[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 253 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 253

    Recognizing that it is the sense of the United States House of 
   Representatives that Socialism poses a significant threat to the 
               freedom, liberty, and economic prosperity.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 25, 2019

Mr. Brooks of Alabama (for himself, Mr. Norman, Mr. Green of Tennessee, 
  Mr. Gosar, Mr. Mooney of West Virginia, Mr. Perry, Mr. Calvert, Mr. 
 McClintock, and Mr. King of Iowa) submitted the following resolution; 
   which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in 
   addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Recognizing that it is the sense of the United States House of 
   Representatives that Socialism poses a significant threat to the 
               freedom, liberty, and economic prosperity.

Whereas, Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines Socialism as ``any of various 
        economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental 
        ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution 
        of goods'';
Whereas, Merriam-Webster Dictionary also defines Socialism as ``a system of 
        society of group living in which there is no private property'';
Whereas, Merriam-Webster Dictionary also defines Socialism as ``a system or 
        condition of society in which the means or production are owned and 
        controlled by the state'';
Whereas, Socialism and the policies advocated for by self-described ``democratic 
        socialists'' have an underlying historical connection to the Marxist 
        theory, also known as Marxism;
Whereas, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels originally established Marxist theory 
        when they published The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital;
Whereas, the theory developed by these books and that of Marxism are a direct 
        attack against the capitalist model of economic production and opposed 
        the notion of secured private property rights;
Whereas, Karl Marx wrote in The Communist Manifesto that ``[w]hen in the course 
        of development, class distinctions have disappeared, and all production 
        has been concentrated in the hands of a vast association of the whole 
        nation, the public power will lode its political character. Political 
        power, properly so called, is merely the organized power of one class 
        for oppressing another'';
Whereas, history has witnessed countless failed Marxist inspired regimes. Time 
        and time again, without fail, Marxist and Socialists inspired 
        governments fail. Socialism is guaranteed to fail, no matter whether it 
        takes the form of democratic Socialism, central planning socialism, or 
        authoritarian Socialism, Socialist policies and programs do not work;
Whereas, history has witnessed the rise and fall of enough Marxist inspired 
        socialist regimes to recognize that Marxism and Socialism are failed 
        ideologies;
Whereas, in the 20th century the ideologies of Marxism and Socialism spread 
        throughout the world;
Whereas, throughout the reign of the former Soviet Union, socialist policies and 
        programs were responsible for the death of millions of his own citizens 
        based on the devastation caused by the implementation of socialist 
        policies and programs, resulting in famine, death, and destruction;
Whereas, socialist policies and programs failed in the Soviet Union, leading to 
        the fall of the Berlin Wall and complete collapse of the Soviet Union. 
        On December 25, 1991, the Soviet hammer and sickle flag lowered for the 
        last time over the Kremlin, thereafter replaced by the Russian tricolor 
        in the early 1990s;
Whereas, Mao Zedong was the principal Chinese Marxist theorist, and the leader 
        of the revolution that created the Chinese Communist Party. Mao Zedong 
        served as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party 1943 through 1976;
Whereas, socialist policies and programs continue to destroy countries in the 
        21st century;
Whereas, today, in 2019, the country of Venezuela is in massive turmoil, with 
        riots in the streets, massive protests, disputed elections, and 
        challenges to establish a working government that is supported by its 
        citizens;
Whereas, Venezuela is run by two rival political organizations, the United 
        Socialist Party of Venezuela and Popular Will, a progressive social-
        democratic party;
Whereas, due to the perverse incentives and inherent flaws of Marxist theory, 
        Socialism inevitably leads to societal rot, resulting in devastation and 
        destruction;
Whereas, existing socialist policies are destabilizing Venezuela's economy and 
        national stability;
Whereas, Venezuela is rich in natural resources. Venezuela has the largest 
        proven barrels of oil reserves in the entire world, reported to be 300 
        million barrels, by World Atlas in January of 2019;
Whereas, because of the socialist policies and leaders in Venezuela, their 
        inflation rate had soared to 80,000 percent by the end of 2018, with 
        nearly 90 percent of the citizens of Venezuela living below the poverty 
        line;
Whereas, because of the socialist policies and leaders in Venezuela, the average 
        Venezuelan has lost 24 pounds in the last year due to malnutrition and 
        lack of access to food, water, and other basic nutrients;
Whereas, there is an alarming amount of support for socialism and democratic 
        socialism spreading across the United States of America;
Whereas, a 2018 Gallup Poll showed 57 percent of Democrats have a favorable 
        opinion of socialism, while only 47 percent of Democrats polled have a 
        positive view of capitalism;
Whereas, an increasing number of Democrat politicians have labeled themselves as 
        ``democratic socialists'' over recent years. The line between democrat 
        and socialist has been increasingly blurred.;
Whereas, Senator Bernie Sanders, a top 2016 Democrat presidential candidate, has 
        declared, ``I am a democratic Socialist'' and went on to advocate that 
        ``it's time we had Democratic Socialism for working families'';
Whereas, freshman Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib are 
        registered members of the Democratic Socialists of America and are self-
        described socialists;
Whereas, in October of 2018 The White House's Council of Economic Advisers 
        published a report entitled The Opportunity Costs of Socialism;
Whereas, this report highlighted the inherent failure of socialism. The report 
        stated that ``[i]n assessing the effects of socialist policies, it is 
        important to recognize that they provide little material incentive for 
        production and innovation and, by distributing goods and services for 
        `free', prevent prices from revealing economically important information 
        about costs and consumer needs and wants'';
Whereas, this report from the Council of Economic Advisers is quoted as ``[w]e 
        find that historical proponents of socialist policies and those in the 
        contemporary United States share some of their visions and intents. They 
        both characterize the distribution of income in market economies as the 
        unjust result of `exploitation', which should be rectified by extensive 
        state control'';
Whereas, the report by the Council of Economic Advisers also found that there is 
        ``a strong association between greater economic freedom and better 
        economic performance'';
Whereas, Margaret Thatcher (1976), once argued, ``Socialist governments . . . 
        always run out of other people's money'', and thus the way to prosperity 
        is for the state to give ``the people more choice to spend their own 
        money in their own way.'';
Whereas, free-market capitalism is the greatest engine for human advancement in 
        the history of the world, bringing more people out of poverty and into 
        prosperity than any economic model in the history of mankind;
Whereas, the United States of America is the single greatest Nation in the 
        history of the world, due in large part because of its system of 
        government that secures private property rights of all citizens through 
        the genius of The United States Constitution; and
Whereas, on February 5, 2019, in the State of the Union address, President 
        Donald J. Trump declared that ``we are alarmed by new calls to adopt 
        socialism in our country'' and that ``America will never be a socialist 
        country'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) acknowledges that Marxism and Socialism are failed 
        ideologies;
            (2) Socialism poses a significant threat to the freedom, 
        liberty, and economic prosperity to all countries and citizens 
        around the world;
            (3) Socialism is a failed experiment of governance that 
        inevitably ends in misery and suffering;
            (4) throughout the history, tradition, and national civic 
        spirit of the United States of America, our country has been a 
        beacon of light shining like a lighthouse to the rest of the 
        world demonstrating that freedom and liberty are the surest 
        forms of government; and
            (5) stand with President Trump and affirm that America will 
        never be a socialist nation.
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