysfunctional.” Another wrote approvingly, “(I) felt like he was talking to us as a real person and not as a candidate.”

Flintridge Preparatory School, 4543 Crown Avenue, La Cañada Flintridge, (818) 790-1178 or visit www.flintridgeprep.org.