The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker’s announced policy of January 7, 1997
and under a previous order of the House, the following Members are recognized for 5 minutes each: Mr. PAUL from Texas.
The Chair recognizes Mr. PAUL for 5 minutes.
1998 Ron Paul 35:1
Mr. PAUL.
Thank you, Madam Speaker, and I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks.
1998 Ron Paul 35:2
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, so ordered.
1998 Ron Paul 35:3
Mr. PAUL.
Madam Speaker, the
House is about to implement rule
changes that will require random drug
testing of all House Members and staff. Drug usage in this country, both legal
and illegal, is a major problem and deserves
serious attention. However, the
proposal to test randomly individuals
as a method to cut down on drug usage
is ill-advised and should not be done.
1998 Ron Paul 35:4
The real issue here is not drugs but
rather the issues of privacy, due process,
probable cause and the Fourth
Amendment. We are dealing with a constitutional
issue of the utmost importance. It raises the question of whether
or not we understand the overriding
principle of the Fourth Amendment.
1998 Ron Paul 35:5
A broader but related question is
whether or not it’s the government’s
role to mold behavior, any more than
it’s the government’s role to mold,
regulate, tax and impede voluntary
economic contractual arrangements.
1998 Ron Paul 35:6
No one advocates prior restraint to
regulate journalistic expression, even
though great harm has come over the
centuries from the promotion of authoritarian
ideas. Likewise, we do not advocate
the regulation of political expression
and religious beliefs, however bizarre
and potentially harmful they
may seem.
1998 Ron Paul 35:7
And yet we casually assume it is the role
of government to regulate personal
behavior to make one act more responsibly. A large number of us in this
Chamber do not call for the regulation
or banning of guns because someone
might use a gun in an illegal fashion. We argue that it’s the criminal that
needs regulated and refuse to call for
diminishing the freedom of law-abiding
citizens because some individual might
commit a crime with a gun.
1998 Ron Paul 35:8
Random drug testing is based on the
same assumption made by anti-gun
proponents. Unreasonable effort at
identifying the occasional and improbable
drug user should not replace respect
for our privacy. It’s not worth it.
1998 Ron Paul 35:9
While some Members are more interested
in regulating economic transactions
in order to make a fairer society,
there are others here who are more
anxious to regulate personal behavior
to make a good society. But both cling
to the failed notion that governments,
politicians and bureaucrats know what
is best for everyone. If we casually
allow our persons to be searched, why
is it less important that our conversations,
our papers and our telephones
not be monitored as well? Vital information
regarding drugs might be obtained
in this manner as well. Especially
we who champion the cause of
limited government ought not be the
promoters of the roving eye of Big
Brother.
1998 Ron Paul 35:10
If we embark on this course to check
randomly all congressional personnel
for possible drug usage, it might be
noted that the two most dangerous and
destructive drugs in this country are
alcohol and nicotine. To not include
these in the efforts to do good is inconsistent,
to say the least. Unfortunately,
the administration is now pursuing
an anti-tobacco policy that will
be even less successful than the ill-fated Federal war on drugs.
1998 Ron Paul 35:11
I have one question for my colleagues:
If we have so little respect for
our own privacy, our own liberty and
our own innocence, how can we be expected
to protect the liberties, the privacy
and the innocence of our constituents,
which we have sworn an oath to
do?
1998 Ron Paul 35:12
Those promoting these drug testing
rules are well motivated, just as are
those who promote economic welfare
legislation. Members with good intentions
attempting to solve social problems
perversely use government power
and inevitably hurt innocent people
while rarely doing anything to prevent
the anticipated destructive behavior of
a few.
1998 Ron Paul 35:13
It is said that if one has nothing to
hide, why object to testing? Because,
quite simply, we have something to
keep: our freedom, our privacy and the
Fourth Amendment. The only answer to
solving problems like this is to encourage
purely voluntary drug testing,
whereby each individual and each
Member of the House makes the information
available to those who are worried
about issues like this.
1998 Ron Paul Chapter 35
At the beginning of this chapter, the Speaker pro tempore (The Hon. Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri) begins to recognize Members for 5-minute speeches. She names Mr. PAUL and sees whether he is present and responding before recognizing him.
1998 Ron Paul 35:5 We argue that it is the criminal that needs regulated perhaps should be,
We argue that it is the criminal that needs tobe regulated.
