House Bill 256 (LSR 521) would create “a committee to study the federal government’s response to the 1967 attack on the USS Liberty”. Concerning that bill, columnist Kathleen Sullivan (Jan. 11, 2025) writes: “Thirty-four Americans were killed … No matter your opinion … the New Hampshire Legislature has no authority over a military matter that occurred more than half a century ago.”
Such reflexive helplessness would undoubtedly astound the Founders. As James Madison stated in Federalist No. 51, the United States is a “compound republic” with “the power” divided between the federal and state governments. This division of power creates “a double security” such that the “different governments will control each other …”
Consequently, the power to oversee federal activity is delegated neither exclusively nor explicitly to Congress; it is an implied power. Thus, under our Constitution, particularly the Tenth Amendment, New Hampshire retains the authority to scrutinize federal (mis)conduct.
The feds should have properly investigated the attack on the Liberty decades ago, but they did not. When federal officials shirk their duties, states have the ability and, arguably, a duty to judiciously conduct their own oversight into federal inaction or misconduct.
True, New Hampshire can neither compel the federal government to cooperate in any inquiry nor to take any action. However, that should not deter the Granite State from pursuing truth, providing critical information to the public, and holding the federal government accountable in the courts of history and public opinion. HB 256 was retained in committee, but it should be dusted off, debated at the earliest convenience, and then approved.
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