Speeches And Statements PDF Print E-mail
November 2012
  • November 16,2012Tribute to Ronald Hamowy

    Mr. Speaker, I rise to ask unanimous consent to enter Ronald Hamowy, R.I.P." by Stephen Cox of the Liberty Unbound into the Congressional Record. The piece pays tribute to Ronald Hamowy, one of the libertarian movement's most gifted scholars, who passed away on September 8 of this year. As a student in New York, Ronald Hamowy attended the seminar of the great Austrian economist Ludwig Von Misses.  While attending the Mises seminar, Hamowy become friends with a group of other young libertarian scholars. These young scholars banded together in the "Circle Bastiat," named after the great 19th century French free-market economist. The Circle Bastiat served as a combination intellectual support group and social club for the handful of libertarian scholars studying, working, and living in New York City in the late forties and fifties.  Members of the Circle Bastiat, whose leader was Mises' heir and founder of the modern libertarian movement Murray Rothbard, would go on to play key roles in developing and popularizing the ideas of liberty.

  • November 16,2012Statement opposing HR 6156

    Statement opposing HR 6156, the Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 Rep. Ron Paul, M.D. 16 Nov 2012 Mr. Speaker I rise to strongly oppose this legislation. Unfortunately, Congress has ruined an opportunity to overturn an anachronistic impediment to free trade with Russia by attaching to it an interventionist and provocative "human rights" bill that will worsen US/Russia relations. With Russia's recent accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Congress is obligated to repeal the "Jackson-Vanik Amendment," a 1974 era piece of legislation that sought to condition normal trade relations with the Soviet Union (which no longer exists) upon liberalization of emigration rules for Soviet Jews. WTO members are obliged to eliminate trade barriers with other members. So the repeal and extension of normal trade relations simply should have been a formality. Unfortunately Congress instead took this as an opportunity to meddle in the internal affairs of Russia, which will worsen US/Russian relations and have a negative economic impact on the United States.

  • November 15,2012Tribute to Thomas Szasz

    SPEECH OFHON. RON PAULOF TEXASIN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESTUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2012 ·  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert into the Congressional Record ''The Man versus the Therapeutic State,'' by Jacob Sullivan of Reason magazine. This piece pays tribute to Dr. Thomas Szasz, who passed away on September 8th of this year. ·  Dr. Szasz, a trained psychiatrist, was the leading opponent of what he labeled the ''therapeutic state.'' For over fifty years, in 35 books, and hundreds of articles, Dr. Szasz defended human liberty and dignity against modern psychiatry. Modern psychiatry, of course, insists that behaviors which deviate from some arbitrary norm serve as signs or symptoms of organic ''mental illnesses'' (although the physiological mechanisms never seem to be clearly identified, much less explained). Since ''sick people'' are incapable of controlling themselves, it is the responsibility of government to protect them by constraining their ability to make harmful choices.

  • November 15,2012Farewell to Congress

    Farewell to Congress - Ron Paul Delivered on the House Floor November 14, 2012   This may well be the last time I speak on the House Floor.  At the end of the year I’ll leave Congress after 23 years in office over a 36 year period.  My goals in 1976 were the same as they are today:  promote peace and prosperity by a strict adherence to the principles of individual liberty. It was my opinion, that the course the U.S. embarked on in the latter part of the 20th Century would bring us a major financial crisis and engulf us in a foreign policy that would overextend us and undermine our national security. To achieve the goals I sought, government would have had to shrink in size and scope, reduce spending, change the monetary system, and reject the unsustainable costs of policing the world and expanding the American Empire.

September 2012
  • September 21,2012The Price of Money: Consequences of the Federal Reserve's Zero Interest Rate Policy

    September 21, 2012 Congressman Ron PaulStatement for the Record             One of the most enduring myths in the United States is that this country has a free market, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth.  In reality, government has pervaded so many aspects of the market that what we see as a free market is merely the structural shell of formerly free institutions, while government pulls the strings behind the scenes.  No better illustration of this can be found than in the Federal Reserve's manipulation of interest rates.             The Fed has interfered with the proper functioning of interest rates for decades, but perhaps never as boldly as it has in the past few years through its policies of quantitative easing.  In Chairman Bernanke's most recent press conference he stated that the Fed wishes not only to drive down rates on Treasury debt, but also rates on mortgages, corporate bonds, and other important interest rates.  Markets greeted this statement enthusiastically, as they realize that this means trillions more newly-created dollars flowing directly to Wall Street.

  • September 13,2012Statement on HR 5949, the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act

    12 September 2012 Mr. Speaker: I rise in strong opposition to the reauthorization of the 2008 FISA Amendments Act, as it violates the Fourth Amendment of our Constitution. Supporters of this reauthorization claim that the United States will be more vulnerable if the government is not allowed to monitor citizens without a warrant. I would argue that we are more vulnerable if we do allow the government to monitor Americans without a warrant. Nothing makes us more vulnerable than allowing the Constitution to be violated.

  • September 13,2012Reaction to FOMC Statement

    September 13, 2012 Washington, DC - In response to today's announcement from the Federal Reserve, Congressman Ron Paul issues the following statement:   "No one is surprised by the Fed's action today to inject even more money into the economy through additional asset purchases.  The Fed's only solution for every problem is to print more money and provide more liquidity. Mr. Bernanke and Fed governors appear not to understand that our current economic malaise resulted directly because of the excessive credit the Fed already pumped into the system. "For all of its vaunted policy tools, the Fed now finds itself repeating the same basic action over and over in an attempt to prime the economy with more debt and credit.  But this latest decision to provide more quantitative easing will only prolong our economic stagnation, corrupt market signals, and encourage even more misallocation and malinvestment of resources. Rather than stimulating a real recovery by focusing on a strong dollar and market interest rates, the Fed's announcement today shows a disastrous detachment from reality on the part of our central bank.  Any further quantitative easing from the Fed, in whatever form, will only make our next economic crash that much more serious."

