Thu Jun 6, 2:36 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives defeated a bid by Democrats on Thursday to force a vote on President Bush's decision to withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty.
The House voted 254-169 to bar the challenge to Bush's plan to pull out of the treaty signed 30 years ago with the Soviet Union to bar deployment of national missile defense systems. The withdrawal becomes effective on June 13.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, an Ohio Democrat, pressed for a House vote on the treaty, saying Bush was overriding congressional powers and acting unilaterally to repeal the law.
Bush announced plans in December to pull out of the treaty that was revised over the years with Russia, which he saw as an impediment to his plans to develop a system to protect the nation from missiles fired by rogue nations or terrorists.
"The Constitution empowers Congress to establish laws, and charges the president with carrying out these laws. Nowhere does it give the president power to repeal laws -- only Congress has the authority to undo its legislative work," Kucinich said.
But House International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, an Illinois Republican, said presidents have terminated a number of treaties without congressional consent. The House voted to back the Republican leaderships' move to block a direct vote on the treaty termination.
Bush argued that the ABM treaty with Russia was outdated with the passing of the Cold War. The Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington showed the need for developing protections from weapons of mass destruction from other threats, he said.
But a number of Democrats said the administration was abandoning a cornerstone of nuclear arms control efforts, and said the withdrawal could provoke another arms race. They also have been skeptical that a system to protect the nation from missile attacks is feasible.
A spokesman for Kucinich said he was working with other lawmakers on a legal challenge to the treaty pullout.
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