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APC News Wire * December 20, 2004
*****APC NEWS WIRE*****
http://www.americanpolicy.org
December 20, 2004 Volume 7, Issue 11
A Publication of the American Policy Center Tom DeWeese, President
50A South Third Street, Suite 2
Warrenton, VA 20186
540-341-8911
“LAME DUCK” CONGRESS UPDATE
The 108th Congress has come to a merciful end. Below is how pro-liberty
advocates faired on important issues that arose in the waning days of the
congressional session.
*** National ID
Both the House and Senate came to agreement and passed the “9/11 Recommendations
Implementation Act.” This is a 3,000 page bill that most every member of
Congress did not have time to read, let alone study and debate. No matter. Our
Senators and Congressmen voted it through anyway. And by doing so, they strapped
Americans with what will almost certainly lead to a national ID system.
The bill includes provisions to federalize state driver’s licenses. The federal
government will now dictate what information must be included on driver’s
licenses. The legislation also includes federal mandates that will require all
state driver’s licenses to possess machine-readable magnetic data strips and
digital photographs.
More specific, dangerous provisions will likely arise next year as various
government agencies put the bill into practice. We’ll keep you posted.
*** Heritage Area Land Grab
Well done! Your efforts were successful in stopping S. 1521, the Heritage Area
nightmare, that would have: created 15 NEW National Heritage Areas (NHAs)
covering 16 different states; doubled funding and authorization for nine
existing NHAs; and set the precedent for turning NHAs into National Historic
Sites.
The Senate eventually passed S. 1521 at the last minute, but the bill never made
it to the House in time for a vote. It is likely that the uproar we created over
S. 1521 made House passage improbable, and therefore, the Senate simply wanted
to pass the bill itself, but not risk its doom in the House.
HOWEVER, three of the Heritage Areas in S. 1521 were voted through on their own.
These were: Oil Region National Heritage Area (PA); Aviation National Heritage
Area (OH); and Mississippi Gulf Coast National Heritage Area (MS). This was
likely due to the sneaky dealings of Reps. David Hobson (R-OH) and John Peterson
(R-PA) who both sit on the very powerful House Appropriations Committee.
The National Heritage Area battle will heat-up significantly next year, as Sen.
Craig Thomas (R-WY) pushes for a dreadful bill that would formally institute a
National Heritage Areas program. If such a bill passes, it is conceivable that
every community in the nation could become part of National Heritage Area
land-use nightmare.
*** Mandatory Drugging of Children
As you know, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) tried to insert language from his “Let Parents
Raise Their Kids Act” (H.R. 5236) into the final omnibus appropriations bill.
The language would have prohibited the funding of mandatory and universal mental
health screening of children. Mandatory mental health screening bypasses
parental authority in an attempt to prescribe psychotropic, mind-altering drugs
for children.
Unfortunately, we lost this round. Rep. Paul’s language did not make it into the
final appropriations bill. According to Kent Snyder of Rep. Paul’s Liberty
Committee:
“Senators James Inhofe, Sam Brownback and Rick Santorum supported Dr. Paul's
language. However, we believe the drug companies and the psychiatric
establishment convinced Senators Arlen Specter and Bill Frist to block it.”
The good news is we’ve created momentum for Rep. Ron Paul’s bill, and we will
use that momentum to fight for parents and children in the Congress next year.
*** “New Civics” Globalism
We stopped H.R.1078 ("The American History and Civics Education Act of 2003")
last year. This disaster would have set up 12 federal academies to teach the
"new" civics and history to students around the country. It would have set up 12
more federal academies to teach teachers to teach American schoolchildren global
principles as opposed to the principles of the U.S. Constitution, liberty,
limited government, and private property rights.
However, in the waning days of 2004, H.R. 1078 chief authors Sen. Lamar
Alexander and Rep. Roger Wicker created H.R. 5360, called "The American History
and Civics Education Act of 2004." They had H.R. 5360 put on the “suspension
calendar.” The suspension calendar is a way for Congress to fast-track bills
that are considered “uncontroversial.” H.R. 5360 is VERY controversial as
evidenced by its not passing last year.
No matter. The dreadful “New Civics” bill passed in the dark of night.
*** Rim of the Valley Land Grab
Congrats! Your actions were successful in stopping the Rim of the Valley
Corridor land grab bill (S. 347). This disaster would have set a standard
nationwide for corridor and greenway bills involving many urban and rural
communities. S. 347 is just one part of the giant plan promoted by the Park
Service, the Nature Conservancy and the Wildlands Project for a nationwide
series of corridors linking all the parks and forests in the United States. It
has the potential for a massive takeover of National Forest and other Federal
lands by the Park Service. S. 347 would have cost over $2 billion, making it the
most expensive park in American history.
*********************
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