Homeland defense begins at our borders and then rooting out those who are in are country who shouldn't be. The federal government already has the power for that.
More armed federal agents with expanded powers is about the last thing we need.
Posted on 11/14/2002 10:08:12 PM PST by FormerLurker
Congressman Ron Paul
U.S. House of Representatives
November 13, 2002
Oppose The New Homeland Security Bureaucracy!
Mr. Speaker, when the process of creating a Department of Homeland Security commenced, Congress was led to believe that the legislation would be a simple reorganization aimed at increasing efficiency, not an attempt to expand federal power. Fiscally conservative members of Congress were even told that the bill would be budget neutral! Yet, when the House of Representatives initially considered creating a Department of Homeland Security, the legislative vehicle almost overnight grew from 32 pages to 282 pages- and the cost had ballooned to at least $3 billion. Now we are prepared to vote on a nearly 500-page bill that increases federal expenditures and raises troubling civil liberties questions. Adding insult to injury, this bill was put together late last night and introduced only this morning. Worst of all, the text of the bill has not been made readily available to most members, meaning this Congress is prepared to create a massive new federal agency without even knowing the details. This is a dangerous and irresponsible practice.
The last time Congress attempted a similarly ambitious reorganization of the government was with the creation of the Department of Defense in 1947. However, the process by which we are creating this new department bears little resemblance to the process by which the Defense Department was created. Congress began hearings on the proposed Department of Defense in 1945- two years before President Truman signed legislation creating the new Department into law! Despite the lengthy deliberative process through which Congress created that new department, turf battles and logistical problems continued to bedevil the military establishment, requiring several corrective pieces of legislation. In fact, Mr. Speaker, the Goldwater-Nicholas Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 was passed to deal with problems steaming from the 1947 law! The experience with the Department of Defense certainly suggests the importance of a more deliberative process in the creation of this new agency.
HR 5710 grants major new powers to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) by granting HHS the authority to "administer" the smallpox vaccine to members of the public if the Department unilaterally determines that there is a public health threat posed by smallpox. HHS would not even have to demonstrate an actual threat of a smallpox attack, merely the "potential" of an attack. Thus, this bill grants federal agents the authority to force millions of Americans to be injected with a potentially lethal vaccine based on nothing more than a theoretical potential smallpox incident. Furthermore, this provision continues to restrict access to the smallpox vaccine from those who have made a voluntary choice to accept the risk of the vaccine in order to protect themselves from smallpox. It is hard to think of a more blatant violation of liberty than allowing government officials to force people to receive potentially dangerous vaccines based on hypothetical risks.
While this provision appears to be based on similar provisions granting broad mandatory vaccination and quarantine powers to governors from the controversial "Model Health Emergency Powers Act," this provision has not been considered by the House. Instead, this provision seems to have been snuck into the bill at the last minute. At the very least, Mr. Speaker, before Congress grants HHS such sweeping powers, we should have an open debate instead of burying the authorization in a couple of paragraphs tucked away in a 484 page bill!
HR 5710 also expands the federal police state by allowing the attorney general to authorize federal agency inspectors general and their agents to carry firearms and make warrantless arrests. One of the most disturbing trends in recent years is the increase in the number of federal officials authorized to carry guns. This is especially disturbing when combined with the increasing trend toward restricting the ability of average Americans to exercise their second amendment rights. Arming the government while disarming the public encourages abuses of power.
Mr. Speaker, HR 5710 gives the federal government new powers and increases federal expenditures, completely contradicting what members were told about the bill. Furthermore, these new power grabs are being rushed through Congress without giving members the ability to debate, or even properly study, this proposal. I must oppose this bill and urge my colleagues to do the same.
Maybe Congressman Paul would like to be a Senator? :)
That WOULD be nice...
Homeland defense begins at our borders and then rooting out those who are in are country who shouldn't be. The federal government already has the power for that.
More armed federal agents with expanded powers is about the last thing we need.
Hopefully enough americans will wake up to see the folly of this "Security enhancement legislation".
Though they have the authority, they don't exercise it. Why should we allow them to expand their powers when they don't use what they already have?
...
A GAO investigation has uncovered MASSIVE fraud in the immigration system, and has reported that it is RAMPANT and "out of control". Yet NO enforcement action apparently has been taken.
From Immigration fraud 'out of control' - General Accounting Office slams INS for rampant problems
"The General Accounting Office has concluded that immigration fraud is rampant, even helping to open the door for terrorism, and that the Immigration and Naturalization Service has no idea how to get it under control."
In the Goverment Executive Magazine article, INS, GAO say immigration benefit fraud is pervasive , it is said that;
"The agency does not know the extent of the fraud, and has failed to provide its field offices with guidance in two key areas: how to conduct investigations of fraud and how to use technology to manage and share information about ongoing cases, the January report said. The INS, which has four service centers and 33 district offices that process applications and petitions for benefits, also hasn’t developed performance measures to use in offices responsible for investigating fraud, GAO said."
I've seen the New York Times article in relation to that. You might want to click below for that story..
Pentagon Plans a Computer System That Would Peek at Personal Data of Americans
Additional information is provided below;
From the High Priests of the Technocracy: The Information Awareness Office;
Now, last, but definitely not least, if you thought the logo for the Babylon project was good (used to be here, but it has been removed, see google cache), wait until you see the logo for the Information Awareness Office. Yes, friends, that's the, "All Seeing Eye" of Illuminated Free Masonry's fame. Yes, the same one that's on the back of your one dollar bills. These guys are out of the closet now. They're in control, they know it and they're not afraid to show it. The Latin phrase below the symbol, "Scientia Est Potentia," means, "Knowledge is Power." Also, notice the part of the world that's indicated in the symbol, Central Asia, the region which has been targeted for imperial occupation because of its rich oil and natural gas deposits.
TR submitted this very interesting information:
Subject: Scientia est potentia
These guys at the Information Awareness Office either don't know their Latin very well, or they are being blantantly evil.
Potentia means power but it has the connotation of unconstitutional private power. Power attained by private means and used for personal ends. What they should say is "Potestas." This is power attained by and for the public good. As in this famous quote by Francis Bacon: Ipsa scientia potestas est. Knowledge itself is power.
In my copy of the "New College Latin and English Dictionary" potentia is defined as: "force, power; political power (esp. unconstitutional power)". Whereas potestas is defined as: "power, abililty, capacity; public authority, rule, magisterial power; possibility, opportunity, permission..."
So by saying "Scientia est potentia" they're just coming out and saying, "Knowledge is unconstitutional political power for a few private individuals." Sounds about right to me. Maybe they do know their Latin after all.
Show me where he wants to open our borders.
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