August 2012
  • August 2,2012Statement on Introducing the Compassionate Freedom of Choice Act

    Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the “Compassionate Freedom of Choice Act.”  This legislation allows terminally ill patients to use drugs, treatments and devices that have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) if their physicians certify: (i) such patients have no other treatment options; and (Ii) the patient executes written, informed consent that they are aware of any potential risks from the drug, device, or treatment.

  • August 2,2012Statement on HR 6169

    Mr. Speaker, supporters of low taxes and limited government should enthusiastically embrace most of the principles of tax reform laid out in HR 6169. However, one tax reform principle contained in this bill contradicts the goal we all share, namely lowering the America’s people’s tax burden.  I’m referring to the bill’s finding that seems to imply tax reform should aim to maintain federal tax revenue at 18-19% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

  • August 2,2012Statement for the Record - Hearing on Parallel Currencies

    One of the most pressing issues of our time is the push for monetary freedom.  The only sound monetary system is one which protects sound money and allows consumers, businesses, and investors the freedom to transact in the currency of their choice.  The importance of sound money is summed up nicely by Ludwig von Mises: “It is impossible to grasp the meaning of the idea of sound money if one does not realize that it was devised as an instrument for the protection of civil liberties against despotic inroads on the part of governments.”  It is no wonder that governments fight tooth and nail against sound money, as sound money protects the well-being of the middle class and the poor while preventing the expansion of government.

July 2012
  • July 25,2012Statement for the Record - Committee on Financial Services Hearing with Secretary Geithner

    Mr. Chairman, I welcome this hearing to receive the report of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC).  The creation of FSOC underscores perfectly the complete intellectual bankruptcy underpinning the government's behavior towards financial markets.  In the opinion of government leaders, the financial crisis was not caused by misguided regulation, interest rate manipulation, or government-caused distortions to the structure of production, but by a financial sector that was completely deregulated and laissez-faire.  The response of legislators, therefore, was to create a new super-regulator with vast new powers to control the financial system.

  • July 18,2012Statement for the Record

    Mr. Chairman, I thank you for calling this hearing today on monetary policy and the state of the economy.  For the past few years the Federal Reserve has received criticism from all sides of the political spectrum, and rightly so, for its unprecedented intervention into the economy and its bailouts of large Wall Street banks and foreign central banks.  Yet this criticism risks losing sight of the most insidious result of the Fed's actions, which is to enable the growth of government.

June 2012
  • June 29,2012Statement for Hearing on Fractional Reserve Banking

     Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology Hearing on "Fractional Reserve Banking and the Federal Reserve: The Economic Consequences of High-Powered Money"             During a time of economic crisis, when the topic of stability of the banking and financial sector is at the forefront of most people's minds, it is ironic that the most important factor in the development of the modern banking system is precisely the one topic which is almost never mentioned. The elephant in the room is, of course, fractional reserve banking. In a speech in October 2010, Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, referred to fractional reserve banking as "financial alchemy", an analogy which is particularly apt. Just as alchemists attempted to turn worthless lead into something thousands of times more valuable, modern-day financial alchemists attempt to turn a limited number of bank deposits into an unlimited amount of money and credit. But while the alchemists were never successful in their endeavors, financial alchemists have been all too successful at creating money and credit out of thin air, sowing the seeds for the destructive booms and busts of the business cycle.

  • June 21,2012Statement Introducing HR 5993 The Syria Non-Intervention Act of 2012

    Mr. Speaker: The Administration is marching toward another war in the Middle East, this time against Syria. As with the president's war against Libya, Congress has been frozen out of the process. The Constitution, which grants Congress and only Congress the authority to declare war, is once again being completely ignored. The push for a US attack on Syria makes no sense, is not in our interest, and will likely make matters worse. Yet the Administration, after transferring equipment to the Syrian rebels and facilitating the shipment of weapons from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, has indicated that its plans for an actual invasion are complete.

  • June 19,2012When Will We Attack Syria?

                 Plans, rumors, and war propaganda for attacking Syria and deposing Assad have been around for many months.             This past week however, it was reported that the Pentagon indeed has finalized plans to do just that. In my opinion, all the evidence to justify this attack is bogus. It is no more credible than the pretext given for the 2003 invasion of Iraq or the 2011 attack on Libya.             The total waste of those wars should cause us to pause before this all-out effort at occupation and regime change is initiated against Syria.             There are no national security concerns that require such a foolish escalation of violence in the Middle East. There should be no doubt that our security interests are best served by completely staying out of the internal strife now raging in Syria.

  • June 1,2012Statement on HR 3541

    Mr. Speaker, as an Ob-GYN who has delivered over 4,000 babies, I certainly abhor abortion. And I certainly share my colleagues' revulsion at the idea that someone would take an innocent unborn life because they prefer to have a child of a different sex. However, I cannot support HR 3541, the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act, because this bill is unconstitutional. Congress's jurisdiction is limited to those areas specified in the Constitution. Nowhere in that document is Congress given any authority to address abortion in any manner. Until 1973, when the Supreme Court usurped the authority of the states in the Roe V. Wade decision, no one believed or argued abortion was a federal issue.

