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FrankRep
12-01-2011, 02:37 PM
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December 2011 - Action Agenda - Important Legislation


Support Abolishing No Child Left Behind (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?APP=GAC&AID=972&SiteID=0&IssueID=26520)



The colossal government failure called No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is being rewritten and represented in a bipartisan effort to further government’s intrusion and imprint on education. The new bill, the Elementary and Secondary Education Reauthorization Act of 2011 (ESEA) would enshrine into law President Obama's Race to the Top and Investing in Innovation programs.

This bill is a complex 867 pages long and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says no one even knows exactly what’s in it yet. Some alternative school improvement strategies may be allowed in the new bill but only with the Education Secretary’s approval. Waivers will be granted to states that agree to change their educational programs in ways the Obama administration views as favorable. Some Republicans see this as an executive branch circumvention of legislative branch authority.

The ESEA is not about reform; it’s about centralizing even more power into the hands of politicians and destroying local decision-making authority. Contact your Representative and Senators and tell them to completely dismantle and eliminate NCLB/ESEA requirements.The Constitution never gave the federal government authority to be involved in education. Tell your congressmen to return educational authority back to where it belongs, at the local level and never higher than the state level.

Contact Congress: Support Abolishing No Child Left Behind (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?APP=GAC&AID=972&SiteID=0&IssueID=26520)



Support Defunding the United Nations Population Fund (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?APP=GAC&AID=972&SiteID=0&IssueID=26395)



The time has never been better to defund a department of the United Nations than right now with H.R. 2059 (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:h.r.2059:). This proposal has 83 cosponsors and a lot of momentum. It could save American taxpayers $400 million in one decade, and probably many babies’ lives across the world as well.

The United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) claims it only helps reduce poverty and ensures that “every pregnancy is wanted,” but this organization promotes and provides access to abortion as a human right. UNFPA also promotes promiscuity for the youth of the world through its programs that encourage those as young as ten to “experience and celebrate their sexuality.”

Several past Secretaries of State called for an end to US funding of UNFPA due to its programs that defer to China’s one-child policy. In 2010 the UNFPA contributed over $1.6 million to the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF).

Help keep taxpayer money out of the hands of the UNFPA and the IPPF by insisting your congressmen vote to defund UNFPA by passing H.R. 2059.

Contact Congress: Support Defunding the United Nations Population Fund (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?APP=GAC&AID=972&SiteID=0&IssueID=26395)



Support Protecting Life Act to End Abortion Coverage (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?APP=GAC&AID=972&SiteID=0&IssueID=26384)



On October 13 the House passed H.R. 358 (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-358), the Protect Life Act, by a 251-172 vote margin, 10 abstentions. This bill now goes to the Senate, although if passed President Obama has vowed to veto it.

The proposal prohibits federal funds from being used to cover any part of the cost of any health plan that includes coverage of elective abortion services. It would prohibit discrimination against institutions or individual entities based on the entity’s refusal to train or perform induced abortions, so it restores the conscience clause destroyed under ObamaCare.

To keep the pendulum swinging in favor of respect for life, especially for the preborn, and to prevent the federal government from funding or promoting abortions with taxpayer money, contact just your Senators on this matter. Urge them to pass the proposal immediately as written, resisting all attempts to amend and water down the bill. Emphasize that in a free society under the Constitution, one’s liberty of conscience should be protected and upheld; no individuals or entities should be forced to act against personal convictions or principles, be they religious or moral.


Contact Congress: Support Protecting Life Act to End Abortion Coverage (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?APP=GAC&AID=972&SiteID=0&IssueID=26384)



Support Restoring Sound Money; Legalize Competing Currencies (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?AID=972&Screen=alert&IssueId=26226&APP=GAC&SiteID=-1&VV_CULTURE=en-us)



Experts are warning that the dollar, the Federal Reserve’s fiat currency, will collapse; it’s just a matter of time. The congressional master-economist-in-residence, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), has introduced H.R. 1098 (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-1098), the Free Competition in Currency Act of 2011, which could very well be our way out of impending economic doom.

