uncils.

The assembly is empowered to establish the general line of the country's
foreign policy and has ultimate responsibility for the maintenance of
public order and national defense. As a part of this responsibility the
assembly appoints and recalls the supreme commander of the armed forces.
Declarations of war, however, are constitutionally limited to the
protection of Romanian national sovereignty in the event of aggression
or in the event of aggression against another state with which Romania
has mutual defense obligations.

Other powers attributed to the assembly include adopting and amending
the Constitution and the general control over its application. Assembly
authority extends as well to the interpretation of the Constitution and
decisions on the constitutionality of laws, making it in effect its own
constitutional court. In exercising that power the assembly elects the
Constitutional Commission, which functions for the duration of the
legislative term. The Constitution specifies that up to one-third of the
commission members may be persons who are not deputies, but members of
the Supreme Court, college and university teachers, and scientific
researchers are specifically excluded from commission membership. Duties
of the commission focus primarily on providing the assembly with reports
and opinions on constitutional questions.

The Grand National Assembly functions under an elected chairman who
presides over assembly sessions and is responsible for directing its
activities. The chairman and four elected vice chairmen form the Bureau
of the Grand National Assembly and are assisted in their duties by a
panel of six executive secretaries. In addition to the Constitutional
Commission, other standing commissions of the assembly include the
Agriculture and Forestry Commission; Credentials Commission; Defense
Commission; Economic and Financial Commission; Education, Science, and
Culture Commission; Foreign Policy Commission; Health, Labor, and Social
Welfare Commission; Industry, Construction, and Transportation
Commission; Legal Commission; and the People's Councils and State
Administration Commission. Any deputy may be elected to the standing
commissions of the assembly or to temporary commissions created to
perform specific functions. Reports, bills, or other legislative matters
are submitted to the standing commissions by the assembly chairman for
study and for recommendations on further action.

The assemb