PA Bill Number: SB1198
Title: In plants and plant products, providing for plant and pollinator protection; conferring powers and duties on the Department of Agriculture and ...
Description: In plants and plant products, providing for plant and pollinator protection; conferring powers and duties on the Department of Agriculture and .. ...
Last Action: Referred to AGRICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Last Action Date: May 17, 2024
Paul: 2nd amendment not only one that matters :: 06/10/2016
Conservatives have always been loud and resounding voices on the issue of defending the Second Amendment. However, oftentimes, it seems that our representatives in government, Republicans and Democrats alike, lack that same aggressive defense of the rest of the liberties and freedoms granted to us by the Constitution.
A few weeks ago, I took the stage at the National Rifle Association’s Annual Meeting in Louisville to address a crowd of liberty-loving, pro-gun Kentuckians, eager to hear how their elected officials are working to defend their right to bear arms.
It was there in the fittingly named Freedom Hall that I reminded my fellow Kentuckians and Americans that the freedoms to which we’re entitled by the Constitution, including the freedom to defend ourselves and our families, can only be properly defended if we defend the rest of the Bill of Rights as well.
The entire Bill of Rights should be as vigorously defended as the right to bear arms, because you cannot defend the Second Amendment if you don’t defend the First. If we diminish one iota the right to free speech, we risk not being able to defend our right to bear arms. If we diminish one iota the right to be free from unreasonable search, we risk our right to bear arms. If we allow the government to enter our homes, search our records or phone data without a warrant, we risk undermining not just our Second Amendment right, but the entire Bill of Rights.
I won't let that happen.
In the Senate, my defense of the Constitution and the entire Bill of Rights has been an absolute priority, because in our commonwealth, Kentuckians value all of their liberties.
One of my favorite parts of representing Kentucky is having the opportunity to travel to each and every corner of the state to hear the concerns of each community and find ways to translate those concerns into actions with tangible results.
No matter who I meet – the small business owner, coal miner, hunter, farmer, student – the message is always the same: Get the federal government out of the way and tell the federal government to leave us alone!
I couldn’t agree more. In 2012 when Kentucky was trying to legalize industrial hemp, one of the main arguments I invoked as a leading voice in support of this innovative and job-creating initiative, was the defense of the Ninth and Tenth Amendments. I could not just stand idly by while the federal government tried to prevent economic growth in Kentucky.
The Tenth Amendment declares that the only powers the Federal Government may exercise are those that have been delegated to it in the Constitution. Furthermore, the Ninth Amendment guarantees to the people all rights not enumerated in the Constitution, and reserves to the people those rights.
Most people forget about the Ninth Amendment, but the Ninth Amendment was one of the most important parts of the Bill of Rights. In fact, the Bill of Rights would have never passed without the Ninth Amendment because many of the critics thought that listing certain rights and not all rights would lead people to think it’s a complete listing. So they said, we need to make sure they know this is just the beginning. Just because those rights are not listed it doesn’t mean they do not exist, because your rights come from your Creator and they are unlimited.
Few and limited are the powers given to the government. But it is the opposite with your rights. Your rights are many and infinite. As such, your privacy isn’t a privilege. It is a right. The government has no businesses meddling in the lives and records of law-abiding citizens.
I will stand for as long as it takes to keep the government out of our private lives. I will stand for as long as it takes to protect each and every American's right to be left alone, because our right to privacy should never be sacrificed.
I reject the premise that our Constitution does not work as it is written and that we must choose between having the Bill of Rights and national security. Our nation did not become the most powerful nation in the world because we abandoned our Second and Fourth Amendment rights when outside forces threatened us in ways even more menacing than we now face.
If the government has probable cause that an individual is a criminal or suspected terrorist, then they must first go to a judge and obtain a warrant as required by the Fourth Amendment. Yet, those who crave power over American citizens tell us bulk collection of data from law-abiding citizens is necessary to keep us safe, while effectively admitting their spying schemes don’t even work. We need to collect more records from terrorists, and fewer records from innocent Americans. It’s time for conservatives to push for a national security approach that focuses on our common enemy, rather than on the rights and liberties of the American people.
In addition to defending your privacy, I have advocated for defending your property and right to due process under the law. I recently re-introduced the bipartisan and bicameral Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration (FAIR) Act because the federal government has no business seizing and profiting off of the property of Kentuckians who have never been charged or convicted of a crime.
America is exceptional because we embraced freedom, because we enshrined it in our documents, because we have lived and fought for the principles of freedom. We have a Bill of Rights and we have a Constitution. We must defend them without exception.
When you elected me as Kentucky’s voice and representation in the Senate, I promised to do just that, and I have defended your liberties, freedoms, and right to be left alone – without exception.
In our ever-changing world, there is one thing you can depend on: This is a fight I will never give up. I will continue defending the commonwealth of Kentucky, no matter what, because your freedoms are precious and theyd eserve to be protected.
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul is a Kentucky Republican.