According to Paul (http://paul.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1891&Itemid=69), “This bill eliminates three of the major obstacles to the circulation of sound money: federal legal tender laws that force acceptance of Federal Reserve Notes; ‘counterfeiting’ laws that serve no purpose other than to ban the creation of private commodity currencies; and tax laws that penalize the use of gold and silver coins as money.”

Expert Dr. Lawrence Parks of the Foundation for the Advancement of Monetary Education recently testified at the House Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology hearing on H.R. 1098. Parks not only believes that this nation’s monetary system is “unauthorized,” because the Constitution didn’t allow for the government to create paper money or to create the Federal Reserve, but also believes the current system is dishonest. Greenbacks that Americans so love to revel in are redeemable in absolutely nothing.

Contact your Representative and Senators and insist they study the testimony from the hearing on H.R. 1098. Further insist that they cosponsor and pass H.R. 1098 to help restore a sound money system for Americans, enabling them to protect themselves somewhat from the advancing economic collapse.

Contact Congress: Restore Sound Money by Legalizing Competing Currencies (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?AID=972&Screen=alert&IssueId=26226&APP=GAC&SiteID=-1&VV_CULTURE=en-us)




Support H.R. 2587 (http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc112/h2587_rh.xml), H.R. 1976 (http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc112/h1976_ih.xml), and S. 964 (http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc112/s964_is.xml), Protecting Free Enterprise; Limit NLRB’s Power



If you were a small or large business owner, could you ever imagine that here in America the government would dictate where you could or could not relocate or expand your production facility or business? Well, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) backed by liberal labor unions has done just that to aerospace giant Boeing.

In a constitutionally sound America, Boeing, or any other company, would be free to locate their business anywhere without government interference — the ability to move capital being a core principle of freemarket capitalism.

H.R. 2587 and S. 1523 both have the same title, Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act. H.R. 2587 has already been passed in the House; S. 1523 is now in the Senate for consideration. Unfortunately, an amendment to the 2012 spending bill that was based on S. 1523 was rejected by the Senate Appropriations Committee, telegraphing the sense that S. 1523 is facing an uphill battle. Get after your Senators immediately about S. 1523, which would limit the interference and jobs-destroying practices of the NLRB. Help eliminate the powerful chokehold unions have over employers and employees via the NLRB that hurts small business and undermines right-to-work states.

Contact Congress: Protect Free Enterprise: Limit NLRB's Power (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?AID=972&Screen=alert&IssueId=26147&APP=GAC&SiteID=-1&VV_CULTURE=en-us)



Support Restore Free Speech for Dietary Supplement Industry (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?AID=972&Screen=alert&IssueId=26304&APP=GAC&SiteID=-1&VV_CULTURE=en-us)



It’s no secret that the FDA has exhibited a bias against vitamins, herbs, and other dietary supplements. The FDA’s enforcement policies have destroyed many a nutritional supplement company or holistic practice with its unfounded and unconstitutional raids of private businesses because its policy assumes that only drugs cure or treat disease. Claims of health improvement due to nutritional supplementation is deemed misbranding and unscientific by this draconian agency.

The Testimonial Free Speech Act was recently introduced by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) to protect the free speech of those who wish to pass on their nutritional success stories, and would get the FDA out of the business of monitoring health testimonials. House Resolution 2908 would allow the communication of a consumer’s “actual perception of the mitigative, preventive, or curative properties of any food or dietary supplement.”

Pressure your congressmen into cosponsoring and passing H.R. 2908. It would curtail the FDA’s unjust and heavy-handed intrusions into private businesses and personal health care discussions that trample free speech.

Contact Congress: Restore Free Speech for Dietary Supplement Industry (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?AID=972&Screen=alert&IssueId=26304&APP=GAC&SiteID=-1&VV_CULTURE=en-us)



Support Citizens Protection Act of 2011 (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?AID=972&Screen=alert&IssueId=25990&APP=GAC&SiteID=-1&VV_CULTURE=en-us)



Gun-free zones embolden criminals by assuring that no one in the immediate area could possibly counter their attacks, giving them free rein to commit their heinous assaults. “Gun-free zone” signs are a notice to all that law-abiding folks have been disarmed. Guaranteeing the right to keep and bear arms everywhere, particularly on school campuses where the majority of mass shootings and rampages have taken place in the last couple of decades, would certainly eliminate what is in reality a government-guaranteed safe zone for criminals. And that’s just what Congressman Ron Paul's (R-Texas) newly introduced legislation would do.

