[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 96 (Thursday, June 24, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1193-E1194]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      HONORING THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ON ITS 140TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 16, 2010

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, the House of Representatives recently 
considered H. Res. 1422, honoring the 140th anniversary of the 
Department of Justice. I voted against this resolution

[[Page E1194]]

because of the Justice Department's history of violating individual 
rights.
  It is the Justice Department that leads the ongoing violations of the 
fourth, fifth, ninth, and tenth amendments in the name of the ``war on 
drugs.'' It is Justice Department agents who perform warrantless 
wiretap, and ``sneak-and-peak'' searches under the misnamed PATRIOT 
Act. It is the Justice Department that prosecutes American citizens for 
violating unconstitutional federal regulations even in cases where no 
reasonable person could have known their actions violated federal law.
  Some like to pretend that the Justice Department's assault on 
liberties is a modern phenomenon, or that abuses of liberties are only 
carried out by one political party. However, history shows that the 
unconstitutional usurpations of power and abuse of rights goes back at 
least almost a hundred years to the ``Progressive'' era and that 
Justice Departments of both parties have disregarded the Constitution 
and violated individual liberties.
  During World War I, President Woodrow Wilson's Justice Department 
imprisoned people who dared to speak out against the war. Following the 
war, the progressive assault on the first amendment continued with the 
infamous ``Palmer raids,'' named for Wilson's Attorney General, A. 
Mitchell Palmer. Just as President Wilson's policies of foreign 
interventionism and domestic welfare served as a model for future 
presidents, Attorney General Palmer's assaults on civil liberties 
served as a model for future attorneys general of both parties. Think 
of Robert Kennedy authorizing the wiretapping of Martin Luther King, 
Jr., John Mitchell's role in the abuses of civil liberties by the Nixon 
administration, Ed Meese's assault on the first amendment with his 
``pornography commission,'' Janet Reno's role in the murder of innocent 
men, women and children at Waco, and the steady erosion of our rights 
over the past decade. In addition, it is the attorney general and the 
Justice Department that defend and justify violations of constitutional 
liberties by the President and the other federal bureaucracies.
  Many civil libertarians were hopeful the new administration would be 
more sympathetic to civil liberties than was the prior administration. 
But the current administration has disregarded campaign promises to 
restore respect for civil liberties and has continued, and in many 
cases expanded, the anti-freedom policies of its predecessors. For 
instance, the current administration is supporting renewal of the 
policies of warrantless wiretapping and other PATRIOT Act provisions. 
The administration, despite promising to be more open and transparent, 
is also continuing to use the claim of ``state secrets'' to shield 
potentially embarrassing information from Americans. According to the 
New York Times, the current administration is even outdoing its 
predecessors in the prosecution of government whistleblowers. It is 
little wonder that the head of the American Civil Liberties Union 
recently said he is disgusted with the administration's record on civil 
liberties.
  Of course, Mr. Speaker, Congress bears ultimate responsibility for 
the Justice Department's actions, as it is Congress that passes the 
unconstitutional laws the Justice Department enforces. Congress also 
fails to perform effective oversight of the Justice Department. Instead 
of honoring the Justice Department, Congress should begin to repeal 
unconstitutional laws and start exercising congressional oversight of 
executive branch agencies that menace our freedoms.

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