06 Jan One Third of 107th Congress Failed to Protect US Sovereignty
Massachusetts called “State of Shame”
January 6, 2003
Washington, DC – One third of the members of the 107th Congress failed to support four key pieces of legislation designed to protect members of the US military and opposing funding of United Nations programs that undermine the sovereignty of the United States.
“This is a frightening scenario,” said Tom DeWeese, president of the American Policy Center, a grassroots, activist think tank, “and one can only hope that the last election’s shift of political power will afford Americans protection against the efforts of the UN to erode and undermine our national sovereignty.”
Of the 435 members of the 107th Congress, 130 voted against the American Servicemembers Protection Act (HR 1794), and amendments to strike funding for UNESCO (Amdt 33 to HR 1646), the UN International Criminal Court (Amdt 480 to HR 4546), and for (Amdt 191 to HR 2500) UN peacekeeping operations. Using these votes as the standard to judge pro-and-anti sovereignty views, the Center has issued its annual evaluation of how Congress dealt with the issue.
“Most dramatically,” noted DeWeese, “not one member of the House delegation from the State of Massachusetts supported any sovereignty measure. This is a shameful record as their Congressmen uniformly rejected any effort to protect American service personnel against prosecution by the UN’s International Criminal Court or the other measures that would deny funding to UN agencies and programs that run counter to the interests of the United States.”
Politically, with the exception of four Republicans, all of those with a zero percent voting record were Democrats. Only one Democrat, Gene Taylor of Mississippi, was among the 39 members with 100% voting records supporting the four pieces of sovereignty legislation.
“In America, our sovereignty comes directly from our Constitution and the powers granted to our government by the people,” said DeWeese. “Therefore, our nation’s sovereignty requires the utmost protection against efforts to diminish the laws by which we are governed. The creation of the UN International Criminal Court strikes directly at our system of justice and our exclusive right to administer it.
“Likewise, the funding of UN agencies such as the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that engage in international educational programs designed to undermine national sovereignty, peacekeeping operations largely undertaken by the US, and the International Criminal Court that puts our citizens at risk of politically motivated prosecution needs to be discontinued,” said DeWeese.
The United States withdrew from UNESCO in protest of the widespread waste, corruption, and mismanagement it demonstrated.
Both the American Servicemembers Protection Act and the prohibition of funding for the UN International Criminal Court passed on May 10, 2001. Legislation opposing funding for UNESCO and UN peacekeeping operations was defeated on May 10 and July 18, respectively.
“Few, if any, issues that come before Congress have more importance than our national sovereignty,” said DeWeese. “This is an issue of control. A nation can voluntarily surrender its control, but it is loss of sovereignty just the same. The votes of one third of the members of the 107th Congress represent a frightening trend.”
Contact Tom DeWeese @ (540) 341-8911
