[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 289 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 289

 Expressing the sense of the Senate that socialism poses a significant 
          threat to freedom, liberty, and economic prosperity.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 29, 2019

 Mr. Daines submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                     the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Senate that socialism poses a significant 
          threat to freedom, liberty, and economic prosperity.

Whereas Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines socialism as--

    (1) ``any of various economic and political theories advocating 
collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of 
production and distribution of goods''; and

    (2) ``a system of society or group living in which there is no private 
property'';

Whereas socialism and the policies advocated by self-described ``democratic 
        socialists'' have an underlying historical connection to the Marxist 
        theory;
Whereas history has witnessed countless failed Marxist-inspired regimes;
Whereas, because of the perverse incentives and inherent flaws of the Marxist 
        theory, socialism inevitably leads to societal rot, resulting in 
        devastation, economic poverty, and destruction;
Whereas prominent elected officials in the Senate and the House of 
        Representatives are self-described socialists and espouse socialist 
        proposals;
Whereas socialist policies such as the Green New Deal and socialized medicine 
        would--

    (1) eliminate the private property rights of all people of the United 
States; and

    (2) force taxpayers to pay trillions of dollars to implement;

Whereas Alexis de Tocqueville wrote, ``Democracy and socialism have nothing in 
        common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while 
        democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in 
        restraint and servitude.'';
Whereas Margaret Thatcher once stated, ``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 is the single greatest country in the history of the 
        world, due in large part to its system of government that secures the 
        private property rights of all citizens through the genius of the 
        Constitution of the United States; and
Whereas, on February 5, 2019, in the State of the Union address, President 
        Donald J. Trump declared--

    (1) ``We are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country''; 
and

    (2) ``America will never be a socialist country'': Now, therefore, be 
it

    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) acknowledges that Marxism and socialism are failed 
        ideologies;
            (2) recognizes that socialism poses a significant threat to 
        the freedom, liberty, and economic prosperity of all countries 
        and people around the world;
            (3) accepts that socialism is a failed experiment of 
        governance that inevitably ends in misery and suffering;
            (4) declares that, throughout the history, tradition, and 
        national civic spirit of the United States, the United States 
        has been a beacon of light shining like a lighthouse to the 
        rest of the world, demonstrating that freedom and liberty are 
        the surest foundation of government; and
            (5) affirms that the United States should never be a 
        socialist country.
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