Bills

Congressional Research Service Summary: This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to identify reputable model standards for the licensing of foster family homes.

Part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act is amended to require state plans for foster care and adoption assistance to require submission to HHS of information addressing:

• whether the state licensing standards are in accord with HHS-identified model standards, and if not, the reason for the specific deviation and a description of why having a standard that is reasonably in accord with the corresponding national model standards is not appropriate for the state;
• whether the state has elected to waive certain standards for relative foster family homes, a description of standards most commonly waived, and if the state has not so elected, the reason why;
• if the state has elected to waive such standards, how caseworkers are trained to use the waiver authority and whether the state has developed a process or offered tools to assist caseworkers in waiving nonsafety standards to quickly place children with relatives; and
• a description of the steps the state is taking to improve caseworker training or the process, if any.

Analysis: With the passage of the 1935 Social Security Act during the Great Depression, the federal government took over control and direction of a whole spectrum of state welfare programs. H.R. 2866 would extend the unconstitutional federal overreach of that watershed New Deal legislation by imposing new requirements on states regarding foster care licensing as well as new reporting requirements.

The pretext for H.R. 2866 flows from the collectivist vision that if there’s a problem, the federal government should address it, regardless of any constitutional limitations.   Indeed, the Insider Establishment regularly uses the pretense of humanitarian concern to advance a totalitarian power grab.

The federal monster thus created increasingly threatens our freedom while undermining our standard of living.

In 1953, free-lance writer Garet Garret astutely pointed out:

“In these twenty years [since the launch of FDR’s New Deal] a revolution took place in the relationship between government and people. Formerly government was the responsibility of people; now people were the responsibility of government.” — The People’s Pottage, 1953, p. 9.

With the development of federal deep pockets thru the Federal Reserve Act and the income tax, that revolution has also extended to the federal-state relationship. The federal government now assumes that it has responsibility to manage the states.

Think with Heart?

Proponents of H.R. 2866 heralded the overwhelming bipartisanship support for this measure as evidence that the people’s House could think with its heart. But America’s founders were guided by wisdom born of experience, not mindless heart and socialist propaganda.

If representatives today had the voter-supplied backbone to respect their oath to uphold the Constitution, they could make the case that the growth of the federal monster is largely responsible for America’s decline — morally, socially, and economically.

By design, the Establishment-controlled media no longer emphasize the importance of principle-based government, in particular constitutionally limited government, where problems are addressed at the lowest level of government, if government needs to be involved at all.

Congress now has enormous difficulty in controlling the direction of the monster it has created.   Even House legislation that has overwhelming support, good or usually bad, often requires years and multiple attempts before it is taken up by the Senate and becomes law.

Excerpts from Congressional Record:

Cosponsor Mike Kelly (R-PA-03):

“As a matter of good public policy, we should be making the placement process much easier for family members, not more difficult, because it is often in the best interest of the child.   Studies show that placing foster children with relatives solves many of the problems children face when being placed into foster care; moreover, it improves the outcomes for these children. Children are more likely to succeed when they can stay with a family member of their own and someone they are already familiar with and know.”

[FFS: Sounds reasonable, but the federal government properly lacks the authority to force the states to implement such policy. Moreover, with this bill, Congress does not actually specify the model/policy, but leaves it up to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine what are “reputable model licensing standards.” Suppose a future liberal Secretary determines that “same-sex couples” deserve special favorable consideration.]

“The problem is that, while current law allows States to waive certain licensing standards when placing children with relatives, many States have been slow to implement the law. One of the purported reasons is that caseworkers are slow or they simply don’t know how to place children with relatives because of a lack of training on their part. Today, caseworkers may not be adequately trained regarding their ability to waive certain standards when licensing relatives…. Representative Smucker’s bill, H.R. 2866, will help remedy this problem… States, subsequently, would need to do their part by submitting their plans to be in compliance with model standards for family foster care placement. Additionally, States would need to explain how caseworkers in their respective States are being trained.” [Emphasis added.]

Cosponsor Terri A Sewell (D-AL-07):

[Colloquy with cosponsor Mike Kelley]

“Is it your expectation that the National Association for Regulatory Administration’s Model Family Foster Home Licensing Standards would be the kind of standards envisioned by the bill?”   Mr. Kelly: “My feeling is the National Association for Regulatory Administration’s Model Foster Home Licensing Standards would be a prime example of what HHS should consider.”   Ms. Sewell: “I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for that response.”

Cosponsor Danny K. Davis (D-IL-07):

H.R. 2866 requires States to modernize their licensing standards to align with the best practices in licensing. This is a commonsense and important change…. To understand the use of waivers, Children’s Bureau should collect data on State’s granting waivers for nonsafety licensing standards for relatives, including the number of relatives applying for waivers, the number of waivers issued or denied, and the reason for denial.” [Emphasis added.]

Cosponsor Karen Bass (D-CA-37):

“Ironically, in the 1990s, when the crack cocaine epidemic hit, that was the first time that women started using drugs equal to men. It hadn’t happened before, and so families fell apart. One of the things that happened, in the early 1990s, was in the middle of the night a grandmother might be called and three grandchildren delivered to her by Children’s Protective Services. The grandmother would take the children without any support and without any knowledge of how to deal with the trauma that the children faced….”

“One of the things we did in Los Angeles was we organized the grandmothers, and we trained them how to go before the board of supervisors and advocate on their own behalf. That happened all around the country…. So there began a national movement for relative caregivers to fighting for their rights and for services.” [Emphasis added.]

FFS: National movements require organization and funding. If we recognize the prevalence today of revolutionary organizations with hidden subversive agendas, we should be suspicious when the sponsoring organizers are not mentioned. Also, the federal government, responding to revolutionary influences, often produces the “poison and the antidote” in the same laboratory.   The modern attack on the traditional family and pushing religion out of public life cannot help but contribute to the problems Bass cited.

 

Bill Summary: This 312-page bipartisan “catch-all” package combines many agendas and bills. Here are several:

• Provides $4.8 billion over 10 years to the National Institutes of Health.
• Provides States with $1 billion in federal grants over the next 2 years to help combat the opioid epidemic.
• The Safe Medications for Moms and Babies Act.
• The EUREKA Act, which incentivizes and rewards research on rare diseases.
• The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act.

Analysis: The “Cures Act” advances the collectivist revolution that hypes government as the solution to all problems. This is particularly dangerous when applied to the federal health care system.

The unconstitutional federal assumption of responsibility for universal health care dates back to the Johnson years. That socialist breakthrough occurred after decades of socialist campaigning.

The socialist drivers of this power grab deceitfully argued a pretext of caring concern, but their real agenda has been control — to transform government from servant to master by making the public dependent on government for health care. (See Media-Controlled Delusion, Chapter 1. Socialized Medicine and Code Blue by Edward R. Annis, M.D., a past president of the American Medical Association.)

As the “debates” on this measure makes clear, many in Congress have embraced the concept that that the federal government has unlimited deep pockets and consider it a sin to restrict spending that targets problems. They conveniently ignore where the money comes from and the impact of that cost on the public and the economy. In extolling the virtue of bipartisanship on a socialist playing field, they also exhibit no respect for constitutional limitations on areas of federal involvement.

A few excerpts here from the Senate debate on the House amendment supplement the House debate: 

Congressional Record Excerpts (emphasis added)

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN, Chair, Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions Committee)(12-5-16):

“In his address to the Nation this past weekend, President Obama urged us to vote for the bill today and tomorrow. ‘It could help us find a cure for Alzheimer’s,’ the President said. ‘It could end cancer as we know it and help those seeking treatment for opioid addiction.’ The President continued: ‘It’s an opportunity to save lives and an opportunity we just can’t miss.’

“Vice President Biden has been telephoning Senators urging support for 21st Century Cures because, in the Vice President’s words, it is a big step for cancer research and the Cancer Moonshot that is so close to his heart.

“Speaker Paul Ryan in the House of Representatives has made 21st Century Cures explicitly a centerpiece of his vision for our country’s future, describing it as ‘bipartisan legislation that would accelerate the discovery, development, and delivery of lifesaving treatments.’

“With such bipartisan support from the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, the Speaker of the House, the Senate majority leader — two Democrats, two Republicans — it is no wonder that on last Wednesday, the House of Representatives approved 21st Century Cures by the overwhelming vote of 392 to 26.

“This legislation holds the promise of improving the life and health of virtually every family in the country….

“One reason the majority leader calls this the most important piece of legislation Congress will act on this year is because it includes the mental health legislation that these Senators, including Senator Murphy, Senator Cornyn, and Senator Cassidy, have offered.”

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX, Majority Whip)(12-6-16):

“This legislation will equip State and local governments with better tools to assess individual health care needs so those suffering from mental illness in the criminal justice system can begin to recover and get the help they need, instead of getting sicker.”

Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS, Chair, Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee) (12-6-16):

“Finally, the 21st Century Cures Act includes numerous priorities that my colleagues on the Finance Committee and I have been working on for several years. One provision I was proud to support in committee extends the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Program for another 5 years.

“As our rural hospitals continue to try and make ends meet, this program helps what we call ‘tweener’ hospitals survive. Hospitals that do not qualify as critical access hospitals would not survive under the current Medicare payment system. It is a critical program that benefits Kansans in Junction City, Ulysses, and Fort Scott by keeping their hospital and access care open.”

Senator Orin Hatch (R-UT, Chair, Finance Committee) (12-6-16):

“Thanks to this bill, universities across Utah will be able to access the funding streams from the Precision Medicine Initiative, the BRAIN Initiative, and the Cancer Moonshot….

