Issue Position: Individual Liberty

Issue Position

Everywhere you turn, the federal government is overstepping its constitutional boundaries. From a $1 trillion government takeover of healthcare to the auto industry and beyond, government is intruding into our personal lives like never before. It's simply not enough to oppose the Obama/Pelosi big government agenda -- we must fight to stop it.

I am a proud member of the Congressional 10th Amendment taskforce whose mission is to disperse power from Washington and restore the constitutional balance of power through liberty-enhancing federalism. The United States Constitution is not a just set of talking points, it represents the principals of liberty and freedom that our nation was founded on -- the principals that guide every decision I make in Congress.

In addition to out of control spending and numerous other concerns, the new healthcare law is the poster child for excessive government attacks on our constitutional rights.

I worked hard to stop Obamacare before it ever became law. I was proud to introduce H.Res. 1063, a resolution challenging the Constitutionality of Obamacare. While Nancy Pelosi refused to bring my resolution up for a vote on the House floor, I gained the support from members of the Republican leadership and was able to use this resolution to force a debate in Congress over the most fundamental question of all -- is this bill even constitutional?

June 23, 2010 was the 5h anniversary of the of the U.S. Supreme Court's intrusive decision in the case of Kelo v. New London, a colossal attack on the rights of private property owners across the country.

In that decision, a divided Supreme Court ruled that the government may take people's homes and bulldoze them to make way for strip malls or other private development in order to increase tax revenue. No property owner is safe if the government decides that their land would serve a better purpose.

In direct response to this attack, I introduced H.R. 5582, the Private Property Rights Protection and Government Accountability Act.This legislation will ensure that all Americans have the tools they need to fight unjust property takings and defend their homes and small businesses.

As attacks on our freedoms from within our own government become more commonplace, we must reinforce Constitutional principles. The Federal Government today is attempting to solve every challenge, every problem and every disaster with further expansion of the federal government, passing the financial burden on to the taxpayer and our children.

Centralized power and one-size-fits-all solutions from Washington bureaucrats disregard the value of states' rights that we, in states like Oklahoma, embrace.

Source