ALG responds to Rep. Emmer letter on fast track trade promotion authority on TPP

February 25, 2015

Feb. 25, 2015, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today in a letter to Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) and House Republicans responded to the Congressman’s push in favor of granting fast track trade promotion authority (TPA) to President Barack Obama on the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

“There continues to be a misconception that TPA will allow Congress to set objectives for negotiations, in particular as they relate to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal,” wrote Manning in his letter.

Manning was responding to a dear colleague letter from Rep. Emmer obtained by Americans for Limited Government that told fellow House members that “Through TPA, Congress establishes the negotiating objectives for the Administration and ensures that Congress is consulted closely throughout the negotiations.”

To which, Manning responded, “Congress can demand anything it wants, but President Obama is under no legal requirement to follow those demands. In fact, the only way that Congress has to impose its will on a negotiating process is to force any treaty submitted to be subjected to full and transparent scrutiny, including the ability to amend objectionable sections. Under TPA, this ability to fix highly objectionable areas is voted away.”

The Americans for Limited Government letter to Emmer also noted that the Obama administration was already disregarding Congressional appeals for the trade representative to address currency manipulation: “Given that the U.S. Trade Representative testified earlier this year before the Senate that he chose to disregard a letter signed by a majority of the House and Senate urging that currency manipulation be included in any prospective deal, it is clear that President Obama has no more regard for Congressional input in this area than he has shown on immigration.”

Trade promotion authority is expected come up in both the House and Senate as early as next month.

Attachments:

Americans for Limited Government letter to Rep. Tom Emmer, Feb. 25, 2015 at http://getliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/LettertoEmmerandHouseGOP2-25-15.pdf

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at (703) 383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Rick Manning.

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Filed Under: Press Releases

ALG reacts to Obama Keystone veto

February 24, 2015

Feb. 24, 2015, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to President Barack Obama’s veto of the Keystone XL pipeline:

“President Obama’s veto of the bi-partisan Keystone XL pipeline legislation is just one more example of this President’s my way or the highway approach.  This veto should strengthen Republican resolve to stand on principle and lay down legislative markers for 2017, rather than kowtow to a President who views his role as Obstructionist in Chief.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at (703) 383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Rick Manning.

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Filed Under: Press Releases

NTIA fails to produce Internet giveaway contingency plan

February 18, 2015

Feb. 18, 2015, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement condemning the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) response to Congress’ omnibus bill directive to submit a report due January 30 “regarding any recourse that would be available to the United States if the decision is made to transition to a new contract and any subsequent decisions made following such transfer of Internet governance are deleterious to the United States,” in which the agency stated it would only “revisit this question during the planning process and when evaluating the ultimate ICANN-submitted proposal to ensure that the final plan is not deleterious to the interests of the United States and its Internet stakeholders”:

“Rarely has Washington seen a more brazenly arrogant response from a bureaucrat to the U.S. Congress as in NTIA’s response to congressional prohibition of the Internet giveaway, including its failure to produce a congressionally-required agency contingency plan for administering the domain name system in case ICANN goes rogue. Based on the so-called ‘report,’ it is clear as day that NTIA intends to proceed with the Internet giveaway this year if the multistakeholder community is deemed prepared, despite a clear prohibition against doing so in the 2015 omnibus funding bill passed in December.

“This bureaucratic slap in the face to Congress and the power of the purse should be forcefully and unilaterally rejected by all members of Congress by forcing NTIA to renew the contract for at least a two-year period.

“Given numerous proposals by multistakeholders to reform the administration of ICANN — which will become a global monopoly for running the domain name system should the transition go through — Congress should engage in an aggressive investigation of NTIA’s oversight of ICANN and their actions to unilaterally turn over control of Internet governance to the organization without any clear authorization to do so.

“While Internet governance may seem archaic to some, no less than the constitutional protection of free speech rights afforded through the government contract for every single person who uses the Internet are at stake. Given the audacity of NTIA in failing to produce a contingency plan should Internet governance break down post-transition, Congress needs to shut down this process immediately.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at (703) 383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Rick Manning.