“All told, the current version of the bill includes at least 22 separate provisions that reflect the hard work of Finance Committee members. These include modifications and updates to Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP, along with other important changes to the law….

“A number of measures that I personally worked on as a member of the Senate HELP Committee have also been included in the bill. All told, about 37 provisions in this bill are ones that I either drafted or helped draft at some point during my years in the Senate.”

Senator Leahy (D-VT, Ranking Member, Judiciary Committee) (12-7-16):

“I am hopeful that the funding included in this bill will help States move people into treatment to eventually stop the tragic cycle of [opioid] abuse.

“While I strongly support this funding, in addition to the bill’s expansion of medical research and mental health parity, this bill is far from perfect….

“Furthermore, while the bill makes it easier in many cases to get drugs approved, it does nothing to address the unreasonable price hikes we have seen in some prescription drugs….

“I am frustrated that a bill of this enormity — that has never been considered by the full Senate — is being placed on the calendar at the end of a session with no opportunity for amendments….

“Nevertheless, improvements were made to this bill before it was considered by the House last week….

“On balance, this is an important piece of legislation that offers a great promise to move the bar forward on medical research, while also providing critical relief to families suffering from opioid addiction. I believe these strong investments will benefit us for generations to come, and I will support the passage of this bill.”

Senator Jack Reed (D-RI, Ranking Member Armed Services Committee) (12-7-16):

“This bill also includes my legislation, the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Reauthorization Act, which supports youth suicide prevention grants for schools — elementary schools through college where children and young adults spend most of their time — to be able to reach at-risk youth. I am especially pleased that, for the first time, this bill will allow funding to be used for mental health treatment on college campuses, the most effective way to prevent suicide….

“In addition, the bill contains $1 billion in funding for States to respond to the ongoing opioid epidemic. Earlier this year, passage of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act was an important first step in addressing this crisis, but my colleagues on the other side of the aisle voted against efforts to fund the legislation and provide access to treatment in our communities. I am pleased that we will finally have real funding going to communities this year to provide this treatment.

“However, I am disappointed that this bill does not make this funding mandatory. We will still have to rely on appropriations in the future to ensure that this funding goes out as intended.”

Senator Richard Burr (R-NC)(12-7-16):

“We are at a tremendously exciting era in medicine that will be defined by innovation. Innovation holds great potential….

“I am pleased that the final Cures bill includes the Advancing Targeted Therapies for Rare Diseases Act, legislation that will help advance the development of targeted drugs for patients with serious or life threatening rare genetic diseases.”

Bill Summary:  This 312-page bipartisan “catch-all” package combines many agendas and bills. Here are several:

• Provides $4.8 billion over 10 years to the National Institutes of Health.
• Provides States with $1 billion in federal grants over the next 2 years to help combat the opioid epidemic.
• The Safe Medications for Moms and Babies Act.
• The EUREKA Act, which incentivizes and rewards research on rare diseases.
• The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act.

Analysis: The “Cures Act” advances the collectivist revolution that hypes government as the solution to all problems.  This is particularly dangerous when applied to the federal health care system.

The unconstitutional federal assumption of responsibility for universal health care dates back to the Johnson years. That socialist breakthrough occurred after decades of socialist campaigning.

The socialist drivers of this power grab deceitfully argued a pretext of caring concern, but their real agenda has been control — to transform government from servant to master by making the public dependent on government for health care. (See Media-Controlled Delusion, Chapter 1. Socialized Medicine and Code Blue by Edward R. Annis, M.D., a past president of the American Medical Association.)

As the “debate” on this measure makes clear, many in Congress have embraced the concept that that the federal government has unlimited deep pockets and consider it a sin to restrict spending that targets problems. They conveniently ignore where the money comes from and the impact of that cost on the public and the economy. They also have no respect for constitutional limitations on areas of federal involvement.

Congressional Record Excerpts (11-30-16) [emphasis added]:

Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI, Chair, Energy & Commerce Committee):

“Every day, countless folks living vibrant lives are delivered unexpected diagnoses. It is a cycle that repeats itself over and over in every community. Life changes in an instant, and hope seems out of reach, whether it be Alzheimer’s, lupus, MS, cancer, you name it.

“No matter where you are from, one thing that binds us all together is that we all want more time with our loved ones. That is why we are here today, because the clock is ticking for patients and their families.

“So, Mr. Speaker, this brings us to the 21st Century Cures Act. This bipartisan bill will ensure that our health system can keep pace with the incredible advances in science and technology. In Cures, we have got a medical innovation game-changer that will deliver hope to patients across the country.

“We have been here before. In July of 2015, after a series of roundtables, hearings, white papers, and public feedback, the House overwhelmingly voted in support of 21st Century Cures….

“So 3 years ago, we had an idea that, yes, we could do better. We needed to do something to transform our health research system to effectively fight disease in this century. Finding cures and boosting research and innovation was absent from any policy to-do list. People didn’t seem to care that the gap between biomedical innovation and our regulatory process was widening, or that of the 10,000 known diseases — 7,000 of which are rare — there are treatments for only about 500. We needed to change the conversation and restore urgency. And working together, we have….

“This legislation breaks down regulatory barriers and expedites the approvals for drugs and devices, coupled with billions more for research….

“But this package is not just about Cures. No. It also achieves several additional top-line priorities for our Energy and Commerce Committee, including valuable resources to fight the opioid epidemic and delivering landmark mental health reforms spearheaded by Dr. Tim Murphy to help families in crisis and treat mental illnesses rather than incarceration. This is, without a doubt, the most important and impactful bill that we will enact in this Congress.

“We are on the cusp of something special, a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform how we treat disease. With this vote, we are taking a giant leap on the path to Cures.”

Rep. Diana DeGette(D-CO):

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the 21st Century Cures Act, knowing that I am far from alone in supporting this bill. More than 700 groups representing patients, healthcare providers, researchers, and others have voiced support for the bill, as has the White House, which provided its enthusiastic endorsement last night.

“This is a watershed moment in this country for biomedical research. With this bill, we bring hope to millions of patients who suffer from cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and a host of other ailments….

“Among the key provisions, this consensus version of the bill will provide $4.8 billion to the National Institutes of Health, including money for Vice President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot initiative, including money for Precision Medicine and the BRAIN Initiative. It will provide almost $1 billion in grants to the States to address the urgent opioid crisis in this country.”

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ, Ranking Minority Member, Energy & Commerce Committee):

“This is not a perfect bill, but, after much consideration, I believe the benefits outweigh my concerns, and I fully support its passage.

“This final bill includes many provisions that my Democratic colleagues and I, as well as the administration, fought hard to have included.

“The bill provides new funding for the National Institutes of Health, the President’s Precision Medicine Initiative, and the Vice President’s Cancer Moonshot initiative. It also provides new resources for the Food and Drug Administration and grants for States currently battling the opioid abuse crisis….

“I am also pleased, Mr. Speaker, that the bill includes a new FDA grant program to study the process of continuous drug manufacturing. This innovative process will allow for more effective drug production without sacrificing quality. The bill also includes important hiring provisions to help the FDA recruit and retain the best and the brightest and policies to move us closer to ensuring we have interoperable electronic health records, which are critical to reducing costs and improving care.

“As I said, this is not a perfect bill, and I have some concerns with the final product. I am disappointed that the bill does not contain guaranteed funding. Instead, we must ensure each year that the Appropriations Committee and the Republican majority lives up to the promises they make today, and we will hold them to these promises. The lack of immediate funding for the FDA is a particular concern given the fact that this bill asks the FDA to take on significantly more responsibilities that we know are extremely resource intensive….

“I am pleased, Mr. Speaker, that this package includes the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. This is a helpful step towards the more substantial reforms our broken mental health system needs.

“I am specifically proud that the bill expands an important set of Medicaid benefits to kids receiving inpatient psychiatric treatment. However, let’s be clear, the benefits of the mental health bill will be far outweighed by the catastrophic harm caused by individuals with mental illness if the Republicans move forward with their radical plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act or block grants for Medicaid or cut benefits for low-income individuals.

“Again, on balance, this is a good bill. I fully support it.”

Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA):

“Mr. Speaker, this is a moment of great joy out of a situation of tremendous tragedy.

“After the last 4 years, since the time of the terrible tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School followed by repeated other ones, our Nation has awoken from a slumber of ignoring the problems of mental illness in America, one that when we closed down our institutions decades ago, we turned our eye to those who lay homeless on the street, who filled our prisons, who filled our cemeteries or lay on a gurney in an emergency room or were sent back home to a family who felt helpless and hopeless.

“We have changed now to a situation where we are coming together on a bill that will save lives. This is a new era of health care and the next generation of hope for Americans that really transcends boundaries.”

Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL):

“This legislation supports an additional $4.8 billion for the National Institutes of Health, specifically for President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative and the BRAIN Initiative so we can tackle the challenge of Alzheimer’s. It supports Vice President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot initiative….

“While additional support for NIH is vital and this is a move in the right direction, I would have much preferred that we put this in the mandatory category as we voted on in H.R. 6 earlier in the year. I know many of you agree with that, that medical research in America today shouldn’t be subject to the whims of congressional budget battles or political fights. I will continue to advocate for mandatory funding for NIH so that we can remain on the cutting edge of medical innovation and boost higher wage jobs back home….

“I am very pleased that legislation I introduced with my colleague Representative Herrera Beutler was included in this package. The Safe Medications for Moms and Babies Act ensures that expectant mothers and doctors have accurate information about medications used during pregnancy and when nursing to facilitate the best health outcomes.”

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN):

“I don’t think there is enough money that we can put into the [National Institutes of Health], because it is important and it affects all Americans independent of political party, race, sexual orientation — you name it.”

