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==> August 2008
Rep. Louis Gohmert
(R-TX): Giving Inmate Terrorists More Opportunities (GITMO) Act of 2008
July 30, 2008
As a form of protest of
the United States Supreme Court's recent decision — in Boumediene v. Bush
— U.S. Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-TX), on July 24, 2008, introduced a Bill entitled
the "Giving Inmate Terrorists More Opportunities (GITMO) Act of 2008."
While no one surely
believes that this Gohmert's bill will even be given the courtesy of any
discussion in Nancy Pelosi's House, simply standing alone, "on the table" in the
House of Representatives, Gohmert's GITMO Act of 2008 makes a powerful statement
about the Supreme Court's continuing efforts to undermine the legitimate powers
of the Executive to prosecute the War on Terror.
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HR 6615 IH
110th
CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6615
To provide
for the transport of the enemy combatants detained in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to Washington, DC, where the United
States Supreme Court will be able to more effectively
micromanage the detainees by holding them on the Supreme
Court grounds, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 24,
2008
Mr. GOHMERT
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the
Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of
such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
A BILL
To provide
for the transport of the enemy combatants detained in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to Washington, DC, where the United
States Supreme Court will be able to more effectively
micromanage the detainees by holding them on the Supreme
Court grounds, and for other purposes.
Be
it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1)
The United States Supreme Court issued an opinion
styled Boumediene v. Bush on June 12, 2008.
(2)
Justice Anthony Kennedy, in the court’s majority
opinion, held that foreign terrorism suspects held
at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba have
constitutional rights to challenge their detention
in United States courts.
(3)
This is an obvious effort on the part of the Supreme
Court to micromanage the detainment and disposition
of detainees in the War on Terror who are dedicated
to destroying innocent people and the American way
of life.
(4)
The United States Supreme Court clearly needs
increased opportunity to oversee the handling of the
enemy combatants, as it has seen fit to take a
greater role in managing the Global War on Terror,
which is a duty previously exercised by the
Executive Branch.
(5)
There can be no better way for the United States
Supreme Court to exercise its new self-appointed war
powers than to house the prisoners whom it has taken
a greater role in overseeing.
SEC. 3. TRANSPORTATION
AND DETAINMENT OF ENEMY COMBATANTS.
(a)
Transportation- The Secretary of Defense shall
immediately transport all enemy combatants detained in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to Washington, DC, where the United
States Supreme Court shall hold the prisoners on the
Court grounds, confined by adequate fencing.
(b)
Shelter on Supreme Court Building Grounds- The Secretary
of Defense, in conjunction with Justice Anthony Kennedy,
the author of the majority opinion in Boumediene v.
Bush, is directed to provide shelter for the detainees
outside the United States Supreme Court building, but on
the building grounds. The Secretary of Defense shall
provide guards to watch over the prisoners and shall
implement a system to ensure that the prisoners receive
the appropriate amount of food and water. Should the
detainees need the use of restroom facilities, they
shall use the facilities inside the United States
Supreme Court building. The Chief Justice, if the Chief
Justice so chooses, may perform the duties of Justice
Anthony Kennedy under this subsection.
(c)
Guard Duty- If any of the nine Supreme Court justices
desire at any time to stand guard over the prisoners, or
to provide the prisoners with their meals or water, or
both, then the justices shall be permitted to perform
these functions whenever they want.
SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT.
If
either the Secretary of Defense or any justice of the
Supreme Court refuses to carry out their duties under
this Act, then their respective department or court
shall receive funding for the next fiscal year at half
the level of funding appropriated for the current fiscal
year, or until such time as the Supreme Court no longer
desires to micromanage the prisoners who have sworn to
destroy our way of life.
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New Additions to the Archives:
Ronald W. Reagan
July 29, 2008
The following are among addresses recently added to the Library, and
are highly recommended:
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1961
: Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized
Medicine - Excellent exposition by Reagan on
freedom and liberty, and the dangers from ever-expanding
government, in the context of congressional efforts to
socialize medicine. (Listen
to .mp3 audio)
October 27, 1964 :
A Time for Choosing - Reagan discusses his political genesis from Democrat to
Republican; his views on conservatism; and the upcoming presidential election,
and his support for Barry Goldwater.
November
10, 1977 : Whatever Happened to Free
Enterprise? - Address given at Hillsdale
College, Hillsdale, Michigan.