May 2012
  • May 17,2012Statement on H Res 568 Regarding Iran

    Mr. Speaker: I strongly oppose H Res 568, a resolution "expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the importance of preventing the Government of Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability." Once again we see on the "suspension" calendar, which is customarily reserved for non-controversial legislation, a resolution designed to move the US toward a military conflict with Iran. Sadly, it has become non-controversial for Congress to call for US attacks on foreign countries that have neither attacked nor threatened the United States. We should not fool ourselves about the timing of this legislation. Next week, high-level talks between Iran and the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany (P5+1) will resume. Those who seek US military action against Iran must fear that successful diplomacy will undermine their calls for war. Disturbingly, some of my colleagues have suggested this resolution can be read as a form of ersatz Congressional approval for the use of military force against Iran. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has the authority to monitor the Iranian nuclear program to determine whether nuclear material is being diverted from civilian to military uses. The IAEA has never reported an Iranian violation. This legislation attempts to scare us into believing otherwise, but that fact remains. And the US Intelligence Community agrees with IAEA conclusions on this matter. The most dangerous aspect of H. Res. 568 is that it dramatically lowers the threshold for conflict with Iran by replacing the prohibition against acquiring nuclear weapons to a prohibition against a "capability" to develop nuclear weapons. However, as former senior Bush administration official, Flynt Leverett, has stated: Iranian efforts to develop a "nuclear weapons capability"...may make American and Israeli elites uncomfortable.  But it is not a violation of the NPT....While the NPT prohibits non-nuclear-weapon states from building atomic bombs, developing a nuclear weapons capability is, [allowed] under the NPT...  It is certainly not a justification—strategically, legally, or morally—for armed aggression against Iran. But this resolution states that the House "rejects any United States policy that would rely on efforts to contain a nuclear weapons-capable Iran." That makes it very clear that the intent of the House is to authorize force against Iran not if it acquires a nuclear weapon, but if it has a "capability" to acquire them some time in the future. The term "capability" is left undefined, of course, leaving it open to very broad interpretations by this and future administrations. Mr. Speaker this is incredibly dangerous legislation. I urge my colleagues in the strongest manner to reject this stealth authorization for war on Iran.

  • May 9,2012Statement on US-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012

    Statement on H.R.4133 -- United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012 Rep. Ron Paul, M.D. May 9, 2012 Mr. Speaker: I rise in opposition to HR 4133, the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act, which unfortunately is another piece of one-sided and counter-productive foreign policy legislation. This bill's real intent seems to be more saber-rattling against Iran and Syria, and it undermines US diplomatic efforts by making clear that the US is not an honest broker seeking peace for the Middle East. The bill calls for the United States to significantly increase our provision of sophisticated weaponry to Israel, and states that it is to be US policy to "help Israel preserve its qualitative military edge" in the region.

  • May 9,2012"The Federal Reserve System: Mend It or End It?" Statement

    United States House of RepresentativesCommittee on Financial ServicesSubcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy & Technology May 8, 2012 Congressman Ron PaulStatement for the Record             Although it has taken nearly a century, it seems that the entire spectrum of the American political establishment has finally realized the destructive power of the Federal Reserve System.  Whether left, right, or libertarian, politicians are lining up to attack Ben Bernanke and the Fed's destructive monetary policy.  Where there is disagreement or lack of understanding, however, is on why the Fed's monetary policy is destructive, how it harms the economy, and what should be done about it.  Today's hearing will examine the various proposals that have been put forth both to mend and to end the Fed.  It is my hope that this hearing will spur a vigorous and long-lasting discussion about the Fed's problems, a discussion which will lead to concrete actions once and for all to rein in the Fed.

April 2012
  • April 26,2012Hands Off the Internet!

    A Dear Colleague letter April 26, 2012 Dear Colleagues: Please join me in opposing the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (HR 3523), which will create a monstrous coalition of big business and big government to rob Americans of their protections under the 4th Amendment of the Constitution. CISPA permits both the federal government and private companies to view your private online communications with no judicial oversight, provided they merely do so in the name of “cybersecurity.”  But America is a constitutional republic, not a surveillance state-- and the wildly overhyped need for security does not trump the Constitution we all swore to uphold.  “Cybersecurity” is the responsibility of companies that operate and make money in cyberspace, not taxpayers.  Those companies should develop market-based private solutions to secure their networks, servers, cloud data centers, and user/customer information.  The role of the US intelligence community is to protect the United States from military threats, not to provide corporate welfare to the private sector.  Much like TSA at the airport, CISPA would socialize security costs and remove market incentives for private firms to protect their own investments. Imagine security-cleared agents embedded at private companies to serve as conduits for intelligence information about their customers back to the US intelligence community-- while enjoying immunity from any existing civil or criminal laws. Imagine Google or Facebook reporting directly to the National Security Agency about the online activity of US citizens.  Imagine US government resources being wasted on a grand scale to “assist” private companies in the global market.  All of this would become reality under CISPA. Therefore I urge you to support internet freedom, support the 4th Amendment, and oppose corporatism by voting NO on CISPA! Sincerely, Ron Paul, M.D.Member of Congress

  • April 17,2012Statement for Hearing on The Future of Money: Coin Production

    April 17, 2012 There is an old German saying that goes, “whoever does not respect the penny is not worthy of the dollar.”  It expresses the sense that those who neglect or ignore the small things cannot be trusted with larger things, and fittingly describes the problems facing both the dollar and our nation today.  For nearly a century monetary policy has been delegated to the Federal Reserve System.  Congress has ignored the importance of monetary policy and relegated monetary oversight to the sidelines, considering it less important than such matters as welfare spending, warfare spending, and who to tax and how much they should be taxed.  While Congress has dithered, the Federal Reserve has destroyed the value of the dollar, so much so that the metal value of our already much-debased token coinage now exceeds its face value. 