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH):

“This legislation includes a much-needed renewed emphasis on evidence-based strategies for treating serious mental illness, improved coordination between primary care and behavioral health services, reauthorization of important programs focused on suicide prevention and other prevention services, and mental health and substance use disorder parity provisions….

“Although not perfect or complete, this legislation offers advances in health that greatly outweigh any concerns we might have. I am proud to add my strong support for 21st Century Cures Act.”

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT):

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this bill. The 21st Century Cures bill aims to promote biomedical innovation and mental health, noble goals that I share. Unfortunately, this bill sets a dangerous precedent and has the potential to do more harm than good for millions of Americans….

“Rather than protect those who rely on the healthcare system, it reduces the already weak regulation on medical devices, allows drugs to be approved with only limited evidence of the drug’s safety and efficacy, and rushes the use of new and unproven antibiotics….

“When the cost of our prescription drugs is skyrocketing, this bill does nothing to combat excessive prices.

“Finally, this bill strips away funding from the public health and prevention fund. While the bill authorizes $4.8 billion to the NIH over the next 10 years — on average, a mere $480 million a year — this is barely a quarter per year of what the House passed last year. Let us not forget that we would need to provide $7 billion a year to keep up where we were in 2003.”

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA):

“This bill is a typical lameduck bill. It has one provision in it that people really want, and that is a giveaway to the pharmaceutical industry….

“My colleague, Ms. DeLauro from Connecticut, was absolutely right: the weakening of the FDA in protecting the American public is the central part of this bill.

“Now, it is wrapped in $4 billion worth of inadequate money for NIH. It would take $7 billion to keep us where we are today….

“The other thing that is wrong with this bill and that this House has failed to do is to deal with the cost of pharmaceuticals in this country. There is not one single thing in this bill.

“There is a specialty drug called Sovaldi. It is a treatment for hepatitis C. There are actually several million people in this country who need that drug. One pill costs $1,000. Full treatment costs $84,000. Who can afford it? Who is going to pay for that? Are you going to be willing to put the money into part D of Medicare to pay for it?

“The question here is: What are we doing in giving away to the pharmaceutical companies an open door to push any drug out they want or that they can get through the screen, make the screen big so that it is easy to get them out, and then we pick up the pieces for the American people? That is the reason I oppose this bill. I think there are good things in it.”

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX):

“Madam Speaker, while certainly saluting the many Members who have worked so diligently on this measure, I cannot vote for it.

“In a wide and endless desert of support for research funding, even getting a few drops of rain is understandably welcomed by the thirsty. Under Republican rule, we have seen a dreadful drought in research funding. This is a bill that attempts to address that shortfall. I voted for the bill when it was on the floor of the House at a previous time. At that point, it promised the hope, after this long drought of almost $10 billion in assured, certain funding, for research so that we might find cures for some of these diseases before we get them ourselves–the concern of so many people.

“Now, under this new measure, we have only about a fourth of the funding previously approved in the House, and it is no longer certain money; it is maybe money for the future. So there may be bipartisan agreement, but there is not a bipartisan advancement.

“At the same time that research dollars are dramatically cut — the very research dollars that were the reason for having this bill in the first

place — Big Pharma got some of its wish list approved. And how very appropriate that this measure and so many other moving parts have been packed into what it calls the Tsunami Warning bill….

“So what we get in this bill are a few things that Big Pharma wants that have been on its wish list for a long time, and consumers, they get nothing to look forward to other than more of those big waves of huge price increases.”

Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN):

“There are more than 10,000 known diseases in the world, and many of them are rare diseases. Yet, there are only 500 of them that have an FDA-approved treatment….

“Madam Speaker, this is an innovation game-changer. It is a once-in-a-generation, transformational opportunity to change the way we treat disease. It expedites the discovery, the development, and the delivery of new treatments and cures; and it ensures that America will be a leader in the global fight for medical innovation.” 

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX):

“Increased funding set forth in H.R. 34 will only strengthen NIH’s focus on diversifying the biomedical workforce by requiring NIH to focus on ensuring participation from scientists from underrepresented communities.

“In addition to addressing the needs of underrepresented communities, H.R. 34 also calls for specific action to increase representation of racial minorities….

“Under H.R. 34, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities will necessarily include strategies for increasing representation of minority communities in its strategic plan.”

 

 

Full CRS Summary: This bill amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to revise and rename the Missing Alzheimer’s Disease Patient Alert Program as the Missing Americans Alert Program and to reauthorize it through FY2021.

It directs the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Bureau of Justice Assistance to award grants to state and local law enforcement or public safety agencies and nonprofit organizations to prevent wandering and locate missing individuals with dementia or developmental disabilities.

DOJ must establish and certain grant recipients must comply with standards and best practices related to the use of tracking technology to locate missing individuals with dementia or developmental disabilities.

The bill amends the Missing Children’s Assistance Act to specify that, with respect to training and technical assistance provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, cases involving missing and exploited children include cases involving children with developmental disabilities such as autism. [Emphasis added.]

Analysis: A year earlier, outgoing Speaker of the House John Boehner negotiated a backroom budget deal that gave President Obama and the big spenders everything they wanted. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 drew the unanimous support of House and Senate Democrats.

Representative Mark Sanford (R-SC), one of the few opponents allowed floor time to speak against the deal, provided needed perspective:

“Therefore, I would remind everyone of what Admiral Mike Mullen said, who is the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He said that the greatest threat to our civilization was the national debt.”

The reason our national debt is out of control is not due to waste, which can be expected in an enormous, increasingly unmanageable bureaucracy. It is because Congress has cast off virtually all constitutional restraints on programs and spending, fueling that bureaucracy. (And because, for the past century, the federal government has been able to finance its extravagance through Federal Reserve supported monetary inflation).

The collectivist mindset that pervades Washington could be summarized in one sentence by Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) arguing on behalf of this measure: “What is the role of the Federal Government? It is to solve problems.”

Unfortunately, the public is no longer reminded of the basic wisdom of our nation’s founders regarding the American experiment in liberty. They saw government as a necessary servant but they also understood the lesson of history that an insufficiently restrained government would easily become our master.

During the debate over H.R. 4919, Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX) pointed out another serious flaw.  He argued very persuasively that the federal tracking system created by this measure could easily become an instrument of tyranny. Unfortunately, too few of his colleagues acted on his warning. We quote extensively here from Mr. Gohmert’s remarks as published in the Congressional Record for December 8 (emphasis added):

Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX):

“When we start a Federal program, things that will be only temporary — things that were going to be only temporary come to mind like the income tax, and it was going to be small and temporary. Well, it is still going on, and it has gotten bigger. I have read the bill, and I want to thank the people involved. I have ultimate respect for both Chairman Goodlatte and my friend Chris Smith. I just couldn’t have stronger feelings for people. And my friend across the aisle, it would surprise some people, but we get along quite well, and I appreciate the care she has for people.

“Though there have been provisions added — there have been changes made to try to deal with some of the concerns that people like me have had — it is still a problem. If you look at page 21, the last page of the bill, it has this language added: ‘Voluntary participation. Nothing in this Act may be construed to require that a parent or guardian use a tracking device to monitor the location of a child or adult under that parent or guardian’s supervision if the parent or guardian does not believe the use of such device is necessary.’

“Frankly, I looked at making a provision like that and asking that it be in the bill, and then I realized: Wait a minute. There are back doors. There are things the Attorney General could do that could satisfy the language we have for ‘voluntary.’ Okay. No, the parent or guardian won’t have to do that or monitor that, but we have the system in place. It is a Federal system.

“So now we have the capability to monitor and track people so, you know, gee, this person is a problem. The definition of who could have this procedure or implement used is, as we are told, people with Alzheimer’s, people with autism, people who may wander off or, and the words are, a developmental disability. Well, developmental disability, that is a severe or chronic disability of an individual 5 years or older that is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or combination of those. And so then we get over into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and we have seen the evolution of the DSM….

“Personality disorders like antisocial disorder were once called sociopath or psychopath, but there is an argument that they are a developmental disorder, and they are chronic for so many people.

“So then you begin to see, well, we don’t have a very tight definition of what a developmentally disabled person is, and we look to the bill, and of course in trying to make this bill broader so it would include autism and other developmental disabilities, we see, on page 2, in the section header, we want to make clear this isn’t just Alzheimer’s disease patients so we insert the word ‘Americans,’ which is a little broader than ‘Alzheimer’s disease patient.’

“Again, that is in the header, so it is not necessarily language, and people like me that have had to review language as a judge or a chief justice and write opinions on what words mean, how they apply to these circumstances, I see where this goes. We will have a Federal tracking program, but it is only for people with Alzheimer’s or autism that wander off. Well, yeah, or developmental disabilities, and that is pretty far reaching where we go with that. But it is just a mental health issue and it is a physical issue because we know — and I know this is what has driven my friend supporting this bill, we have had people wander off and be found dead. All of us have seen stories like that.

“The question is: Is it the job of the Federal Government to start a tracking program? And since it is mental disease, obviously the person who would be in charge of such a wonderful program that would help us track people with Alzheimer’s, autism, or other developmental disability, it would be the Secretary of Health and Human Services. But wait. The bill gives the authority to the Attorney General of the United States. We are talking Department of Justice.

“It does say a couple of places the AG will get with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and collaborate, but ultimately these decisions are the decisions of the Attorney General. The Attorney General will make the call. The bill specifically says that the Attorney General will also, basically, make all the rules and regulations with regard to this tracking system. And then it also says that the Attorney General will formulate the ‘best practices.’ So maybe to me or someone in this body, developmental disability would mean one thing, and we do have definition in Federal law, but there, too, it is quite broad.