The Citizens Protection Act of 2011, H.R. 2613 (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-2613), would eliminate these no-risk environments for those who don’t respect life, the law, or signage, and allow armed citizens to resist or even prevent violence. Paul’s bill would repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 and make it possible for permit individuals, including teachers, to carry firearms. Once-vulnerable citizens would no longer be sitting ducks with lawabiding armed folks on hand.

Congressman Paul’s H.R. 2613 has no cosponsors, so it will take enormous grassroots pressure to bring this one out of committee. Pressure your Representatives into cosponsoring and supporting this logical proposal that upholds the constitutionally guaranteed right to keep and bear arms.

Contact Congress: Repeal Dangerous 'Gun-free Zones' (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?AID=972&Screen=alert&IssueId=25990&APP=GAC&SiteID=-1&VV_CULTURE=en-us)



Support The REINS Act: Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2011 (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?AID=972&Screen=alert&IssueId=26097&APP=GAC&SiteID=-1&VV_CULTURE=en-us)



The EPA’s latest consideration to revise regulations limiting ozone, mercury, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide; coal ash waste; and water used in cooling the processes at coal-fired power plants would have a negative impact on both the economy and jobs, and on the availability of electric power. Many see the new scheme as one that will unduly burden the power industry, even forcing shutdowns of numerous coalfired plants altogether. Estimated costs of compliance for utility companies are up to $129 billion, with a reduction of up to 81,000 megawatts of electricity generation. Then there’s the jobs at stake. A Commerce Department analysis predicts a loss of 60,000 jobs due to the EPA’s rulings.

It’s time the out-of-control and draconian-style EPA was reined in. The House of Representatives has already passed two bills that would do just that: H.R. 910 (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-910) and H.R. 2018 (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-2018). The Senate now needs to take action on either or both of these bills.

There is another bill that would affect all federal agencies, the REINS Act, Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2011, S. 299 (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s112-299). This bill would require Congressional approval of any interim or final regulation from the Executive Branch bureaucracy that costs more than $100 million per year, or that excessively increases costs or prices or has “significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or U.S. competitiveness.” This measure already has 28 sponsors and hearings are completed. There is a companion bill in the House, H.R. 10 (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-10), that has garnered 159 cosponsors. Help keep these bills moving in both chambers.

Contact Congress: Maintain Our Electricity Supply: REIN in the EPA (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?AID=972&Screen=alert&IssueId=26097&APP=GAC&SiteID=-1&VV_CULTURE=en-us)



Support The North American-Made Energy Security Act (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?AID=972&Screen=alert&IssueId=26076&APP=GAC&SiteID=-1&VV_CULTURE=en-us)



Please contact your Senators and Representative about the Keystone XL oil pipeline project that would bring a reliable crude oil source into the United States safely, greatly reducing our dependency on oil from dictatorships and hostile countries, and that would create over 13,000 new jobs and over 118,000 spin-off jobs. The individual states the high-tech pipeline would run through would see increased tax revenues and property tax collections. The Gulf Coast refineries would have lower transport costs, saving them approximately $473 million annually, which in turn would lead to lower gas prices.

The North American-Made Energy Security Act, H.R. 1938 (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-1938), is a directive aimed at the President of the United States to encourage him to “expedite the consideration and approval of the construction and operation of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, and for other purposes” in order to bring Canadian oil to American refiners. The State Department’s own recently published study indicates that the Keystone XL project meets industry standards and does not significantly affect the environment.

The privately funded $13 billion project from TransCanada Corporation would be a boon to America’s crude oil imports, as the plan is to send 700,000 bpd, and up to 830,000 bpd if pumping capacity is increased, south to Texas refineries. However, it’s going to be up to the President to grant a permit, as the pipeline crosses the border between Canada and the United States. The project will either be approved or denied by him via an executive order.