March 2012
  • March 29,2012Statement on the Budget

    Mr. Speaker, listening to the claims of the opponents of this budget, one would think it represented a full-frontal assault on the welfare state and the entitlements system. However, in fact--with all respect to Shakespeare-- the sound and fury over this budget ultimately signifies nothing. Under this budget, the federal government will spend $3.5 trillion next year, while under President Obama's budget the federal government will spend $3.8 trillion. The small difference between the congressional budget and the President's hardly seem to justify the over-heated rhetoric we hear emanating from both sides of the aisle.

  • March 27,2012Hearing on “Federal Reserve Aid to the Eurozone: Its Impact on the U.S. and the Dollar”

    The Federal Reserve has recently begun to engage in an ongoing bailout of the European monetary system.  Under the guise of providing dollar liquidity to strained European financial markets, the Fed is creating hundreds of billions of dollars out of thin air to prop up the euro.  While still well under their 2008 peak, these latest dollar swap agreements are nonetheless a thinly-disguised bailout.  Congress has been far too lenient in allowing the Fed to engage in unprecedented monetary policy operations without informing or explaining its actions to Congress.  The American people need to understand the effects these actions have on the dollar so that the Fed can be held accountable.  I hope that this hearing will get much-needed answers to the very important questions surrounding the Fed’s involvement in bailing out Europe.

  • March 27,2012Convoy of Hope - A Real Community Organizer

    Mr. Speaker, one of the great economic fallacies of our time is that if government doesn’t do something, no one will.  This disastrous fallacy underlies much of our national debate concerning heath care, education, poverty, housing, and disaster relief, to name just a few issues.   But today I rise to applaud an organization that stands in stark refutation of that fallacy.  Convoy of Hope, a private charity in Springfield, Missouri, does so much to help so many communities that the term “charity” doesn’t begin to describe it.  In fact, Convoy of Hope is equal parts grocer, clothier, heath care provider, first responder, educator, and logistics expert.  It works with communities in America and around the world bringing together local charities, businesses, churches, and government agencies to alleviate poverty and help people in the wake of disasters. 

January 2012
  • January 18,2012Statement on the Debt Ceiling Disapproval Resolution

    18 January 2012  Mr. Speaker, Today the Congress is engaging in an act of futility. Despite the rhetoric on both sides, no one in Washington is truly interested in stopping the rising national debt. Some are wedded to trillions of dollars of welfare spending, while others treat the trillions of dollars of corporate welfare funneled to the military-industrial complex as absolutely sacrosanct. And so the national debt continues on its inexorable rise.

  • January 18,2012Statement Introducing Repeal of Sec. 1021 of National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012

      18 January 2012 Mr. Speaker: I rise today to introduce a very simple piece of legislation to repeal the infamous Section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act, quietly signed into law by the president on New Year’s Day. Section 1021 essentially codifies into law the very dubious claim of presidential authority under the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force to indefinitely detain American citizens without access to legal representation or due process of law. Section 1021 provides for the possibility of the US military acting as a kind of police force on US soil, apprehending terror suspects – including Americans -- and whisking them off to an undisclosed location indefinitely. No right to attorney, no right to trial, no day in court.

November 2011
  • November 30,2011Statement on the Fed's Continued Euro Bailout

    The Fed's latest actions in cooperating with foreign central banks to undertake liquidity swaps of dollars for foreign currencies is another reason why Congress needs enhanced power to oversee and audit the Fed.  Under current law Congress cannot examine these types of agreements.  Those who would argue that auditing the Fed or these agreements with central banks harms the Fed's independence should reevaluate the Fed's supposed independence when the Fed bails out Europe so soon after President Obama promised US assistance in resolving the Euro crisis. Rather than calming markets, these arrangements should indicate just how frightened governments around the world are about the European financial crisis.  Central banks are grasping at straws, hoping that flooding the world with money created out of thin air will somehow resolve a crisis caused by uncontrolled government spending and irresponsible debt issuance.  Congress should not permit this type of open-ended commitment on the part of the Fed, a commitment which could easily run into the trillions of dollars.  These dollar swaps are purely inflationary and will harm American consumers as much as any form of quantitative easing.  The Fed is behaving much as it did during the 2008 financial crisis, only this time instead of bailing out politically well-connected too-big-to-fail firms it is bailing out profligate government spending. Citizens the world over deserve better than this. They deserve sound money that cannot be manipulated and created out of thin air by central planners who promise printed prosperity. Fiat money caused this European crisis and the financial crisis before it.  More fiat money is not the cure. The global fiat currency system has proven itself a failure, we need real monetary reform. We need sound money.

  • November 4,2011Statement on Mark-up of HR 1905

    Statement on Mark-up of HR 1905, the Iran Threat Reduction Act of 2011House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Ron Paul, M.D. November 2, 2011 I would like to express my concerns over the Iran Threat Reduction Act of 2011 and my opposition to it being brought to the Floor for a vote. Let us be clear on one critical matter: the sanctions against Iran mandated by this legislation are definite steps toward a US attack on Iran. They will also, if actually applied, severely disrupt global trade and undermine the US economy, thereby harming our national security. I am surprised and disturbed that the committee viewed this aggressive legislation to be so bipartisan and uncontroversial that a recorded vote was not even called.

October 2011
  • October 31,2011Statement on Introducing the Protect Small Business Jobs Act

    Mr. Speaker, today I rise to introduce the Protect Small Business Jobs Act. This bill gives small businesses six months to correct any noncompliance with federal regulations. If a business is in compliance at the end of the six months, then the federal government cannot fine, or pursue any other legal action against the business. Small businesses that demonstrate good faith efforts to come into compliance can receive an additional three months grace period. Any small business may challenge a finding that it is in noncompliance with regulations without forgoing the six month grace period.