“I so much appreciate the insertion of the word ‘noninvasive’ for the tracking device or system, and nonpermanent. Well, I know tattoos are nonpermanent if you go through what I understand is a pretty painful process. I had felony judge friends who would order people to have tattoos removed, so I guess you could say those were nonpermanent.

“But when you look at definitions of what noninvasive is — and I don’t find it in the bill. Perhaps it is somewhere in Federal law. But even then, you have the word ‘noninvasive’ subject to interpretation.

“Whose interpretation? The Attorney General, the Department of Justice’s head, to make the determination of what is noninvasive.

“A definition in medicine, this or some similar are often used, that noninvasive would be a process that does not violate the integrity of the mucocutaneous barriers. Well, if you insert a chip just above the subcutaneous barriers, would that be noninvasive? If you go a little bit under the subcutaneous barriers, would that be noninvasive? Well, there is only one way to find out, and that is once the Attorney General formulates the regulations and the best practices, then we find out what is actually noninvasive….

“There is a procedure, and this indicates the people who prepared this bill — and I am not being sarcastic. They were really trying to figure out a way to protect [against] an over-oppressive government. You have to have a procedure of appeal, and the Attorney General will help set that up. If you have a complaint, you think something is not being done properly, well, the Attorney General is going to help create the rules that allow you to complain or appeal on that.

“Oh, and by the way, I never wanted to be in a football, basketball, or baseball game — and I love all those sports and played them all — but I never wanted to be in the game where the referee is the one that wrote the rules for our league, because they didn’t yield and their opinion was better than the rules on the page, no matter what the page said. So the Attorney General can tell us what he really meant or she really meant.

“Voluntary, I appreciate that part, but we have a Federal tracking system and it says here in the bill it is to prevent violence or injury or even death to one’s self, to the person, or injury to someone else.

“Now, why would this be a concern today, other than the fact that we have seen reports come out of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and the Department of Homeland Security who think that people who deny manmade climate change are committing, basically, a law against nature. They are violating a law against nature.

“We see now where there are people who just put in your search engine religious beliefs, mental disorders, and you will have all kinds of investigations come up. There are people in this government, like those in the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, that think that those who claim to be Christians and use code words like ‘religious liberty,’ that that is code for Islamophobia, homophobia, xenophobia, not understanding that a true Christian is basing their beliefs and their trust in Jesus Christ, who is love incarnate.

“Nonetheless, we have government officials that think that religious beliefs are a problem, and that the even bigger problem is, if you are a veteran — that is what Homeland Security has said — and you believe in the strict interpretation of the words on the pages of the Constitution, that makes you a bigger threat.

“So when we are talking about terms that we have seen change over the years, we have seen the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual have massive change. Why? Sometimes it is because medicine, psychology, or psychiatry has made great discoveries and improvements, and sometimes it is because one group has a better lobbying group than others.

“Mr. Speaker, by the way, other good language here is that none of the money can be used for conferences that may cost more than $20,000, unless they do certain things. Another good provision is that none of the money may be used to create a Federal database, but the money will be used for State, local, nonprofit organizations.

“I can’t find anything that says that we in the Federal Government cannot fund State and local databases of individuals that have developmental disabilities such as they are too religious and, therefore, they are deemed to have a developmental disability, antisocial personalities. It is just too open and there are too many loopholes.

“I like the idea; and the more I thought about it, the more I read the language, the more I saw the open loopholes that could result in a Federal tracking system that George Orwell would have been embarrassed about.

“So, with brotherly and appeared [sic] appreciation for those pursuing this bill out of the best of intentions — just wanting to stop death and harm to one’s self because you have autism, Alzheimer’s — Mr. Speaker, I humbly submit this is a dangerous door for any government to open, a door that Orwell would have warned about.

“People told me, well, gee, there is ink that you can use in a tattoo that can be tracked. I don’t know. It is a door that we should not open  at the Federal level to begin a program of tracking, no matter whether it is State or local officials that have the database and we get it and look at it or what.”

 

Full CRS Summary: This bill amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to revise and rename the Missing Alzheimer’s Disease Patient Alert Program as the Missing Americans Alert Program and to reauthorize it through FY2021.

It directs the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Bureau of Justice Assistance to award grants to state and local law enforcement or public safety agencies and nonprofit organizations to prevent wandering and locate missing individuals with dementia or developmental disabilities.

DOJ must establish and certain grant recipients must comply with standards and best practices related to the use of tracking technology to locate missing individuals with dementia or developmental disabilities.

The bill amends the Missing Children’s Assistance Act to specify that, with respect to training and technical assistance provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, cases involving missing and exploited children include cases involving children with developmental disabilities such as autism. [Emphasis added.]

Analysis: A year earlier, outgoing Speaker of the House John Boehner negotiated a backroom budget deal that gave President Obama and the big spenders everything they wanted. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 drew the unanimous support of House and Senate Democrats.

Representative Mark Sanford (R-SC), one of the few opponents allowed floor time to speak against the deal, provided needed perspective:

“Therefore, I would remind everyone of what Admiral Mike Mullen said, who is the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He said that the greatest threat to our civilization was the national debt.”

The reason our national debt is out of control is not due to waste, which can be expected in an enormous, increasingly unmanageable bureaucracy. It is because Congress has cast off virtually all constitutional restraints on programs and spending, fueling that bureaucracy. (And because, for the past century, the federal government has been able to finance its extravagance through Federal Reserve supported monetary inflation).

The collectivist mindset that pervades Washington could be summarized in one sentence by Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) arguing on behalf of this measure: “What is the role of the Federal Government? It is to solve problems.”

Unfortunately, the public is no longer reminded of the basic wisdom of our nation’s founders regarding the American experiment in liberty. They saw government as a necessary servant but they also understood the lesson of history that an insufficiently restrained government would easily become our master.

During the debate over H.R. 4919, Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX) pointed out another serious flaw.  He argued very persuasively that the federal tracking system created by this measure could easily become an instrument of tyranny. Unfortunately, too few of his colleagues acted on his warning. We quote extensively here from Mr. Gohmert’s remarks as published in the Congressional Record for December 8 (emphasis added):

Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX):

“When we start a Federal program, things that will be only temporary — things that were going to be only temporary come to mind like the income tax, and it was going to be small and temporary. Well, it is still going on, and it has gotten bigger. I have read the bill, and I want to thank the people involved. I have ultimate respect for both Chairman Goodlatte and my friend Chris Smith. I just couldn’t have stronger feelings for people. And my friend across the aisle, it would surprise some people, but we get along quite well, and I appreciate the care she has for people.

“Though there have been provisions added — there have been changes made to try to deal with some of the concerns that people like me have had — it is still a problem. If you look at page 21, the last page of the bill, it has this language added: ‘Voluntary participation. Nothing in this Act may be construed to require that a parent or guardian use a tracking device to monitor the location of a child or adult under that parent or guardian’s supervision if the parent or guardian does not believe the use of such device is necessary.’

“Frankly, I looked at making a provision like that and asking that it be in the bill, and then I realized: Wait a minute. There are back doors. There are things the Attorney General could do that could satisfy the language we have for ‘voluntary.’ Okay. No, the parent or guardian won’t have to do that or monitor that, but we have the system in place. It is a Federal system.

“So now we have the capability to monitor and track people so, you know, gee, this person is a problem. The definition of who could have this procedure or implement used is, as we are told, people with Alzheimer’s, people with autism, people who may wander off or, and the words are, a developmental disability. Well, developmental disability, that is a severe or chronic disability of an individual 5 years or older that is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or combination of those. And so then we get over into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and we have seen the evolution of the DSM….

“Personality disorders like antisocial disorder were once called sociopath or psychopath, but there is an argument that they are a developmental disorder, and they are chronic for so many people.

“So then you begin to see, well, we don’t have a very tight definition of what a developmentally disabled person is, and we look to the bill, and of course in trying to make this bill broader so it would include autism and other developmental disabilities, we see, on page 2, in the section header, we want to make clear this isn’t just Alzheimer’s disease patients so we insert the word ‘Americans,’ which is a little broader than ‘Alzheimer’s disease patient.’

“Again, that is in the header, so it is not necessarily language, and people like me that have had to review language as a judge or a chief justice and write opinions on what words mean, how they apply to these circumstances, I see where this goes. We will have a Federal tracking program, but it is only for people with Alzheimer’s or autism that wander off. Well, yeah, or developmental disabilities, and that is pretty far reaching where we go with that. But it is just a mental health issue and it is a physical issue because we know — and I know this is what has driven my friend supporting this bill, we have had people wander off and be found dead. All of us have seen stories like that.

“The question is: Is it the job of the Federal Government to start a tracking program? And since it is mental disease, obviously the person who would be in charge of such a wonderful program that would help us track people with Alzheimer’s, autism, or other developmental disability, it would be the Secretary of Health and Human Services. But wait. The bill gives the authority to the Attorney General of the United States. We are talking Department of Justice.

“It does say a couple of places the AG will get with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and collaborate, but ultimately these decisions are the decisions of the Attorney General. The Attorney General will make the call. The bill specifically says that the Attorney General will also, basically, make all the rules and regulations with regard to this tracking system. And then it also says that the Attorney General will formulate the ‘best practices.’ So maybe to me or someone in this body, developmental disability would mean one thing, and we do have definition in Federal law, but there, too, it is quite broad.

“I so much appreciate the insertion of the word ‘noninvasive’ for the tracking device or system, and nonpermanent. Well, I know tattoos are nonpermanent if you go through what I understand is a pretty painful process. I had felony judge friends who would order people to have tattoos removed, so I guess you could say those were nonpermanent.

