In his farewell
speech, Republican Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn left his fellow United States
Senators with a solemn tear-filled warning that the continued existence of
America as a republic is in grave danger.
(One News Now) – Alluding to President Barack
Obama’s persistent trend of avoiding the system of checks and balances via
executive orders and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) fairly recent
act of “tyranny” by deciding other senators’ rights, Coburn alerted dozens of
his colleagues in the Senate that America’s failure to stick to the
Constitution and the founding father’s intent will only result in the U.S.
repeating history by becoming just another failed republic.
Despite the bleak warning, Coburn said that
there is still hope for America, but that it must radically change its
doomed course of turning its back on the very documents that birthed America
hundreds of years ago — the U.S. Constitution.
“Can we
cheat history?” Coburn asked colleagues at the nation’s capital. “Can we do
something better than has been done in the past?”
Coburn answered his own question by saying its
possible, but not if America’s leaders continue to rewrite the documents and
ignore the intent behind them.
“I honestly believe we can,” Coburn insisted.
“But I don’t believe we can if we continue to ignore the wisdom of our founding
documents.”
Senators beware
In his speech, Coburn reminded his fellow
senators with a stiff warning that many have turned their back on the primary
duty they vowed to uphold when sworn into office — to protect and defend the
U.S. Constitution — noting how they instead concentrated on ways of allocating
federal funds to their home states. Coburn went on to argue that bringing back
“pork” to one’s own district has nothing to do with the oaths that congressmen
recite to uphold before taking office.
“Your state is not mentioned one time in that
oath,” Coburn asserted. “Your whole goal is to protect the Constitution and its
liberties. Its not to provide benefits for your state. That’s where we differ.
That’s where the conflict with my colleagues has come.”
After exhorting his colleagues to be about
their country’s business and not their own, Coburn extended his apologies for
offending a number of his fellow senators at different times in his career.
Razing Reid
But Coburn’s remorse over his insensitivities
in the past had no bearing on his conviction to indirectly blast Harry Reid —
his nemesis on virtually every major partisan issue.
“Every senator has the power to introduce
legislation, and until recently, offer amendments,” Coburn said, alluding to
Reid. “No single senator should be able to decide what the rights of another
senator should be.”
Coburn didn’t hold back when letting his
fellow senators know exactly what he felt Reid was guilty of. “That’s tyranny,”
Coburn proclaimed. “It has nothing to do with the history … of the Senate.”
One particular practice to which Coburn was
alluding is the questionable procedure Reid was found practicing — often dubbed
“filling the tree” — where the Senate Majority Leader manipulated which
amendments would be made available by which senators.
Another problematic procedure to which Coburn
referred was when Reid bypassed the standard Senate rule that makes it
mandatory for 60 senators to approve the President’s nominees. Reid gave to
go-ahead to one of Obama’s nominees who only 51 senators approved.
A final word of hope
Rarely being one to cave in to any proposals
that increase spending, Coburn forged a reputation as one who always opposed
legislation that wastefully used taxpayer funds — often blocking popular bills
and opposing big-government programs. His stalwart resistance to such agendas earned
himself the nickname “Dr. No,” which sums up his 20-year history in Congress.
Coburn insists that the wrong direction in
which Congress is currently going can be righted if his colleagues take a
much-needed change of course.
“I tell people everywhere I go … we do not
have one problem we cannot solve,” stressed Coburn, who announced his
retirement earlier this year so he could apportion more time to his family “as
a citizen.”
“There is nothing too big for us,” he
concluded. “They’re all solvable.”
Source:http://www.teaparty.org/sen-coburns-farewell-warning-america-republic-grave-danger-72525/
Comments
We are losing Constitutionalists in Congress at a time when
regular voters are warming up to the idea of restoring the US Constitution as
an alternative to what we have now and where we are headed.
Last year we lost Constitutionalist Ron Paul, retired from his
Congressional seat in Texas, but remains active in Campaign for Liberty. Also retired is South Carolina Senator Jim
DeMint, who remains active with Heritage.
This year Paul Broun retired from his Congressional seat in
Georgia, along with Oklahoma Senator
Tom Coburn. Let’s hope that they remain active.
All of the above maintained very high
legislative scores in Heritage Action, New American Freedom Index, the Club for
Growth and Numbers USA. Even with these retirements, we have more
Constitutionalists being elected that we’ve ever had.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody Ga Tea Party
Leader
No comments:
Post a Comment