I’m responding to the June 4 Associated Press story “At Trump-Kim summit, don’t expect N. Korea to foot the bill” (ABC News). Considering the bellicose styles of President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jung Un, it’s hard not to be cynical about the summit in Singapore. But the chattering class is creating a distraction with speculation about who’s going to foot the bill. No matter what one thinks of Trump, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt on this one, until proven otherwise.
Anyone who expects immediate, lasting results from the summit will be sorely disappointed, because an arduous, fraught path lies ahead. Our representatives should set party politics aside and advocate on behalf of diplomacy. This is an opportune time for Congress to remind the president of its constitutional power to authorize declarations of war — that it is the authority of the legislative branch of government, not the executive branch, to declare war.
Diplomacy is working. It offers the best course for steering our country and the world away from the catastrophe that renewed war on the Korean Peninsula would bring.
Encourage Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, and Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, D-Wash., to reassert their congressional authority on matters of war by supporting H.R. 4140 in the House and S. 2047 in the Senate.