“But when you look at definitions of what noninvasive is — and I don’t find it in the bill. Perhaps it is somewhere in Federal law. But even then, you have the word ‘noninvasive’ subject to interpretation.

“Whose interpretation? The Attorney General, the Department of Justice’s head, to make the determination of what is noninvasive.

“A definition in medicine, this or some similar are often used, that noninvasive would be a process that does not violate the integrity of the mucocutaneous barriers. Well, if you insert a chip just above the subcutaneous barriers, would that be noninvasive? If you go a little bit under the subcutaneous barriers, would that be noninvasive? Well, there is only one way to find out, and that is once the Attorney General formulates the regulations and the best practices, then we find out what is actually noninvasive….

“There is a procedure, and this indicates the people who prepared this bill — and I am not being sarcastic. They were really trying to figure out a way to protect [against] an over-oppressive government. You have to have a procedure of appeal, and the Attorney General will help set that up. If you have a complaint, you think something is not being done properly, well, the Attorney General is going to help create the rules that allow you to complain or appeal on that.

“Oh, and by the way, I never wanted to be in a football, basketball, or baseball game — and I love all those sports and played them all — but I never wanted to be in the game where the referee is the one that wrote the rules for our league, because they didn’t yield and their opinion was better than the rules on the page, no matter what the page said. So the Attorney General can tell us what he really meant or she really meant.

“Voluntary, I appreciate that part, but we have a Federal tracking system and it says here in the bill it is to prevent violence or injury or even death to one’s self, to the person, or injury to someone else.

“Now, why would this be a concern today, other than the fact that we have seen reports come out of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and the Department of Homeland Security who think that people who deny manmade climate change are committing, basically, a law against nature. They are violating a law against nature.

“We see now where there are people who just put in your search engine religious beliefs, mental disorders, and you will have all kinds of investigations come up. There are people in this government, like those in the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, that think that those who claim to be Christians and use code words like ‘religious liberty,’ that that is code for Islamophobia, homophobia, xenophobia, not understanding that a true Christian is basing their beliefs and their trust in Jesus Christ, who is love incarnate.

“Nonetheless, we have government officials that think that religious beliefs are a problem, and that the even bigger problem is, if you are a veteran — that is what Homeland Security has said — and you believe in the strict interpretation of the words on the pages of the Constitution, that makes you a bigger threat.

“So when we are talking about terms that we have seen change over the years, we have seen the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual have massive change. Why? Sometimes it is because medicine, psychology, or psychiatry has made great discoveries and improvements, and sometimes it is because one group has a better lobbying group than others.

“Mr. Speaker, by the way, other good language here is that none of the money can be used for conferences that may cost more than $20,000, unless they do certain things. Another good provision is that none of the money may be used to create a Federal database, but the money will be used for State, local, nonprofit organizations.

“I can’t find anything that says that we in the Federal Government cannot fund State and local databases of individuals that have developmental disabilities such as they are too religious and, therefore, they are deemed to have a developmental disability, antisocial personalities. It is just too open and there are too many loopholes.

“I like the idea; and the more I thought about it, the more I read the language, the more I saw the open loopholes that could result in a Federal tracking system that George Orwell would have been embarrassed about.

“So, with brotherly and appeared [sic] appreciation for those pursuing this bill out of the best of intentions — just wanting to stop death and harm to one’s self because you have autism, Alzheimer’s — Mr. Speaker, I humbly submit this is a dangerous door for any government to open, a door that Orwell would have warned about.

“People told me, well, gee, there is ink that you can use in a tattoo that can be tracked. I don’t know. It is a door that we should not open  at the Federal level to begin a program of tracking, no matter whether it is State or local officials that have the database and we get it and look at it or what.”

Bill Summary: H.R. 2028 extends the massive unconstitutional funding provided in the expiring Continuing Resolution (CR) through April 28, 2017, with some adjustments, (Division A). Division B of this measure also provides full-year (FY 2017) appropriations for “security assistance.”

Those Division A adjustments, some controversial in themselves, included: Health benefits for 16,500 retired miners due to expire on December 31st; money to help Flint, Michigan recover from its lead-tainted water system. It also included disaster aid for Louisiana and other states, and an expedited process for considering an exemption to a long-standing requirement of 7 years distance from military service for Mr. Trump’s nominee for the civilian post of defense secretary.

Analysis: Rather than working to roll back unconstitutional federal usurpations, appropriators are clearly focused on fine-tuning current operations and funding new programs, politically popular with their constituencies. As an example of this mentality, on December 9th, Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) addressed the Senate regarding the “accomplishments” of the 114th Congress

“This week, we were able to pass the 21st Century Cures Act….

“First, my bill, Bringing Postpartum Depression Out of the Shadows Act, was included in the mental health title of the bill. After working with mental health care providers in my home State, I learned that Nevadans lack access to the appropriate treatment, screenings, and community support needed to provide effective care for new mothers struggling with postpartum depression.

“I worked with Senator Gillibrand and HELP Committee Chairman Alexander on this important piece of legislation, which builds unon existing State and local efforts by providing targeted Federal grants to assist States in developing programs to better screen and treat maternal depression.”

What is seriously missing in Washington and the Establishment media is any discussion of the need to tame the federal monster by returning programs and spending to the limits required by the Constitution.

For example, prior to the Soviet’s 1957 launch of Sputnik, it was widely recognized that Federal aid to education was unconstitutional. The pretext of keeping up with the Russians was used to overcome this objection, and the powerful education unions and their revolutionary leaders, who would like to control the education of America’s youth, have ensured that Congress steadily expanded that intrusion.

There are dozens of other major examples of unconstitutional federal usurpations, such as health care, energy, and housing and urban development. The intrusions have been solidified by a media that refuses to support the vital principle of constitutionally limited government as a mainstay of freedom and progress.

The Real Problem

And that is the real problem with this measure, and with Congress in general. To head off looming disaster and restore prosperity, Congress urgently needs to focus on cutting back the federal government to its constitutional limits. Yet that agenda isn’t even on the table.

In the absence of that focus, a responsible legislator must respect his oath to defend the Constitution and do what the country desperately needs by refusing to support unconstitutional business as usual. As that voice hopefully grows, the leadership will have to cope with it.

You will not find that voice in either the House or Senate “debates” for this measure. Nevertheless, portions of the debates are quite instructive as to the failure of Congress to deal constructively with the Federal monster.  (See our analysis of House Roll Call 620 for pertinent excerpts form the House debates.

In the debate excerpts below, note how often senators on both sides of the aisle claimed to support the abhorrent CR out of necessity. Yet when that “desperation” option lacks sufficient support, Congress will be forced to act more responsibly

Ignored Alternative

As always, the argument in favor of a CR is that a government shutdown is unthinkable and that time has run out for regular order, i.e., passing the 12 regular appropriations bills.

However, any omnibus CR or omnibus full-term appropriations measure plays into the hands of those who want to use the fear of the political consequences of a full government shutdown to continue out-of-control, irresponsible spending.

So, instead, if a short-term CR is absolutely necessary, Congress could pass a CR for just those work areas not already completed.   As an example, the CR approved on 9-28-16, due to expire on December 9th, included full year appropriations for the least controversial of the 12 appropriations bills: H.R. 4974, Military Construction, the Department of Veteran Affairs

Better yet, Congress can pass separate CRs for individual areas, and even include program cuts in some, or simply let funding for a particularly egregious area run out while negotiating a full appropriations bill. The principled vote on any omnibus appropriations measure must be no, setting the stage for a determined, constitutionalist House or Senate, once assembled, to use the power of the purse to make necessary rollbacks.

Excerpts from the 12-9-16 floor “debates: 

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX)(Republican Whip):

“This continuing resolution also provides $872 million in funding for the 21st Century Cures legislation we passed just a few days ago, $500 million to deal with the scourge of opioid abuse but also to deal with prevention and treatment activities, as well as $372 million for the National Institutes of Health. It provides emergency flood and natural disaster relief for potentially up to 45 States, including my own — $4.1 billion in emergency natural disaster relief. As I mentioned earlier, it does provide a short-term coal miners fix while we work on a longer term solution. So my hope is, again, we can get it done.”

Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)(Democratic Whip):

“Mr. President, I also wish to say a word about where we are with the continuing resolution. What is a continuing resolution? Well, we are used to it around here because we have done it so often. Both political parties have done it. Here is what it basically says….

“It takes last year’s budget and says: Let’s repeat. Well, things change….

“For the second time, we are going to come up with a 3- or 4-month budget resolution as we move forward. It is no way to run a government.

“Here is the good news: We didn’t have to do that. On this Appropriations subcommittee, Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi and I worked a long time. Our staff worked even longer and prepared a Department of Defense appropriations bill. We are ready — ready to bring it to the floor, ready to debate it. And it is a good one. It keeps our country safe. On a bipartisan basis, we agreed on what it should contain. We can’t bring it forward. All of the spending is going to be done under this continuing resolution. We will be halfway through this current fiscal year with continuing resolutions if we ever get around to the appropriations process….

“Let me speak as well about the impact on the Department of Defense of this continuing resolution. A continuing resolution for defense might be harmful to our Armed Forces, and the longer we live under it, the worse it could get. If Congress were to pass a 3-month continuing resolution for the Department of Defense, they are going to feel it right away. The Pentagon has identified more than 150 programs costing tens of billions of dollars that will be disrupted by a continuing resolution. House Republicans fixed no more than a few of these. There are a lot of others in disarray.”

Senator John Barrasso (R-WY):

“Mr. President, in just a few hours, funding for the Federal Government will run out. It is going to run out in just a few hours. It looks like we are going to blow through that deadline right here in the Senate.

