Ed Bryant UnConstitutional Votes

The U.S. Constitution allows the House of Representatives to vote on a limited number of issues and states in amendment 10 that: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. Ed Bryant has repeatedly ignored this amendment and his responsibility to keep his oath to God and follow it. Federal Funding of State Prisons, Amendment to H.R. 667. During consideration of the state prison construction bill, Representative Robert Scott (D-VA) offered this amendment to delete $2.5 billion in new money from the bill, leaving only the $8 billion already authorized by last year’s crime bill. In addition to the fact that the federal government does not have any constitutional authority to administer or finance the crime and prison policies of the states, the funds, Representative Tim Roemer (D-IN) noted, constitute a “bailout bill for States that have not made the tough decisions to build [new] prisons.” (February 10, 1995 Congressional Record pages H1582-83, roll call 115) Ed Bryant voted against this taxpayer money saving amendment. (Source: The New American July 24, 1995) Preempting State Courts, Amendment to H.R. 956. During consideration of the Product Liability and Legal Reform bill, Representative Melvin Watt (D-NC) offered this amendment to remove provisions of the bill preempting state laws on the burden of proof for punitive damages in product liability cases. Taking a states’ rights position, Watt counseled removal of provisions which tell the states “how to apply [the] law [in liability suits] and how much of the evidence will be required to win a case and how you should try the case.” (March 9, 1995 Congressional Record, page H2935, roll call 222) Ed Bryant voted against this constitutional amendment. (Source: The New American July 24, 1995) War Powers Act Repeal, Amendment to H.R. 1561. During consideration of the fiscal 1996-97 Foreign Assistance and State Department Authorization bill, Representative Henry Hyde (R-IL) offered this amendment to repeal the 1973 War Powers Resolution. That resolution, which was passed during the Vietnam War era to curb presidential abuse of war powers, requires the President to bring home within 60 days troops deployed abroad in combat situations unless Congress acts affirmatively to approve the deployment. Representative Richard Durbin (D-IL) explained, “Our Constitution could not make it clearer. Article I, section 8, clause 11 of the Constitution confers on Congress – the House of Representatives and the Senate alone – the power to declare war, and the War Powers Act, imperfect though it may be, is an effort to carry out the intent of our Constitution, the clear unambiguous intent of that Constitution, to require Congress, and the American people through them, to enter into a debate and deliberation before we send our sons and daughters off to die.” Repeal of the War Powers Resolution would signal that the Congress is willing to abdicate its constitutional power to declare war and to give a blank check to the President. It would effectively make the U.S. Armed Forces the President’s personal army that can be sent into battle at the President’s personal whim. (June 7, 1995 Congressional Record, pages H5673-74, roll call 359) Ed Bryant voted for this amendment. (Source: The New American July 24, 1995) Abolition of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Amendment to H.R. 1905. During consideration of the fiscal 1996 energy and water development appropriations bill, Representative Scott Klug (R-WI) offered this amendment to eliminate the $103 million provided in the bill for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), effectively abolishing the agency. The TVA, a regional federal entity, is a holdout from the “make work” legislation that President Franklin Roosevelt had pushed as part of his “New Deal.” The TVA was originally charged with electrifying rural areas within the Tennessee River Valley. Its task long ago accomplished, the TVA developed new purposes such as “tourism and marketing,” for which the bill earmarked $19 million. (July 12, 1995 Congressional Record, pages H6877-78, roll call 492) Ed Bryant voted against this amendment. (Source: The New American January 22, 1996) Juvenile Crime Control Act, H.R. 3. This bill would authorize $1.5 billion dollars over the next three years for states to build prisons. In addition, it would require states to prosecute certain juveniles as adults and mandate that juvenile records be transmitted to the FBI. Noting that the federal government does not have the constitutional authority to establish a national juvenile criminal justice system, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) opposed the bill for that reason and because it “represents yet another step toward a national police-state…” (May 8, 1997 Congressional Record, pages H2397-98, roll call 118) Ed Bryant voted for this act. (Source: The New American August 18, 1997) Constitutional Disclosure of Intelligence Spending, Amendment to H.R. 1775. During consideration of the fiscal 1998 intelligence authorization bill Representative John Conyers (D-MI) offered