WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Walter B. Jones (R-NC) recently introduced H.R. 743, the Executive Accountability Act. The legislation would prohibit the president or any other executive branch official from knowingly and willfully misleading the Congress or the people of the United States for the purpose of gaining support for the use of the U.S. Armed Forces.

“As our nation confronts new and challenging conflicts abroad, the Congress must be able to rely on the information given to them by the executive branch when asked to make the decision of whether or not to engage American service members,” Congressman Jones said. “It is for this reason that I’ve introduced legislation to ensure that the executive does not mislead the Congress when asking for authorization to go to war, and to encourage an open dialogue with the Congress regarding military engagements.”

“Abraham Lincoln famously said, ‘I have faith in the people…the danger is, they are misled. Let them know the truth and the country is safe.’ These words remain true today: our country is safest when the people, and their elected representatives in the U.S. Congress, can make decisions based on hard evidence and facts,” Jones said.

Provisions of the Executive Accountability Act would:

- impose criminal penalties on presidents or executive agency officials who in the future knowingly and willfully mislead Congress for the purpose of persuading Congress to authorize the use of armed forces;

- apply to present and future administrations only, not past presidents or executive agency officials;

- suspend the running of the 5-year statute of limitations until the end of the term of the president in office at the time the offense is committed; and

- enable a simple or concurrent resolution by Congress to trigger the referral of a violation to the attorney general.