ZGram - 11/22/2002 - "Ron Paul on 'The Homeland Security
Monstrosity'"
irimland@zundelsite.org
irimland@zundelsite.org
Fri, 22 Nov 2002 07:57:18 -0800
ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny
November 22, 2002
Good Morning from the Zundelsite:
I am always glad when I see a new Ron Paul release. Few elected
officials these days talk straight and walk their talk as this
courageous Texan does. Here he writes about the Homeland Security
Monstrosity:
[START]
The Homeland Security Monstrosity
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)
November 19, 2002
Congress spent just a few short hours last week voting to create the
biggest new federal bureaucracy since World War II, not that the
media or even most members of Congress paid much attention to the
process. Yet our most basic freedoms as Americans - privacy in our
homes, persons, and possessions; confidentiality in our financial and
medical affairs; openness in our conversations, telephone, and
internet use; unfettered travel; indeed the basic freedom not to be
monitored as we go through our daily lives - have been dramatically
changed.
The last time Congress attempted a similarly ambitious reorganization
of the government was with the creation of the Department of Defense
in 1947. Back then, congressional hearings on the matter lasted two
years before President Truman finally signed legislation. Even after
this lengthy deliberation, however, organizational problems with the
new department lasted more than 40 years! What do we expect from a
huge bureaucracy conceived virtually overnight, by a Congress that
didn't even read the bill that creates it? Surely more deliberation
was appropriate before establishing a giant new federal agency with
170,000 employees!
When the Homeland Security department first was conceived, some
congressional leaders and administration officials outrageously told
a credulous rank-and-file Congress that the new department would be
"budget neutral." The agency simply would be a reorganization of
existing federal employees, we were told, and would not increase the
federal budget. In fact, the agency was touted as increasing
efficiency, rather than expanding federal power. Of course the
original 32 page proposal sent over by the White House quickly grew
to 282 pages in House committees, ending up at more than 500 pages in
the final version voted on last week - with a $3 billion price tag
just for starters. The sheer magnitude of the bill, and the technical
complexity of it, makes it impossible for anyone to understand
completely. Rest assured that the new department represents a huge
increase in the size and scope of the federal government that will
mostly serve to spy on the American people. Can anyone, even the most
partisan Republican, honestly say with a straight face that the
Department of Homeland Security does not expand the federal
government?
The list of dangerous and unconstitutional powers granted to the new
Homeland Security department is lengthy. Warrantless searches, forced
vaccinations of whole communities, federal neighborhood snitch
programs, federal information databases, and a sinister new
"Information Awareness Office" at the Pentagon that uses military
intelligence to spy on domestic citizens are just a few of the
troubling aspects of the new legislation. To better understand the
potential damage to our liberties, I strongly recommend a November
14th New York Times op-ed piece by William Safire entitled "You Are A
Suspect." The article provides a devastating critique of the new
Homeland Security bureaucracy and a chilling warning of what the
agency could become. The article can be read on my website, under the
section entitled "Speeches."
Ron Paul, M.D., represents the 14th Congressional District of Texas
in the United States House of Representatives.
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