July 17, 1980 : Republican Presidential
Nomination Acceptance Speech - Joe Louis
Arena, Detroit, Michigan. (Listen
to .mp3 audio) (View
.wmv video) |
Sen. Tom Coburn: Taking Apart Harry Reid's
Gluttonous Omnibus Spending Bill
July 28, 2008
Senate floor speeches are a dime a dozen. Few are worth
listening to when they are delivered. Fewer yet are worthy of
preservation. And only a handful of those merit study.
Here is one that merits very close attention.
Last
Tuesday (July 22, 2008), Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) delivered what amounts to an
indictment of the big-spending, business as usual practices of the
Harry Reid Senate. Reid (D-NV) loosed upon the wallets and
bank accounts of this nation a monstrosity of an omnibus spending
bill — the "Advancing America's Priorities Act" — consisting of 398
pages spanning 35 separate spending bills, creating $11.3 billion in
new spending, with no spending offsets, which were supposed to
accompany new spending under new Democrat "principles" after the
November '06 elections.
While the
pork and druken spending contained in Reid's current omnibus bill is
nothing new — $17 million for ape safety, $12 million for a
greenhouse, and $1.5 billion for the DC metro — Sen. Coburn's speech
provides an excellent tutelage in the constitutional limitations of
government, and the frightening nature of out-of-control
Congressional spending.
 I
want to spend a little bit of time this evening talking
about motivations, talking about a realistic assessment
of where we are and then merge those two things with
some of the actions that myself and others in the Senate
are doing.
One of the things we all know but we do not like to talk
about is the significant, unsustainable course our
country is on. Numbers can be really boring, but they
are not boring when you apply what is going to happen to
our children and grandchildren.
This first chart I have in the Chamber shows Government
spending as a percentage of GDP. It has gone higher than
that at times of war in the past. But here is where we
are today at 2008. We are right around 20 percent. These
are not my numbers. These are Government Accountability
Office--these are the Medicare and Social Security
trustee numbers. If we do not start doing something
about wasteful Washington spending, about reform of
waste, about elimination of fraud, about duplication of
programs--2 or 3 or 20 doing the same thing, none of
them doing it efficiently--what is going to happen to us
under our current policy is that by 2038 we are going to
have 35 percent of our GDP spent by the Government.
Well, what does that really mean? What happens to us
when 35 percent of everything we produce comes to the
Government and the Government deals it back out? Well,
what it really means is less liberty. What it really
means is less freedom. Because what it does is it takes
the resources of Americans out of their pockets and out
of their families and transfers it to a government
bureaucracy that then mandates how dollars will be
spent.
These numbers are not disputable. Nobody will dispute
this is the roadmap we are on. As shown on this chart,
this is where we are going. What happens is, the results
of that become a markedly lower standard of living for
our children and grandchildren. As we look at that, we
see other things that are happening to us that are very
harmful. As a matter of fact, they are affecting us
greatly right now.
The debt held by the public--that is debt that is
exclusive of the money we have stolen from Social
Security, from Federal employees' retirement funds, from
the Inland Waterways Trust Fund, and from about 60 other
trust funds the Government continually steals excess
money from and spends but does not recognize the
debt--that is exclusive of all this. This is the debt
that is out there that people have actually bought:
T-bills or Treasury notes or Treasury bonds. About a
third to 40 percent is now held by foreign governments.
(More
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Welcome to the Conservative Wilderness
July 28, 2008
.jpg) The Conservative
Wilderness is an effort by like-minded, conservative thinkers, who have come
to believe/realize that they have been abandoned by the ostensible
home of conservative leadership in this nation: The Republican
Party. Over time, the Republican Party has changed so
dramatically in its purpose and vision, that it no longer serves
even the basic purposes of conservatism: the limitation of
governmental power over individuals, and the maximization of freedom
and liberty for the People of this nation - both as guaranteed by
our Constitution.
Here in the
Conservative Wilderness, we yearn for the clearcut, steadfast
and honest conservatism of Ronald Reagan. We admire and are
inspired by the true-blue, never-say-die conservatism of Rush
Limbaugh. And we seek leaders who place the guiding principles
of true movement conservatism above the pure acquisition of poltical
power for its own sake.
If you are one of us, you already know it!
If you're not sure, let
us help you find your way — while we try and help those lost out in the
wilderness, find their way back to true conservatism.
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