-Caveat Lector-
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 a vailable 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 wit h 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 go vernment 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. Ron Paul.
--
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All political power, so called, rests practically upon
this matter of money. Any number of scoundrels, having
money enough to start with, can establish themselves as
a "government"; because, with money, they can hire
soldiers, and with soldiers extort more money; and also
compel general obedience to their will. It is with
government, as Caesar said it was in war, that money
and soldiers mutually supported each other; that with
money he could hire soldiers, and with soldiers extort
money. So these villains, who call themselves
governments, well understand that their power rests
primarily upon money. With money they can hire
soldiers, and with soldiers extort money. And, when
their authority is denied, the first use they always
make of money, is to hire soldiers to kill or subdue
all who refuse them more money. ~~Lysander Spooner
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