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10/08/2004 Archived Entry: "Gordon, more on HR 10"

Gordon P. follows up on his earlier post on HR 10, a bill pending before the House which has truly ominous implications. He writes,

An "Action Alert" on H.R. 10, the so-called "9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act," may be found here. H.R.10 is a 542-page "monster omnibus" bill that is longer than the "U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act" and "Homeland Security Act" _combined_. And in classic congressional style, and very much contrary to its name, this Bill implements very few of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, but instead --- very much like its two predecessors --- it consists of an enormous number of "tweaks" to the U.S. legal code that grant a huge grab-bag of new "law and order" powers to the Federal Government, while simultaneously curtailing, violating, or removing further civil rights and protections from all U.S. citizens and residents. Rep. Ron Paul says of this bill: "The 9-11 Recommendation Implementation bill (HR 10) is yet another attempt to address the threat of terrorism by giving more money and power to the federal bureaucracy. The result of most of the reforms contained in this bill will not likely be a safer America, but will definitely be a less free America."

Furthermore, in addition to the sections establishing a de-facto National Id Card and creating interlinked databases that violate the privacy of every American resident, citizen or non-citizen (neither of which could have done anything to stop 9-11), one of the very few provisions of H.R.10 that actually _might_ have made a difference on 9/11 --- the Goode-Paul Amendment allowing aircraft flight crews to arm themselves --- was voted down this morning, despite its being co-sponsored by 62 Senators, and despite its being strongly endorsed by airline pilots (for more on this, click here).

Finally, to reiterate what I implied before: If this monster passes, the U.S. will be one step closer to having a KGB or Stasi of its very own... END OF GORDON'S COMMENTARY.

LewRockwell.com is currently running a piece by Anthony Gregory on the bills currently pending that will probably sneak through unnoticed -- many unread -- just prior to the election when no one will be paying attention to any of the fine print. To quote a portion:

Wired News reports that some of these bills may infringe on certain civil liberties. "At issue are provisions that would":
* "create a de facto national identification card
* allow employers running a background check on an employee to obtain records of arrests and detentions – not just convictions – without limitation on republishing the information
* speed up the implementation of the newest airline passenger screening system, Secure Flight, by requiring congressional approval after it is deployed, not before
* require the State Department to study the feasibility of a worldwide database tracking American citizens’' and foreigners’‘lifetime travel history,’ including information on what countries Americans traveled to
* require the State Department to intervene with foreign media outlets and foreign governments to influence media coverage
* make it easier for the government to deport immigrants to countries where they might be tortured or to countries to which an immigrant has no relationship
* expand Patriot Act wiretap provisions and the ban on material support to designated terrorist organizations
* make it tougher for illegal immigrants to get a hearing to protest deportation
* prevent states from issuing driver's licenses to undocumented aliens by changing what documents are acceptable at Canadian and Mexican borders"

I say to all my friends and family...it is time to leave the United States. It is time to take your children outside its balliwick. The US government will attempt to enforce its policies globally...but it will fail. It just doesn't have the sort of funding or moral authority necessary to make the world bow before it. At the World Freedom Summit in New Zealand in July, Jim Peron likened the US to 1930s Germany, to the period of time when people still had the opportunity to get out before Nazi policies cemented them in. He is correct. Move your money, your loved ones, your business, your lives outside of US jurisdiction. If it is not possible, then do it as much as it is possible.

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