A small segment of rabid and very vocal environmental extremists are against the project and are staging protests at the White House to get the President’s attention in this matter. Our economy relies on affordable transportation for goods and services, and commuters. Help keep American cars and trucks on the road and manufacturing possible by making sure the President knows both the people’s will in this matter and the sense of Congress in favor of this economically beneficial, “shovel-ready,” stable and affordable oil supply pipeline project that would create more jobs.

On July 26 the House passed H.R. 1938 by a vote of 279 to 147. On July 28, H.R. 1938 was read for the second time in the Senate and placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders.

Contact Congress: Help Bring Canadian Oil to American Refineries (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?AID=972&Screen=alert&IssueId=26076&APP=GAC&SiteID=-1&VV_CULTURE=en-us)




Support The Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?AID=972&Screen=alert&IssueId=25268&APP=GAC&SiteID=-1&VV_CULTURE=en-us)



As the Federal Reserve disseminates more information about its secret dealings abroad, giving loans to foreign banks, bailing out industries, inflating the money supply via the creation of endless supplies of paper money (thereby devaluing the currency and causing prices to rise), it is clear that the Federal Reserve does more harm than good and that its policies of lowering the federal funds rate in the fall of 2001 was the catalyst for the unsustainable housing bubble that collapsed in late 2007/2008.

Congressman Ron Paul’s (R-Texas) perseverance in trying to rectify the heavy inflation and financial instability inflicted on Americans through the monetary policies of the Federal Reserve is highly laudable, and his new legislation to abolish the Fed (H.R. 1094) needs massive support to achieve passage. Contact your U.S. Representative and ask him or her to cosponsor and support the passage of H.R. 1094 to “End the Fed” in the 112th Congress.


Contact Congress: Abolish the Federal Reserve -- END THE FED! (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?AID=972&Screen=alert&IssueId=25268&APP=GAC&SiteID=-1&VV_CULTURE=en-us)



Oppose United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?AID=972&Screen=alert&IssueId=25834&APP=GAC&SiteID=-1&VV_CULTURE=en-us)



The United Nations is planning on its Arms Trade Treaty (http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/foreign-policy/8314-un-arms-trade-treaty-closer-to-passage) being finalized in 2012, after this mid-July saw another session of talks of the third Preparatory Committee on the ATT.

UN apologists keep insisting that the ATT will not affect Americans’ ability to purchase or use guns. Using terms like “inflammatory,” “rabble-rousing,” and “fearmongering” to describe any opposition to the ATT in the press, their own rhetoric has been debunked by more than one source.

The ATT is about regulating, tracking, and controlling domestic and international small arms trade. There would be a registry for recordkeeping, but under a subtler name, and it would be run by an international bureaucracy. Firearms manufacturers would be under new and extra scrutiny, having to meet a host of new regulations, according to experts like Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America and Wayne LaPierre of the NRA.

Canada’s delegation, at the meeting, tried to have civilian firearms exempted from the treaty with the very narrow clause “small arms have certain legitimate civilian uses, including sporting, hunting, and collecting purposes,” submitted for approval, but it wasn’t, proving once again that the UN’s complete civilian disarmament doctrine is at the core of the ATT.

It’s more than a little hypocritical that the Obama administration is willing to cede control of Americans’ small-arms ownership and use to the UN under the guise of ending gun running, given the Obama administration’s AFT and DOJ’s own alleged roles in the largest and most scandalous gun trafficking case ever. A simple reminder to our Senators about ‘Project Gunrunner (http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/immigration/7599-project-gunrunner)” and “Operation Fast and Furious (http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/7897-operation-fast-and-furious-a-deadly-govt-failure)” — which saw guns trafficked to Mexico apparently with U.S. government approval and collusion, and with disastrous results — should be enough to stop the Arms Trade Treaty. And, this should be a 2012 election issue; help make it one.

Contact your Senators, and remind them that our hard won and vigilantly preserved constitutional protections should never be interpreted or submitted to the whims or the planned agenda of any global organization, much less the dangerous and untrustworthy UN.

Contact Senate: Oppose UN Arms Trade Treaty (http://www.votervoice.net/core.aspx?AID=972&Screen=alert&IssueId=25834&APP=GAC&SiteID=-1&VV_CULTURE=en-us)

FrankRep
12-02-2011, 03:02 PM
bump