Saturday, July 24, 2004
Session
9 – Reports from
Kent Snyder is the Executive Director of the Liberty Committee, the
Congressional Caucus founded by Congressman Ron Paul.
Mr. Snyder discussed pending legislation which affects the Constitution
and therefore, the principles of freedom.
Mr.
Snyder had a simple message: “You
are making a difference. Networking
between groups is working.”
Current
examples:
Remember
the $87M that was appropriated for our troops fighting in
“Never
let disappointment turn into surrender.” “A
true conservative Republican votes ‘NO’ on every spending/appropriation bill
because it’s all pork.”
Michael
Shaw and Brent Duncan led the conference attendees through a detailed
organizational process that can be used by any organization in any community to
make your organization more effective in advancing the principles of freedom in
public policy.
“How
to advance freedom in your community? Set
up a plan, write a vision statement, set goals.”
“When you fail to plan, you end up reacting and being overwhelmed.
The opposition has been
planning for decades.”
a. Communicating – internet, events, letters to the editor, talk on the radio, get
people together, read “Guerrilla Marketing”
b.
Networking
c.
Research
(tools to prove the truth)
d.
Documenting
Kathy
Benedetto, a staff member of the House Resource Committee working with the
Energy and Minerals Subcommittee, spoke on issues facing the House Resource
Committee.
Ms.
Benedetto reported that 800 million tons of coal was used in the
She
mentioned the Klamath Bucket Brigade in connection with the House Resource
Committee Field Hearing on the Endangered Species Act, which was held in Klamath
Falls July 17th; and brought up the fact that the House Resource
Committee had ‘marked up’ and sent to the floor of the House HR 2993
(Critical Habitat) and HR 1662 (Peer review/Sound science) for votes.
She
went on to speak about new Wilderness land designations that are under review by
the BLM. These designations in the
BLM Wilderness Study are in limbo (some 8 million acres out of 15 million total)
because they don’t meet the criteria of real wilderness and their designation
in the study is causing great hardship on the private landowners around them.
These lands need to be reviewed so they can be released from the study.
Congressman
Richard Pombo, Chairman of the House Resource Committee would like to see a new
Wilderness Bill that contain the following, which the present 40-year old Act
doesn’t:
“The
local people and elected officials need to be fully informed to protect private
property rights.”
Presidential
Candidates:
Michael Peroutka, Constitution Party Presidential Candidate
“Don’t
waste your vote on those who have turned their backs on the Constitution.”
“Defend the family, restore the Republic.”
“What
is the purpose of government?” “Protect
and defend our God-given rights.”
“What
are not the jobs of government? Not
to educate our children, not to take care of the environment, not to protect the
poor, and not to confiscate land.”
“Our
government is ignoring the law of this land and they violate their oath before
they ever take their oath.”
Peroutka
pledges the following if elected: “Honor
God as the source of our government. There
will be no federal lands because there is no authority for the government to own
land, and cut off all funding to the United Nations, Sustainable Development,
Smart Growth, and Agenda 21.”
“Elected
office holders have to uphold their oaths. It’s
our responsibility to hold their feet to the fire to make them uphold their
oaths.”
Michael
Peroutka Website
Michael Badnarik, Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate
“Our
platform supports the Constitution, freedom, and private property rights.”
“Anytime
the government goes beyond that, it is treason.”
“20,000 gun laws aren’t keeping you safe.”
“Law enforcement is not there to protect your life, they’re there to
investigate crimes. Protect and
Serve, what a joke. Law enforcement
forces you to become a victim.”
“You’re
working 4 to 5 months a year just to pay your taxes; that makes you a slave.”
“Protecting
our liberty; we need to make our own decisions.
Why are we allowing the government to treat us like children?”
“Protecting
our property; property is an idea that crosses all boundaries.
Food, housing – those things that are essential to survival.”
“The
government is acting like a 2-year-old. In
their minds, everything is ‘MINE’.” “They
want to protect our property by taking our property.”
“They’re
‘supposed’ to work for us, but they are usurping their authority and we all
know that we really work for them.”
“Throw
the bums out!”