this amendment to require publication of the amount spent for intelligence activities and the mount requested by the President for such purposes for the following year. Spending levels for U.S. intelligence agencies (CIA, DIA, NSA, NRO, etc.) are classified but are estimated by news agencies to total about $30 billion per year. This secrecy conflicts with the constitutional provisions stating that “a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.” The CIA has simply exempted itself from this constitutional requirement. (July 9, 1997 Congressional Record, pages H4984-85, roll call 254) Ed Bryant voted against this amendment. (Source: The New American January 5, 1998) Subversive misapplication of the First Amendment, House Joint Resolution 78. The so-called “Religious Freedom Restoration Amendment” would add 86 vague words to the Constitution for the stated purpose of improving the protection of religious freedom under the First Amendment. Representative John Hostletter (R-IN) opposed the amendment as unnecessary and even potentially dangerous, noting that it “legitimizes the Supreme Court’s [unconstitutional] application of the establishment clause of the First Amendment [which prohibits Federal law “respecting an establishment of religion”] to the states.” That subversive misapplication has enabled the Supreme Court to strike down school prayer in public schools across the nation. “[I] f this amendment is ratified,” Hostettler continued, “our states will forever lose their ability to define the appropriate level of public expression of religion.” Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) suggested that instead of weakening the First Amendment, “Another recourse… is for Congress to use its constitutional authority to remove jurisdiction form the courts in the areas where the courts have been the most abusive of free expression.” (June 4, 1998 Congressional Record, page H4112, roll call 201) Ed Bryant voted for this resolution. (Source: The New American October 26, 1998) Gun Control, H.R. 2122. This legislation would clamp down on gun sales at gun shows, which for the purposes of this bill are defined as any event “at which 50 or more firearms are offered or exhibited for sale, transfer, or exchange” or at which there are ten or more vendors. Under this bill, a person offering a firearm for sale who is not himself licensed is prevented form selling that firearm directly to the buyer. The licensed vendor must complete a background check before the transfer of the weapon. (June 18, 1999 Congressional Record, pages H4656-57, roll call 244) Ed Bryant voted for this gun control bill. (Source: The New American August 16, 1999) Money for Foreign Intervention. The Fiscal 2000 supplemental appropriations bull provides $13.2 billion for a number of measures, including funding for operations in Kosovo and East Timor ($5 billion), aid to combat drugs in Colombia ($1.7 billion), and Defense Department funding ($4 billion). (March 30, 2000 Roll Call 95) Ed Bryant voted for this intervention. (Source: The New American July 17, 2000) Television for “Underserved” Areas. As a way of providing local television to 30 million households in areas of the country that cannot receive over-the-air signals or do not have local television through a satellite provider, this bill would create a new program that would provide $1.25 billion in loan guarantees to telecommunication providers. The loans would offer a competitive edge to satellite providers since cable companies cannot apply for the loans to expand their service. The loans would be administered by the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service. Representative Christopher Cox (R-CA) in floor debate asserted that the Rural Utilities Service is “writing off billions of dollars in their existing loan portfolio left and right, at taxpayer expense, and … about 30 to 40 percent of the loans that are going to get made under this program are likely to be written off. So one can look at the cost of this program [and see that] right up front [it] is about $400 million.” (April 13, 2000 Roll Call 128) Ed Bryant voted for this measure. (Source: The New American July 17, 2000) Funds for Asian Elephants. This bill would authorize up to $5 million per year for four years to help preserve the habitat of the Asian elephant. The program is merely another pretense to waste U.S. taxpayer dollars abroad. (June 12, 2001 Roll Call 156) Ed Bryant voted for this authorization. (Source: The New American July 30, 2001) Prescription Drug Plan. This bill (H.R. 4954) would subsidize private insurance companies for offering prescription drug policies to Medicare beneficiaries. Under this plan, the cost would be $33 per month with a $250 annual deductible. Patients would pay 20 percent of costs from $251 to $1,000 and 50 percent from $1,001 to $2,000. Patients would pay all costs from $2,001 to $3,700, with anything above that covered 100% by the insurers. The estimated cost of this socialist-lite prescription plan for seniors is $350 billion over 10 years. (June 28,2002 Roll Call 282) Ed Bryant voted for this drug plan.