  • October 7,2011Statement for the Record - Geithner Hearing

    Hearing to Receive the Testimony of the Secretary of the Treasury on the Annual Report of the Financial Stability Oversight Council Mr. Chairman, I thank you for holding this hearing with Secretary Geithner to receive the annual report of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC).  FSOC has been given a mandate to identify threats to the American financial system.  With all the major financial regulators as members of FSOC, this new organization is like the Plunge Protection Team on steroids, and there is no telling what kind of damage FSOC will end up doing to financial markets. 

  • October 5,2011Statement for the Record

      United States House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology Hearing on: “Audit the Fed: Dodd-Frank, QE3, and Federal Reserve Transparency”   In his 1974 Nobel Prize address, the late Austrian economist Friedrich von Hayek attacked the pretense of knowledge, the idea that policymakers have sufficient knowledge and power to shape society as they wish.  Our political leaders failed to take Hayek's message to heart, as succeeding generations have continued to allow this intellectual arrogance to continue unabated.  Just as the New Mandarins squandered America's wealth, resources, and young men during the 1960s, today's economic Mandarins seem hell-bent on destroying every last vestige of the free market and driving the economy into ruin.  Congress has abdicated its oversight over these "expert" economists at the Federal Reserve, to the detriment of the economic well-being of the American people.  Despite overwhelming grassroots support behind auditing the Fed, only incremental progress has been made toward unmasking the Federal Reserve's activities.  Full transparency of the Fed's operations remains an elusive goal, but one towards which I intend to devote my remaining time in Congress.  

September 2011
  • September 15,2011A Foreign Policy Update: Mutually Assured Destruction vs Mutually Assured Respect

     The Soviet Union detonated its first nuclear bomb on August 29, 1949, leading to the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction, shared by both the USA and the Soviets.  The unwritten agreement by the two super powers deterred nuclear war with an implied threat to blow up the world, if need be, to defend each of their interests.           I well remember the Cuban missile crises of October 1962, having been drafted into the military at that time.  Mutually Assured Destruction had significant meaning to the whole world during this period.  This crisis, along with the escalating ill-advised Vietnam War, made me very much aware of the problems the world faced during the five years I served as a USAF flight surgeon.

  • September 14,2011Statement on Testimonial Free Speech Act

    Mr. Speaker, today I introduce the Testimonial Free Speech Act. This legislation prohibits the federal government from censoring an individual's account of his experience with foods and dietary supplements.  Hard as it may be to believe, the government is prohibiting individuals from sharing their stories of how they improved their health by using foods and dietary supplements.

  • September 13,2011Statement on Hearing on Free Competition in Currencies Act HR 1098

    I. The Problem                        John Maynard Keynes once stated that “There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose.”  Such a situation is exactly what faces this country today, as the Federal Reserve seems hell-bent on destroying what little purchasing power remains of the U.S. Dollar.              Money is what allows civilization to flourish.  Without money, consumers must barter their goods, hoping to exchange their products for those produced by others, and relying on a double coincidence of wants.  Money enables man to rise above barter and makes exchange less burdensome.  Once money comes into existence, businessmen can calculate profit and loss, homemakers can compare prices among different grocery stores, and individuals can begin to save and invest.

August 2011
  • August 1,2011Statement on the Budget Control Act

    Rather than raising the debt limit, Congress should recognize the federal government has reached debt saturation and therefore stop incurring new debt!   Federal revenues for 2012 likely will amount to about $2.2 trillion, an amount roughly equal to the 2004 federal budget.  To balance the 2012 budget, Congress simply needs to adopt 2004 spending levels.  Was the federal government really too small just 8 years ago?

  • August 1,2011Statement on the Entrepreneurship Tax Cut Act of 2011

    Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the Entrepreneurship Tax Cut Act of 2011. This bill allows Americans to make penalty-free withdrawals from accounts such as Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) or 401(k)s in order to start, or invest in, new businesses.  People who make these penalty-free withdrawals will be able to replenish their accounts. 

July 2011
  • July 29,2011Statement on H. R. 440, To provide for the establishment of the Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia.

    Mr. Speaker: I rise to oppose yet another of our misguided foreign policy initiatives. Of course none of us favors religious persecution, here or abroad, but how would we feel if Iran, Israel, Afghanistan, or Iraq – all targeted by this bill -- sent a government representative here to dictate what our government policies toward religious minorities should be? In many parts of the world certain religious institutions are financed by the state. How would we feel if foreign governments demanded that we abide by such practices? In short, it is arrogant and counterproductive to attempt to impose our values – which we sadly do not always live up to – onto nations overseas. I certainly believe that people should have the right to worship as they wish without government interference, but it would be far better for us to lead the rest of the world by example than by the implied force of a “special envoy.”

  • July 28,2011Statement on the Budget Control Act

    This evening Congress is asked to vote for a bill that claims to reduce spending in the future, thereby accepting the fiction that legislation passed today somehow can control Congress in the future. The fate of legislation like Gramm-Rudman-Hollings in 1985 and the 1997 Balanced Budget Act prove the fallacy that laws passed today somehow will restrain congressional spending in the future.

  • July 26,2011Statement on Impact of Monetary Policy on the Economy

    Today's hearing is the second in a series of hearings examining the relationship between Federal Reserve policy and the performance of the United States economy. Today we are receiving testimony from the Federal Reserve banks.  Of the half-dozen Reserve banks we contacted, only President Hoenig was willing to testify in front of this subcommittee, and we welcome him here today. 

  • July 19,2011Statement on the Cut, Cap and Balance Act

    Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak against HR 2560, the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act.  This bill only serves to sanction the status quo by putting forth a $1 trillion budget deficit and authorizing a $2.4 trillion increase in the debt limit. When I say this bill sanctions the status quo, I mean it quite literally.  First, it purports to eventually balance the budget without cutting military spending, Social Security, or Medicare.  This is impossible.  These three budget items already cost nearly $1 trillion apiece annually.  This means we can cut every other area of federal spending to zero and still have a $3 trillion budget.  Since annual federal tax revenues almost certainly will not exceed $2.5 trillion for several years, this Act cannot balance the budget under any plausible scenario.