“POLITICO, one of the local newspapers, had an article this morning, and this is what the headline said. They ran an article with this headline: ‘Democrats push government toward shutdown.’ Let me repeat that: ‘Democrats push government toward shutdown.’

“The article says that Democrats are pushing the government to the brink of a shutdown. They are doing it with ‘coal country Senate Democrats leading a strategy to oppose a GOP spending bill if their demands are not met for a longer extension of expiring health care benefits for coal miners.’…

“But here we are in the Senate, with Democrats preparing to shut down the Government of the United States.

“Our goal should not be to bail out a union health plan — and it is a fund that does have problems. “The solution actually ought to be to let coal miners mine coal again. Let them go back to what they know how to do — mine coal. That way they can take care of themselves and take care of their own.

“I want to be really clear on this point. The only reason we are in the position we are in today is because the Obama administration and Democrats in Washington have been waging a war on coal for the past 8 years. That is the reason we are in the position we are in today.”…

“Health and pension funds can pay benefits for retired workers as long as the mines are actually working and they can mine coal and sell coal and make money.”

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) (Chair Armed Services Committee):

“Earlier this year we had a defense appropriations bill, approved unanimously by the Appropriations Committee, but Democrats put politics ahead of our troops, filibustered that legislation, and brought the Senate to a halt….

“Under this continuing resolution, nondefense spending is $3 billion above the Bipartisan Budget Act. Where does this additional money come from? It was taken from our troops. Under the continuing resolution, defense spending is $3 billion below the Bipartisan Budget Act….

“What is so disheartening about the hypocrisy of this continuing resolution is how unnecessary it is. We can pass an appropriations bill. The appropriations bill was passed out of the Appropriations Committee unanimously. We can pass it. We can do it tomorrow; we can do it tonight. But they don’t want to do that. They want this continuing resolution with all this stuff hidden in it, with a lot of legislative things in it that we find out, guess what, 10 hours, 24 hours, maybe even 48 hours before we vote on it. That is when we find out what is in the bill.

“I would challenge–I would like to take a poll of my 100 colleagues here. How many of them have read the continuing resolution? I will bet you the number is zero. With this legislation, Congress has already done the hard work of negotiating a bipartisan compromise for defense spending. The Defense appropriations bill from earlier this year could easily be amended to reflect the compromise, and the Senate could be taking up the bill, but we are not.”

Senator Chris Coons (D-DE):

“Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the continuing resolution that is the business before the Senate. We are here once again today, as we have too often been in the 6 years that I have served here in the Senate, working at the last minute to avoid shutting down our Federal Government later tonight.

“As we have before, to avoid a shutdown we appear likely to pass yet another continuing resolution. As an appropriator, as someone who is on the committee that is responsible for putting together all the provisions that will help keep this government moving forward, it is a

real disappointment to me that this continuing resolution fails to address issues of real concern to folks all over this country.”

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT):

“Mr. President, today the Senate will vote to put the government on autopilot for the next 4 and a half months. Coupled with the continuing resolution we are currently under, that is 7 months of fiscal year 2017 priorities funded–or not–under the terms of the fiscal year 2016 omnibus bill. Freezing in place an earlier year’s priorities — ignoring the many hearings and the committee work and the debates and the oversight that the Appropriations Committees have invested in genuine, full-year funding bills for next year — by definition means this stop-gap bill is chock-full of great mismatches between our current priorities and those set long ago for an earlier fiscal year….

“What makes the vote on this continuing resolution all the more frustrating is the fact that we didn’t need to be in this predicament today. The Senate Appropriations Committee carefully considered 12 individual appropriations bills. All but one were reported with broad if not unanimous support. Through September, October, and into November, we negotiated in good faith and in a productive way with our counterparts in the House of Representatives. That is until the order came to stand down. The word was that the President-elect didn’t want us to pass a responsible, full-year budget. The word was that he wanted Congress once again to kick the can further down the road. Then Democrats in both the Senate and House were shut out of the process–no consultation and no negotiations.

“In the absence of what could have been an achievable omnibus appropriations bill, this continuing resolution does fulfill a few key

priorities. It avoids a government shutdown, just before the holiday season. “It provides the millions of dollars authorized earlier this week in the 21st Century Cures Act to fight opioid abuse and cancer. It rejects the National Defense Authorization Act’s proposal to increase base defense spending through an increase in overseas contingency operations funds. It provides billions of dollars in emergency disaster assistance for recent natural disasters. It supports additional funds to care for unaccompanied children from Central America and Mexico. And at long last, it provides overdue funds — fully offset through the Water Resources Development Act authorization–to address the shameful lead contamination crisis in Flint, MI….

“Nonetheless, we face what is ironically both a complicated and straightforward decision: allow for a government shutdown, 2 weeks before the winter holidays, or approve this continuing resolution that casts aside Congress’s responsibility to enact meaningful appropriations bills for the fiscal year.”

Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD):

“Madam President, I rise for a final time as the vice chair of the Appropriations Committee….

“The Appropriations Committee is a problem-solving committee. Our markups are vigorous and rigorous, but at the end of the day, we do try to find compromise without capitulating on our principles. That is why I wish I was standing here today presenting the Senate with a full-year funding bill instead of a temporary bill through April 28….

“This bill includes important needs for our country. First of all, it meets our national security needs. There is funding in here for our troops overseas and money to enhance humanitarian relief and also very crucial needs related to embassy security. There are also other needs facing the people, and this goes to the disaster relief for victims of floods and Hurricane Matthew. While we are looking at the disasters of floods and hurricanes, there is also help for Flint, MI — $170 million, subject to authorization.

“We also looked at the other challenges facing our communities. One of the things we see is the big challenge of opioid abuse….

“Also in the Cures Act, there is money to deal with the dreaded “c” word, cancer. With the advocacy of the Vice President and again working across the aisle and across the dome, we have come up with something called the Cancer Moonshot….

“Today, as I bring this bill — the continuing resolution before the Senate — I say to you, I ask you to vote for the continuing resolution….

“I do hope in the next Congress we do return to regular order. This committee is capable of it if the Senate is capable of it.”

Bill Summary: H.R. 2028 extends the massive unconstitutional funding provided in the expiring Continuing Resolution (CR) through April 28, 2017, with some adjustments, (Division A), and appropriations for “security assistance,” (Division B), for the entire FY 2017 (ending September 30, 2017).

Those Division A adjustments, some controversial in themselves, included: Health benefits for 16,500 retired miners due to expire on December 31st; money to help Flint, Michigan recover from its lead-tainted water system. It also included disaster aid for Louisiana and other states, and an expedited process for considering an exemption to a long-standing requirement of 7 years distance from military service for Mr. Trump’s nominee for the civilian post of defense secretary.

Analysis:  Clearly appropriators are focused on fine-tuning current operations and funding new programs, politically popular with their constituencies. What is seriously missing is any discussion of the need to tame the federal monster by returning programs and spending to the limits provided by the Constitution.

For example, prior to the Soviet’s 1957 launch of Sputnik, it was widely recognized that Federal aid to education was unconstitutional. The pretext of keeping up with the Russians was used to overcome this objection, and the powerful education unions and their revolutionary leaders, who would like to control the education of America’s youth, have ensured that Congress steadily expanded that intrusion.

There are dozens of other major examples of unconstitutional federal usurpations, such as health care, energy, and housing and urban development. The intrusions are solidified by a media that refuses to support the vital principle of constitutionally limited government as a mainstay of freedom and progress.

The Real Problem

And that is the real problem with this measure, and with Congress in general. To head off looming disaster and restore prosperity, Congress urgently needs to focus on cutting back the federal government to its constitutional limits. Yet that agenda isn’t even on the table.

In the absence of that focus, a responsible legislator must respect his oath to defend the Constitution and do what the country desperately needs by refusing to support unconstitutional business as usual. As that voice hopefully grows, the leadership will have to cope with it.

You will not find that voice in the House appropriator “debate” for this measure. Nevertheless, portions of the “debate” are quite instructive as to the failure of Congress to deal constructively with the Federal monster. In the debate excerpts at the end of our analysis, note how often representatives claimed to support the abhorrent CR out of necessity. Yet when that “desperation” option lacks sufficient support, Congress will be forced to act more responsibly.

Ignored Alternative

As always, the argument in favor of a CR is that a government shutdown is unthinkable and that time has run out for regular order, i.e., passing the 12 regular appropriations bills. Moreover, in this case, as you will see below in the debates, the House argues that a CR is necessary because the Senate had refused to deal with the House’s bills.   Indeed, House subcommittees had passed all 12 of the bills, and the full House had passed 5, as far back as May:

• H.R. 4974. Military Construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs (5-19-16, Roll Call 228).
• H.R. 5325. Legislative Branch appropriations (6-10-16, Roll Call 294).
• H.R. 5293. Department of Defense appropriations (6-16-16, Roll Call 332).
• H.R. 5485. Financial Services and General Gov’t appropriations (7-8-16, Roll Call 398).
• H.R. 5538. Department of Interior, Environment appropriations (7-14-16, Roll Call 477).

During the “debate” over the previous short-term CR, Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) led the majority (Republican) side of the debate in the House:

“I think it is worth pointing out that you can’t have regular order in the House if you don’t have regular order in the Senate. The real reason we are here is because the Senate has refused consistently to take up appropriations bills that have been passed by this House. At some point, you simply quit passing the bills because the Senate isn’t going to deal with you.”

          We strongly disagree. Why must the House bear the blame for a government shutdown if the House has done its job? Why not insist that the Senate (and the President), as a minimum, accept the five appropriations bills as passed by the House or bear responsibility for shutting down just that portion of the government?

