Ron Paul wants to kill indefinite detention provision of the NDAA

Saturday, January 21, 2012 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: Ron Paul, NDAA, indefinite detention

(NaturalNews) You may not agree with him on every foreign and domestic policy point, but you can't deny the fact that Congressman Ron Paul from Texas is the most consistent, literal interpreter of the U.S. Constitution in the current race for the Republican presidential nomination. In fact, it can be truthfully said he's the most ardent constitutionalist running in either party.

So it comes as no surprise that Paul is on the bandwagon in Congress to kill one of the most unconstitutional measures to ever come out of the national legislature in its two-and-a-half centuries of existence: Section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act, which permits the indefinite detention of American citizens only suspected supporting terrorism. In fact, not only did Paul jump on the bandwagon, he brought it with him; he left the arduous campaign trail in the days before the South Carolina primary to address this travesty on the House floor.

Introducing what is described as "a very simple piece of legislation," Paul said his bill would "repeal the infamous Section 1021" of the NDAA, which he said "codifies into law the very dubious claim of presidential authority under" a 2001 authorization of force to combat terrorism around the world "to indefinitely detail American citizens without access to legal representation or due process of law."

Continuing, Paul said the provision "provides for the possibility of the U.S. military acting as a kind of police force on U.S. soil, apprehending terror suspects, including Americans, and whisking them off to an undisclosed location indefinitely."

He said of the provision, "This is precisely the kind of egregious distortion of justice that Americans have always ridiculed in so many dictatorships overseas. ... Is this really the kind of United States we want to create in the name of fighting terrorism?"

Paul also chastised fellow lawmakers for agreeing to the measure. "Sadly, too many of my colleagues are too willing to undermine our constitution to support such outrageous legislation. One senator even said, about American citizens being picked up under this section of the NDAA, 'When they say 'I want my lawyer,' you tell them, 'Shut up. You don't get a lawyer.'"

The senator Paul did not mention by name is Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who has compared the global war on terror to World War II, adding he believes suspected enemies should lose all constitutional protections.

"If you're an American citizen, and you want to help al Qaeda kill Americans and destroy your own country, here's what's coming your way ... We're at war, and the authorization to use military force passed by the Congress, right after the (9/11) attacks against this nation, designates al Qaeda as a military threat, not a common criminal threat, so we apply the law of war," Lindsey said on the Senate floor in December.

Paul has been a vocal critic not of legitimately protecting U.S. interests, but he maintains the war on terror is killing our individual liberties.

"Little by little, in the name of fighting terrorism, our Bill of Rights is being repealed," he said in his Dec. 26 Weekly Update. "The Fourth Amendment has been rendered toothless by the Patriot Act. No more can we truly feel secure in our persons, houses, papers and effects, when now there is an exception that fits nearly any excuse for our government to search and seize our property."

Sources for this article include:

https://www.naturalnews.com/034537_NDAA_Bill_of_Rights_Obama.html

http://www.prisonplanet.com/ron-paul-moves-to-kill-indefinite-detention-provision-of-ndaa.html

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/politics/2012-election/ron-paul-weekly-message-war-terror-destroying-liberty