  • July 13,2011Statement for Humphrey Hawkins Hearing

     Mr. Chairman, an aphorism in common use today states that the definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  I cannot think of a better way to describe the Federal Reserve's conduct of monetary policy over the last three years.  Business cycles are caused by monetary expansion, and the bust phase of the cycle is the natural consequence of malinvestment caused by the Fed's creation of easy credit.  Each time this country falls into recession, the Federal Reserve has resorted to further monetary expansion in order to pull the country out of its economic malaise.  This monetary policy always results in a new and bigger boom, followed by an even bigger bust.  Now we find ourselves in the midst of the mother of all business cycles.  We have seen the monetary base explode with trillions of dollars of newly created money, with Wall Street fat cats receiving bailout after bailout, while ordinary Americans increasingly find their standard of living decreasing.

  • July 7,2011Statement Introducing the American Traveler Dignity Act of 2011

    Mr. Speaker, today I introduce legislation to protect Americans from physical and emotional abuse by federal Transportation Security Administration employees conducting screenings at the nation's airports. Year after year the TSA seems more belligerent toward Americans simply seeking to travel within their own country – a most basic of our fundamental rights -- and sadly Americans are just expected to shut up and take it. We should not have to shut up and take it!

  • July 6,2011Statement on H.R. 515, the Belarus Democracy Reauthorization Act of 2011

    Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the “Belarus Democracy Act” reauthorization. This title of this bill would have amused George Orwell, as it is in fact a US regime-change bill. Where does the United States Congress derive the moral or legal authority to determine which political parties or organizations in Belarus -- or anywhere else -- are to be US-funded and which are to be destabilized? How can anyone argue that US support for regime-change in Belarus is somehow “promoting democracy”? We pick the parties who are to be supported and funded and somehow this is supposed to reflect the will of the Belarusian people? How would Americans feel if the tables were turned and a powerful foreign country demanded that only a political party it selected and funded could legitimately reflect the will of the American people?

  • July 6,2011Statement on H Res 268, Reaffirming the United States commitment to a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations

    Mr. Speaker I rise in opposition to this resolution. While I certainly share the hope for peace in the Middle East and a solution to the ongoing conflict, I do not believe that peace will result if we continue to do the same things while hoping for different results.  The US has been involved in this process for decades, spending billions of dollars we do not have, yet we never seem to get much closer to a solution. I believe the best solution is to embrace non-interventionism, which allows those most directly involved to solve their own problems.

  • July 6,2011Statement on HR 515, the Belarus Democracy Reauthorization Act of 2011

     Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the "Belarus Democracy Act" reauthorization. This title of this bill would have amused George Orwell, as it is in fact a US regime-change bill. Where does the United States Congress derive the moral or legal authority to determine which political parties or organizations in Belarus -- or anywhere else -- are to be US-funded and which are to be destabilized? How can anyone argue that US support for regime-change in Belarus is somehow "promoting democracy"? We pick the parties who are to be supported and funded and somehow this is supposed to reflect the will of the Belarusian people? How would Americans feel if the tables were turned and a powerful foreign country demanded that only a political party it selected and funded could legitimately reflect the will of the American people?

  • July 6,2011Statement on H Res 268, Reaffirming the United States commitment to a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through direct Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations.

     Mr. Speaker I rise in opposition to this resolution. While I certainly share the hope for peace in the Middle East and a solution to the ongoing conflict, I do not believe that peace will result if we continue to do the same things while hoping for different results.  The US has been involved in this process for decades, spending billions of dollars we do not have, yet we never seem to get much closer to a solution. I believe the best solution is to embrace non-interventionism, which allows those most directly involved to solve their own problems.

June 2011
  • June 24,2011Statement on HR 2278

    Statement on HR 2278, a bill to limit the use of funds appropriated to the Department of Defense for United States Armed Forces in support of North Atlantic Treaty Organization Operation Unified Protector with respect to Libya, unless otherwise specifically authorized by law. Mr. Speaker I rise to oppose this legislation, which masquerades as a limitation of funds for the president's war on Libya but is in fact an authorization for that very war. According to HR 2278, the US military cannot be involved in NATO's actions in Libya, with four important exceptions. If this passes, for the first time the president would be authorized to use US Armed Forces to engage in search and rescue; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; aerial refueling; and operational planning against Libya. Currently, absent an authorization or declaration of war, these activities are illegal. So instead of ending the war against Libya, this bill would legalize nearly everything the president is currently doing there.

  • June 24,2011Hearing on the Gold Reserve Transparency Act, Opening Statement

     For far too long, the United States government has been less than transparent in releasing information relating to its gold holdings.  Not surprisingly, this secrecy has given rise to a number of theories about the gold at Fort Knox and other depositories.  Some people speculate that the gold has been involved in gold swaps with foreign governments or bullion banks, others believe that the gold has secretly been shipped out of Fort Knox and sold, and still others believe that the bars at Fort Knox are actually gold-plated tungsten.  Historically, the Treasury and Mint have dismissed these theories, rather than addressing these concerns with substantive rebuttals.  No one from Congress has been allowed to view the gold at Fort Knox in nearly 40 years, recent photographs of the gold holdings seem to be hard to come by, and the Mint's and Inspector General's audit statements contain only the bare minimum of information.  