Michael
Badnarik Website
California
Congressman Richard Pombo attended and spoke as President George Bush’s
representative.
(California Congressman Pombo with Helen Chenoweth-Hage)
I
took very few notes during the first part of Congressman Pombo’s speech
because I was overwhelmed by my encounter with him before he took the podium.
He was standing out in the hallway with one of his staff members and I
went up to him, re-introduced myself to him ( we’d met in 2002 in
Congressman
Pombo was at the conference to stump for Bush’s re-election and he stated that
Bush is the right man, at the right time, doing the right job and we must
re-elect him even though he was the last Republican member of Congress to
indorse Bush during his first run for the presidency.
“It
is the duty of every American to know the parties and understand what they stand
for.” “The President can really
do very little on his own.”
The
Senate didn’t do anything when he first went to
“If
it wasn’t about private property rights and the Endangered Species Act, I
never would have left the ranch.” “If
it takes implemental change, then that’s what we’re going to do.”
“[The]
first 10 Amendments are our protection against government and none of them are
more important then another.” He
was asked by a reporter one time why he was so passionate about the 5th
Amendment. He answered, “I’m as
passionate about the 5th for the same reason you are so passionate
about the first 1st Amendment.”
It shut the reporter up!
What
is this upcoming election all about? “9/11”
On that day, he was showing a relative the Capital Building and they were
outside on the top of the dome and noticed people streaming out of the building
and running away. Then the plane hit
the Pentagon and he saw the explosion. “The
number 1 target of our enemies is the Capital and I’m proud to go to work
there every day.”
“We
can’t afford to have a John Kerry in the White House at this time.”.
Final
Banquet – Saturday Night
The main
speaker at the Saturday night final banquet was C.J. Hadley, editor and
publisher of Range Magazine. She is
an outstanding speaker, known for her straightforward, tell-it-like-it-is style.
I
took no notes at the Banquet; I was there to enjoy myself and to say good-bye
until the next conference to all the great people I’d met the past 4 days.
And
did I enjoy myself! C.J. had me
laughing, crying and clapping. Some
of what she said made me mad when she told us about some of the stories Range
had covered on government abuse of western resource providers.
C.J.
told about her upbringing in England, her schooling, first jobs (catching rats
in the basement of a pub – first introduction to wildlife & spreading
sawdust on the main pub floor – first introduction to the timber industry),
and why she was shipped off to Canada by her parents before she was sixteen
years old. She told about being a
“wetback” and entering the
C.J.
had worked at many professions besides publishing (and had even lived and worked
in Australia for a time) before ending up in Nevada and turning a Nevada
rancher’s brochure into what is now Range Magazine.
Her
mostly off-the-cuff speech was filled with British witticisms and slang, which
brought lots of laughs from her audience. I
wouldn’t have missed it for the world!
G.B.
Oliver, III of the Paragon Foundation was the master of ceremonies for the
banquet. After C.J.’s speech, he
explained to us what a Paladin Knight was in olden days.
Remember the old “Have Gun, Will Travel” television show?
Paladin, the main character of the program, would be hired for example,
by the huge landowner to run off squatters and by the end of the program;
Paladin would have joined forces with the squatters and helped them defeat the
landowner.
G.B.
told us there are many modern-day ‘Paladin Knights’ fighting for our private
property rights today. He held up a
2 ½ foot tall, solid silver Knight figurine (like from a chess set) and
announced that the first Paladin Knight that the Paragon Foundation wanted to
honor was C.J. Hadley! First words
out of C.J.’s mouth were “You bloody bastard!” and then she lost all her
composure. During her acceptance
speech, she asked how much she’d get if she melted it down as she tried to
hold the heavy thing in one arm. The award was designed and crafted by Wes Smith, a
G.B.
Oliver, III also gave her a check for $10,000 from the Paragon Foundation to
keep Range Magazine going. (She said
earlier that the magazine was $800,000 in debt.)
What
a way to end the conference!
Jay
Walley at the conference
To
learn more about Freedom 21:
Barbara
Hall
The
Klamath Bucket Brigade, Inc.
(Some
photos from Barb Hall; some from the Freedom 21 website 2004
Conference Speakers)
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