It’s important to realize that the Constitution gives the power of the purse to the House. But the House simply isn’t willing to play hard ball. Yet that’s what America so desperately needs. There is no reason the House has to capitulate to inaction in the Senate. Even though we could not support much of the spending in the above bills, the House did not need to cave in to the Senate and let even worse versions prevail.

As an example, the CR approved on 9-28-16, due to expire on December 9th, included full year appropriations for the least controversial of the above bills: H.R. 4974, Military Construction, the Department of Veteran Affairs.

At the very least, the House could have done the same with the other 4 bills in this CR and forced the Senate to deal with those. Put the Senate on notice that if it won’t deal with the appropriation process in a timely manner, it will simply forfeit its input.

Moreover, any omnibus CR or omnibus full-term appropriations measure plays into the hands of those who want to use the fear of the political consequences of a full government shutdown to continue out-of-control, irresponsible spending. So, instead, if a short-term CR is absolutely necessary, the House should pass separate CR’s for individual areas. (Better yet, include program cuts in the individual CR’s or simply let funding for a particularly egregious area run out while negotiating the full appropriations bill.) The principled vote on any omnibus appropriations measure must be no, setting the stage for a determined, constitutionalist House, once assembled, to use its power of the purse to make necessary roll backs.

Excerpts from the appropriator “debates

Mr. Harold Rodgers (R-KY and Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee) controlled the GOP side of the “debate.” Mrs. Nita Lowey (D-NY and ranking minority member of the Committee) controlled the Democrat half of the allotted debate time.

As recorded in the 12-8-16 Congressional Record:

Mr. Harold Rodgers (R), KY-05:

“Our current continuing resolution expires tomorrow, so we must act today.

“This continuing resolution is a responsible compromise, making only limited adjustments where required to preserve the security of the Nation, to prevent serious lapses in government services, and to ensure the careful expenditure of taxpayer dollars….

“As I have said on this floor many times over the past 6 years, standing in this exact spot, a continuing resolution is a last resort….

“At the end of the day, a CR is simply a Band-Aid on a gushing wound.

“This is no way to run a railroad. It is bad for Congress, bad for the Federal Government, and bad for our country. A CR extends outdated policies and funding levels, wasting money, and preventing good changes from being made. A CR also creates uncertainty in Federal budgets and in our economy. Lastly, it diminishes the Congress’ power of the purse, giving away the people’s voice in how the government uses their tax dollars.”

Mrs. Nita Lowey (D), NY-17:

“Today we consider the second continuing resolution to keep most of the government open. To say that I am disappointed in this Band-aid approach to operating the government would be an understatement. The legislation before us is an abdication of responsibility for the entire Congress. It is a disgrace that more than 2 months into the new fiscalyear, Congress will kick the can down the road nearly another 5 months for purely partisan reasons.”

Mr. Tom Cole (R), OK-04:

“Frankly, we have got to get out of this.

“I couldn’t agree more with my friend from Indiana who said it pretty well: this is not this committee’s fault. It is a failure in this Congress. This is the responsibility of this Congress and this administration to write the bill for next year. This is a failure to meet that responsibility. It is a necessary step, and I certainly will support it, but we have simply got to get back to the point of regular order….

“So let’s all make a New Year’s resolution. Let’s pass this bill, but let’s get back to regular order. Let’s restore things.”

Ms. Marcy Kaptur (D), OH-10:

“The top brass over there [the Republican Leadership] literally disrespected our committee work and produced, instead, a rotten egg. Today, we will take a vote that forces us to choose between shutting the government down 2 weeks before Christmas or supporting a disgrace of a funding bill, laced with non-germane, controversial provisions.

“What kind of choice is this? What happened to the Republican’s top priority of funding the government under regular order? It is not our committee’s fault. We did our job. What happened to voting on 12 appropriations bills and allowing amendments under regular order? We want to do that, but we are being handcuffed.

“I will tell you what happened. The Republican leaders threw out our up-to-date bills. They threw them in the trash, and they replaced them with yet another bill that looks in the rearview mirror with numbers that are 2 years old and doesn’t meet America’s current realities. It forces our government agencies, including Defense, which Republicans claim to care so passionately about, to operate without any predictability or stability. This is disgraceful. No wonder Americans are so mad at us….

“If Republicans wanted to run the House under regular order, they have failed. They only brought up half of the 2017 bills to the floor for a vote. Where are the other six?”

Mr. Steve Womack (R), AR-03:

“I am not real sure, Mr. Speaker, how much more constructive I could be on this discussion of this underlying bill. The truth has already been spoken by both sides. It is not the bill that we wanted to bring to the floor. It is not the bills that we have marked up after some very serious oversight meetings and discussions within the Appropriations Committee.

“As has already been mentioned, we have moved each of the 12 bills through committee. Only half of them have made it through the floor of the House. So it is not the final product that any of us on the Appropriations Committee, and I would guess most of the people in our Congress, would have wanted to bring.

“But it is the bill that is on the floor today, and it is quite essential that we pass it and leave for the holidays without turning Washington upside down or our economy upside down. So I support the underlying bill, and I would recommend that it get a thunderous amount of approval here within in the Congress.”

Mr. Mike Simpson (R), ID-02:

“We all know [this CR] is necessary because we don’t want the government to shut down, but it is amazing to listen to the number of people who come on the floor. I know all of the Appropriations Committee members want to get back to regular order and do individual bills, conference them, and then do individual conference reports of all of the bills. That is what should be done. That is called regular order. The last time that was done was in 1994; 22 years ago. Under Republican and Democrat leadership, we have not been able to do it in the last 22 years, and it is time we do….

“So how do we do it?

“I will tell you how we do it. It takes a commitment. It takes a commitment of Republican and Democratic leadership that, if you are going to have open rules, which is when any amendment can be offered — a lot of these appropriations bills come to the floor, and we have 100 or 150 amendments offered — they take a lot of time to pass. That is okay, but we have got to have a commitment that we are going to spend the time on the floor to do these appropriations bills. We are willing to do that, but it takes a commitment from leadership that we are going to have the floor time.

“We used to have a time when, all during the month of June and the first of July, it was called appropriations season. We were here for 6 weeks in a row, 5 days a week–sometimes until very late at night and early in the morning — doing the appropriations bills. We don’t do that anymore. We have a new schedule because the district work period is very important also, and I understand that for a lot of Members. At about every third week, we go home and do work in our districts. That time is important, but we are elected to do a job. We have got to be in Washington, and we have got to be on the floor, and we have got to be debating these bills if we want to get back to regular order. We act as if it comes down from on high that, geez, this just can’t happen, like it is not in our control. It is in our control. We on both sides of the aisle need to make a commitment that we will get back to regular order and do individual appropriations bills because that is the way this place is supposed to work.”

Mr. Sam Farr (D), CA-20:

“It is going to be a tough year next year, Mr. Speaker. It is going to be a tough year. Some of the proposals being made are really radical. They are going to cut a lot of things and hurt a lot of people if this Congress doesn’t correct them. We have a sense of how to do that, but we can’t do it with a CR….

“I will just say to my colleagues: Take back your power. Be what theelectorate wants. Be what the Constitution asks us to do. Be that serious-minded, representational government that really drills down on how all of government is going to operate. Don’t cave in to CRs.”

Ms. Sheila Jackson Lee(D), TX-18:

“Let me also say that what really skews and takes this bill, the CR, off its wheels is the waiver, the expedited process of trying to move forward a nominee of the incoming President, violating statutory law that has not been utilized in 66 years since the famous General Marshall was selected. Why not regular order — hearings, legislation, understanding what this will do to the military-civilian separation?…

“The leadership of the House is using the last day the 114th Congress will be in session to do work that should take should take 8 months to complete in a regular appropriations process.”

Freedom First Society: If Congress would cut back the federal government to its constitutionally authorized limits, the appropriations process would not require nearly so much time.

Analysis: Please read the excerpts from the Congressional Record that follow. They are indicative of the collectivist mindset that dominates Congress — i.e., the attitude that the role of government, specifically the federal government, is to solve all problems (especially those created or made worse by other government policies and programs.)

How different from the vision of America’s founding fathers, who sought to empower a limited federal government with only essential authority while crafting constitutional barriers to its transformation into Big Brother!

Also please read the note at the end regarding the transformation of H.R. 2577.

Excerpts from the 5-12-16 Congressional Record

Senator Collins (R-Maine):

“The bill will also provide $39.2 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to meet the housing needs of low-income, disabled, and older Americans, to shelter the homeless, and to create jobs in our communities through economic development programs….

“Our priority is to ensure that our Nation’s most vulnerable individuals and families do not lose assistance that prevents many of them from being at risk of homelessness. Therefore, the bill provides necessary funding to keep pace with the rising cost of housing to these families who might otherwise become homeless….

“In fact, rental assistance alone consumes more than half of our subcommittee’s allocation and is a shocking 84 percent of HUD’s budget. That makes funding other important needs difficult. Nevertheless, Senator Reed and I share a passion about reducing and ending homelessness. Therefore, we have included $2.33 billion for homeless assistance grants, and we have also managed to make critical investments to reduce homelessness among our veterans and our youth.

“To further help homeless young people, we provided $40 million in grants that are targeting this underserved population. Additionally, to better support youth who are exiting the Foster Care Program, the system includes $20 million for family unification vouchers and makes changes to this program to improve its effectiveness. I know many Members share our concern that young people who age out of the Foster Care Program should have–must have–somewhere safe to go….