  • June 2,2011Statement on Hearing on Federal Reserve Lending Disclosure: FOIA, Dodd-Frank, and the Data Dump

    Today's hearing deals with one of the most pressing issues this subcommittee will face during this Congress, the issue of Federal Reserve transparency. While the Federal Reserve is still far less transparent than it should be, recent disclosures of the Federal Reserve’s lending programs have greatly increased our knowledge of the Fed's monetary policy during the height of the financial crisis.

  • June 2,2011Statement Introducing Health Freedom Legislation

    Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce two pieces of legislation restoring the First Amendment rights of consumers to receive truthful information regarding the benefits of foods and dietary supplements. The first bill, the Health Freedom Restoration Act, codifies the First Amendment by ending the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s efforts to censor truthful health claims. The second bill, the Freedom of Health Speech Act, codifies the First and Fifth Amendment by requiring the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) to prove that health claims are false before it takes action to stop manufactures and marketers from making the claims.

May 2011
  • May 26,2011The Last Nail

          The last nail is being driven into the coffin of the American Republic.  Yet, Congress remains in total denial as our liberties are rapidly fading before our eyes.       The process is propelled by unwarranted fear and ignorance as to the true meaning of liberty.  It is driven by economic myths, fallacies and irrational good intentions.       The rule of law is constantly rejected and authoritarian answers are offered as panaceas for all our problems.

  • May 11,2011Statement Introducing Unpasteurized Milk Bill, HR 1830

    Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce legislation that allows the shipment and distribution of unpasteurized milk and milk products for human consumption across state lines. This legislation removes an unconstitutional restraint on farmers who wish to sell or otherwise distribute, and people who wish to consume, unpasteurized milk and milk products. 

  • May 11,2011Statement Introducing the Industrial Hemp Farming Act, HR 1831

    Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the Industrial Hemp Farming Act. The Industrial Hemp Farming Act requires the federal government to respect state laws allowing the growing of industrial hemp. Nine States--Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont, and West Virginia--allow industrial hemp production or research in accord with state laws. However, federal law is standing in the way of farmers in these states growing what may be a very profitable crop. Because of current federal law, all hemp included in products sold in the United States must be imported instead of being grown by American farmers.

  • May 11,2011Opening Statement on Hearing on Monetary Policy and the Debt Ceiling

              I am very pleased to hold this hearing today. For far too long, monetary policy and fiscal policy have been viewed as completely separate issues.  Congress controls fiscal policy, the Federal Reserve controls monetary policy, and never the twain shall meet.             The truth, however, is that fiscal and monetary policy have always been tightly intertwined.  In fact, the Federal Reserve has served as the enabler of bad economic policy for many decades.  Without the Fed's relentless expansion of the money supply during both the Greenspan and Bernanke eras, the U.S. Treasury never would have been able to issue the staggering sums of debt that now threaten our economic well being.  This Treasury debt is the very lifeblood of deficit spending, permitting one Congress after another to spend far more than the Treasury collects in taxes. It is precisely this unholy alliance between the enabling Fed and a spendthrift Congress that I hope our witnesses will address today.  

  • May 4,2011Text of Floor Speech on bin Laden

    Osama bin Laden applauded the 9/11 attacks. Such an act of deliberate killing of innocent lives deserves retaliation. It is good that bin Laden is dead and justice is served. Targeted retribution is far superior to wars of aggression and nation-building. In 2001 I supported giving the president the authority to pursue those responsible for the vicious 9/11 attacks. Using this authority as an opportunity to pursue nation-building and remaking the Middle East was cynical and dangerous, as the past ten years have proven.

  • May 3,2011Statement on Hemp History Week

    May 3, 2011 Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak about Hemp History Week.  To celebrate the American heritage of growing industrial hemp, the Hemp Industries Association, Vote Hemp, American manufacturers, and allied companies and organizations have declared May 2 to May 8, 2011 to be Hemp History Week.  Throughout the week, people will recognize America's legacy of industrial hemp farming and call for reinstating respect for farmers' basic right to grow industrial hemp.

March 2011
  • March 31,2011Statement on Libya- Defining U.S. National Security Interests

    Foreign Affairs Committee, US House of Representatives31 March 2011 Rep. Ron Paul, M.D. Madame Chairman: The American people have once again been suckered into an unconstitutional, undeclared, illegal, and unwise war. This is not a war in response to an attack on the United States. This is not a war against a regime that has threatened the United States. This is a preventative war. The president never claimed that any large-scale slaughter of civilians was taking place in Libya. Rather, the president has spent close to a billion dollars -- so far -- bombing a country because its government might at some point harm its civilians.

  • March 17,2011Introducing Sense of Congress Resolution on Intervention in Libya

    Mr. Speaker: I rise to introduce a resolution expressing the sense of the Congress that the President is required to obtain in advance specific statutory authorization for the use of United States Armed Forces in response to civil unrest in Libya. As many in the administration, Congress, and elsewhere clamor for the president to initiate military action to support those seeking to overthrow the Libyan regime, Congress sits by, as usual, pretending that Article I, Section 8 of the US Constitution does not exist. According to this long-ignored section, ‘‘The Congress shall have Power To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water.”

  • March 2,2011Humphrey Hawkins Statement

    Every day we hear stories about rising prices.  Whether it be food, gasoline, or clothing, the cost of living is going up, and not just for Americans, but for people around the globe.  The Federal Reserve's program of quantitative easing has taken some of the blame for this, and rightly so in my opinion.  This program, known as QE2, sought to purchase a total of $900 billion in US Treasury debt over a period of 8 months.  Roughly $110 billion of newly created money is flooding into markets each month, markets which are still gun-shy after the events of the last few years.  Banks still hold underperforming mortgage-backed securities on their books, and are hesitant to loan out further money, holding well over a trillion dollars on reserve with the Fed.  Is it any wonder, then, that this new hot money is flowing into commodities around the world? 