“While this bill helps families in need, it also recognizes the hardships local communities are facing. Boosting local economies is critical to job creation and helping families obtain financial security. Thus, our bill supports local development efforts by providing $3 billion through the Community Development Block Grant Program and $950 million through the HOME Program.”

Senator Jack Read (D-Rhode Island):

“Mr. President, I rise to join Senator Collins in support of the fiscal year 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill. I want to join her in commending Chairman Cochran and Vice Chairwoman Mikulski for their great work, but I particularly want to commend Chairman Collins for her extraordinary work, her thoughtfulness, and her diligence. All those aspects are evidenced in this bill.

“She has, once again, developed a balanced and thoughtful bill that includes priorities for Members on both sides of the aisle. This bill allows for our Nation to continue moving forward by investing in critical transportation and housing initiatives, and, suffice it to say, without her leadership, we would not be here today with a bill that not only merits our attention, but also merits our support.

“This bill includes policies and funding that will grow our economy, improve the safety of our national transportation system, create jobs, and preserve affordable housing for our most vulnerable citizens.”

Note: The amended H.R. 2577 as voted on in Senate Vote 82 included not only the Senate’s version of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017 (S. 2844) but also a Division B, which included the Senate’s version of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017 (S. 2806). It also included FY2016 supplemental appropriations for Zika response (Title V of Division B), which the Senate added as an amendment.

On May 26, the House replaced this Senate version with its own substitute amendment, which dropped completely the original purpose of H.R. 2577 (Transportation and HUD appropriations). Politicians constantly talk about transparency, but transparency for whom?

Analysis: Please read the excerpts from the Congressional Record that follow. They are indicative of the collectivist mindset that dominates Congress — i.e., the attitude that the role of government, specifically the federal government, is to solve all problems (especially those created or made worse by other government policies and programs.)

How different from the vision of America’s founding fathers, who sought to empower a limited federal government with only essential authority while crafting constitutional barriers to its transformation into Big Brother!

Also please read the note at the end regarding the transformation of H.R. 2577.

Excerpts from the 5-12-16 Congressional Record

Senator Collins (R-Maine):

“The bill will also provide $39.2 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to meet the housing needs of low-income, disabled, and older Americans, to shelter the homeless, and to create jobs in our communities through economic development programs….

“Our priority is to ensure that our Nation’s most vulnerable individuals and families do not lose assistance that prevents many of them from being at risk of homelessness. Therefore, the bill provides necessary funding to keep pace with the rising cost of housing to these families who might otherwise become homeless….

“In fact, rental assistance alone consumes more than half of our subcommittee’s allocation and is a shocking 84 percent of HUD’s budget. That makes funding other important needs difficult. Nevertheless, Senator Reed and I share a passion about reducing and ending homelessness. Therefore, we have included $2.33 billion for homeless assistance grants, and we have also managed to make critical investments to reduce homelessness among our veterans and our youth.

“To further help homeless young people, we provided $40 million in grants that are targeting this underserved population. Additionally, to better support youth who are exiting the Foster Care Program, the system includes $20 million for family unification vouchers and makes changes to this program to improve its effectiveness. I know many Members share our concern that young people who age out of the Foster Care Program should have–must have–somewhere safe to go….

“While this bill helps families in need, it also recognizes the hardships local communities are facing. Boosting local economies is critical to job creation and helping families obtain financial security. Thus, our bill supports local development efforts by providing $3 billion through the Community Development Block Grant Program and $950 million through the HOME Program.”

Senator Jack Read (D-Rhode Island):

“Mr. President, I rise to join Senator Collins in support of the fiscal year 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill. I want to join her in commending Chairman Cochran and Vice Chairwoman Mikulski for their great work, but I particularly want to commend Chairman Collins for her extraordinary work, her thoughtfulness, and her diligence. All those aspects are evidenced in this bill.

“She has, once again, developed a balanced and thoughtful bill that includes priorities for Members on both sides of the aisle. This bill allows for our Nation to continue moving forward by investing in critical transportation and housing initiatives, and, suffice it to say, without her leadership, we would not be here today with a bill that not only merits our attention, but also merits our support.

“This bill includes policies and funding that will grow our economy, improve the safety of our national transportation system, create jobs, and preserve affordable housing for our most vulnerable citizens.”

Note: The amended H.R. 2577 as voted on in Senate Vote 82 included not only the Senate’s version of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017 (S. 2844) but also a Division B, which included the Senate’s version of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017 (S. 2806). It also included FY2016 supplemental appropriations for Zika response (Title V of Division B), which the Senate added as an amendment.

On May 26, the House replaced this Senate version with its own substitute amendment, which dropped completely the original purpose of H.R. 2577 (Transportation and HUD appropriations). Politicians constantly talk about transparency, but transparency for whom?

 

Analysis: Undoubtedly, some of the programs funded by this measure are proper. However, a common practice with legislation that continues progressively larger unconstitutional government is to mix the good with the bad. This tactic provides weak politicians with the “excuse” for voting for the entire package.

Informed constituents should demand that their representatives and senators vote “no” on legislation that makes no serious effort to phase out and eliminate unconstitutional spending.

As a candidate for president in 1980, Ronald Reagan called for the abolition of Jimmy Carter’s Department of Energy (the DOE), but there has been little serious effort to do so, to the detriment of our nation. In general most of what the DOE does is not only unconstitutional, but counterproductive — acting to keep energy scarce and expensive. (The DOE did absorb some constitutional defense-related functions re our nuclear stockpile, making it a more difficult target.)

In the floor discussion prior to passage, we saw no willingness to expose or challenge the federal government’s war on energy, supported by the Insiders and their environmentalist offspring. Quite the opposite.

Indeed, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), used the occasion to promote “a movement — a vision — called “Keep It in the Ground,” under the heading “Energy Policy and Climate” change.   His unchallenged remarks emphasized the scare of manmade global warming, while perpetuating cover-ups of revolutionary orchestration to generate the appearance of popular support for his agenda. He also relied on the proclamations of an assumed genuine and respectable “international community,” as opposed to Insider-dominated governments and institutions.

The decades-old Insider-orchestrated war on energy has prevented and continues to prevent the U.S. from enjoying plentiful, inexpensive energy resources and the tremendous boost to the economy that would entail, while empowering the government to ration and act as a gatekeeper to those resources.

Author Steve Milloy, in his 2009 blockbuster, Green Hell: How Environmentalists Plan to Control Your Life and What You Can Do to Stop Them, very credibly exposed these myths and the real agenda driving them. In our review (see our complete review of Milloy’s book) we stated:

The Green War on Energy

A primary green objective is to create scarcities, which then provide the pretext for government regulation and rationing. And what better place to bring a modern industrial nation to its knees than to starve it of energy?

In the late sixties and early seventies, the anti-nuclear movement, in cooperation with revolutionaries in government, largely killed the use of this American technology on American soil.

The current tactic to achieve energy scarcity, promoted by the Obama administration, is to emphasize the development of ‘renewable’ energy, while attaching burdensome strings to the construction of power plants and the development of resources that can realistically supply our immediate energy needs, such as oil from shale. Colorado, as Milloy points out, is the Saudia Arabia of shale oil. Yet this resource has for years been off limits to development.

Green Hell provides a much-needed dose of reality regarding promises that a modern society can be run anytime soon on the alternative sources being touted, and Milloy points out the enormous expense in trying.

Moreover, when push comes to shove, as Milloy shows, green leaders will oppose even their “renewable” sources where these sources look like they might offer serious help, since the real but not advertised objective is no energy. The renewable energy campaign is really just a campaign to create shortages (at immense expense) that government can ration.

Myths re Nuclear Waste

The late Petr Beckman in his 1979 booklet “The Non-Problem of Nuclear Wastes,” correctly observed:

2. It is utterly untrue that no method of waste disposal is known;
3. The paramount issue that is being covered up is a simple comparison: Is nuclear waste disposal a significant advantage in safety, public health, and environmental impact over wastes of fossil-fired power plants … or not?
4. Much of the answer to the question above is contained in two simple statistics: For the same power, nuclear wastes are some 3.5 million times smaller in volume; and in duration of their toxicity, the advantage ranges from a few percent to infinity.

Yet by perpetuating the myth of a nuclear waste problem, the federal government, with convenient pressure from the Insider-financed environmental lobby, has been able to stifle the use of U.S.-pioneered nuclear technology on American soil. And, of course, big-spenders love a problem to manage.

Excerpts from the May 12, 2016 Congressional Record 

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont):

“The bill also includes report language that directs the Department of Energy to fund activities that support the development and testing of new low-emission, highly efficient wood stoves, an important heat source for many Vermont homes because of the affordable and renewable thermal energy they provide.

“Senator Alexander and Senator Feinstein have worked in a bipartisan way to produce a responsible, rider-free appropriations bill, and I hope this process will serve as a model for the Senate as we continue the appropriations process this year.”

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee):

“This bill is almost half and half defense and nondefense, about $37.5 billion. It supports several Federal agencies that do important work, including the U.S. Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, National Nuclear Security Administration, which has to do with our nuclear weapons, and the Appalachian Regional Commission….

“It helps to resolve the nuclear waste stalemate that our country has been in for 25 years, finding appropriate places to put used nuclear fuel so we can continue to have a strong nuclear power program — which produces 60 percent of all the carbon-free electricity we have in this country — and it cleans up hazardous materials at Cold War sites.”

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California):

“I extend my congratulations to the distinguished Senator from Tennessee on passing this bill. We have not passed a free-standing Energy and Waterbill on this floor for 7 years, since 2009, when Senators Dorgan and Bob Bennett were chair and ranking member. Not only are we passing the bill, but we are passing a good bill.”