February 2011
  • February 10,2011“Can Monetary Policy Really Create Jobs?”

    Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy “Can Monetary Policy Really Create Jobs?” Hearing Date: February 9, 2011   Chairman Ron Paul Statement for the Record   For the past three decades, the Federal Reserve has been tasked with a dual mandate: keeping prices stable and maximizing employment.  Influenced by Keynesian economics and the supposed tradeoff between inflation and unemployment, the dual mandate relies on the idea that a handful of experts can successfully steer the American economy and create economic growth.  This has forced upon us an interventionist monetary policy that believes that creation of money out of thin air is the cure for all that ails us.

January 2011
  • January 20,2011Perpetual War is Expensive

    We’ve been militarily involved in the Persian Gulf region now for 20 years.  Experts have predicted that the cost of this continuous and expanding war will reach 6 trillion dollars.      The hostilities and our overt involvement in Iraq can be dated back to January 16, 1991, when the defensive Operation Desert Shield became the offensive Operation Desert Storm.  Though the end of the Persian Gulf War was declared on April 6, 1991 with a U.S. military victory, the 20 year war was just beginning.

  • January 20,2011On Renewed Interest in the Constitution

    Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the Constitution has received a lot of attention in recent weeks, thanks to the tea party movement. It goes without saying that Members of Congress should have read the Constitution many times, and we should continue to study it.

December 2010
  • December 17,2010Statement on tax compromise legislation

    I recently voted again in favor of HR 4853, the Middle Class Tax Relief Act, legislation which ensures the continuation of the Bush-era tax cuts, fixes the AMT patch, and significantly reduces the burden of the estate tax in 2011. If no action had been taken by this Congress, all Americans would have had to pay higher income, dividend, estate, and capital gains taxes beginning on January 1, 2011. I will always vote to lower taxes at all levels, and I will never vote for tax increases.

  • December 9,2010Lying is Not Patriotic

    WikiLeaks’ release of classified information has generated a lot of attention world-wide in the past few weeks.

  • December 9,2010Statement on H Res 1717, to Congratulate Chinese Democracy Advocate Liu Xiaobo on Nobel Peace Prize

    8 December 2010: Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this resolution as I do not believe it is our place, as Members of the US Congress, to dictate internal policy to the Chinese government. Obviously, as an advocate of minimal government and personal liberty, I do not support imprisoning individuals for their political views and believe that anyone held anywhere for merely holding unpopular views – including anyone held in the United States – should be released. I do object to the meddling in this bill which falsely advertises itself as a non-controversial expression of congratulations to a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

  • December 2,2010Statement on HR 4853, the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2010

    December 2, 2010 Today I voted for HR 4853, legislation which ensures the continuation of many of the Bush tax cuts. If no action had been taken by this Congress, all Americans would have had to pay higher income, dividend, and capital gains taxes beginning on January 1, 2011. While I would have preferred that the current lower tax rates remain in place for all Americans, the fact is that a tax cut for most people is better than a tax increase on everyone. I will always vote to lower taxes at all levels, and I will never vote for tax increases. The passage of this bill will result in the overwhelming majority of Americans paying lower taxes next year than they otherwise would have. 

  • December 2,2010Statement Opposing H.Res. 1735, Condemning North Korea

    Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this saber-rattling resolution that unnecessarily escalates tensions between North and South Korea and may in fact put US troops stationed in the area at risk.

November 2010
  • November 17,2010Introducing the American Traveler Dignity Act

    Mr. Speaker, today I introduce legislation to protect Americans from physical and emotional abuse by federal Transportation Security Administration employees conducting screenings at the nation’s airports. We have seen the videos of terrified children being grabbed and probed by airport screeners. We have read the stories of Americans being subjected to humiliating body imaging machines and/or forced to have the most intimate parts of their bodies poked and fondled. We do not know the potentially harmful effects of the radiation emitted by the new millimeter wave machines.

September 2010
  • September 30,2010Statement on HR 2378, the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act

    The imbalances in international trade, and in particular trade between China and the United States, have prompted many to demand a realignment of the Chinese yuan and the American dollar. Since we are running a huge trade deficit with China the call now is for a stronger yuan and a weaker dollar. This trade imbalance problem will not be solved so easily.

July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 September 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008
  • June 20,2008Statement on FISA

    Statement on HR 6304, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments 20 June 2008 Rep. Ron Paul, M.D. Madam Speaker, I regret

May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 September 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005
  • December 7,2005The Blame Game

    HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS BEFORE THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES December 7, 2005  The Blame Game Our country faces major problems.  No l

November 2005 October 2005
  • October 26,2005We Have Been Warned

    HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS BEFORE THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES October 26, 2005  We Have Been Warned We have been warned.  Prepare for

  • October 7,2005Staying or Leaving

    HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS BEFORE THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES October 7, 2005  Staying or Leaving Supporters of the war in Iraq, as we

September 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004
  • April 22,2004The Lessons of 9/11

    HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS BEFORE THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 22, 2004 The Lessons of 9/11 We are constantly admonished to remember the lesso

March 2004 February 2004 December 2003
  • December 8,2003Whose Peace?

    HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS BEFORE THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES December 8, 2003 Whose Peace? Much has been written lately about several attempts t

November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 January 2002 December 2001 November 2001 October 2001 September 2001 August 2001 July 2001 June 2001 May 2001 April 2001 March 2001 February 2001 January 2001 December 2000
  • December 4,2000Economic Update

    December 4, 2000 ECONOMIC UPDATE ------------ Statement of HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS [Page: H 11939] Mr. Speaker, more and more peop

November 2000 October 2000 September 2000 July 2000 June 2000 May 2000 April 2000 March 2000 February 2000 January 2000


 
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