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Filed Under: Press Releases Tagged With:

Renew ICANN contract to stop Internet transition

February 13, 2015

Feb. 13, 2015, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement responding to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) CEO Fadi Chehade’s recent comments that “Those who are genuinely committed to the quality of the proposal for the US government, are correct that we should not put deadlines. But those who for their own purposes try to delay the process, should make no mistake that we know that the most powerful tool to kill something is to delay it”:

“Mr. Chehade is correct. The surest way to stop something from happening is to first delay it. And that is exactly what Congress should do, by insisting that the Commerce Department renew the current Internet governance contract for at least two more years. ICANN obviously is very concerned about its so-called ‘window of opportunity,’ so Congress should deny it. What’s the rush?

“To those committed to the freedom that the First Amendment affords through government control over Internet governance, there should be no rush to sacrifice those protections so lightly, and without any Congressional involvement as provided for under the Constitution. The free and open Internet depends on there being a remedy in the event of censorship. Right now, there is Commerce Department control and oversight over the contract with ICANN, judicial remedy and, ultimately, the difficulty of passing legislation through Congress all serve as firewalls against foreign capture of these functions.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at (703) 383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Rick Manning.

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Filed Under: Press Releases Tagged With:

Senate GOP modifies Internet resolution to make clear no approval for Internet giveaway

February 5, 2015

Feb. 5, 2015, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement thanking Senate Republicans for including additional language in a resolution raising awareness of the Internet giveaway that states “Nothing in this resolution shall be construed as congressional approval of any proposal by ICANN to transition the stewardship of the functions of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority to the global multistakeholder community”:

“We thank Senators Hatch and Blunt for modifying their resolution to include language that makes it clear that Congress has not approved the Commerce Department relinquishment of its Internet stewardship functions property. Government oversight of those functions with its First Amendment umbrella has protected the free and open Internet for almost 17 years, and that is not property that should be relinquished lightly, and certainly not without a vote of Congress as the Constitution provides for.

“The fact is, there will never be protections offered by ICANN and the international community as broad as the First Amendment and federal court remedy that currently exists today. If the Commerce Department were to engage in censorship via its oversight of Internet governance, there would be a clear remedy in federal court. Without the government oversight, however, as was seen in the 2005 Ninth Circuit decision, Verisign v. McNeil, the non-profit ICANN cannot be sued on First Amendment grounds, since they are not a government entity.

“For that reason, we are comfortable with the current Internet governance contract with ICANN continuing indefinitely. The way to keep the Internet free and open is to keep it under the protection of the First Amendment.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at (703) 383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Rick Manning.

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Filed Under: Press Releases Tagged With:

Senate Dems block Homeland Security funding again, ALG urges bill to the floor

February 5, 2015

Feb. 5, 2015, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging Senate Democrats to cease their filibuster of Department of Homeland Security funding:

“For the third time, Senate Democrats are jeopardizing homeland security to protect President Obama’s unconstitutional action granting amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. With all the threats facing the homeland, now is not the time to allow politics to interfere with our nation’s security. Let the bill come to the floor as is.

“If Senate Democrats wish to offer an amendment to the Department of Homeland Security funding, they can do that, but they need to allow the bill to be acted upon. If they can muster the votes to change it, it will be changed. As it stands, funding expires at the end of the month, and the world is not getting any safer.

“In the meantime, we urge the Senate majority to continue holding cloture votes on this important piece of legislation so that the process can move forward, and members have an opportunity to make their voices heard. The House has done its job. Now it’s time for the Senate to get to work.”

Attachments:

Feb 05 53 (52-47) Rejected On Cloture on the Motion to Proceed H.R. 240
Feb 04 52 (53-47) Rejected On Cloture on the Motion to Proceed H.R. 240
Feb 03 51 (51-48) Rejected On Cloture on the Motion to Proceed H.R. 240

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at (703) 383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Rick Manning.

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Filed Under: Press Releases

Senate GOP to vote in favor of giving away Internet governance

February 5, 2015

Feb. 5, 2015, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging Senate members to reject a resolution offered by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), that supports the Commerce Department relinquishing control over Internet governance to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) later this year:

“The Senate should reject any resolution that accepts the premise that the Internet should be given away to ICANN and global multistakeholders. Congress just voted for, and the President signed into law, a provision that prohibits the Commerce Department from relinquishing oversight of Internet governance this fiscal year. The Washington Post in a January 4 editorial agrees with our position that the U.S. government should keep control in order to protect Internet freedom.

“Yet, Hatch and Blunt, who voted in favor of the prohibition, now see fit to offer a resolution that supports the giveaway to foreign interests — sacrificing the First Amendment protections that U.S. government oversight affords for the free and open Internet. Hatch and Blunt would not even acknowledge the clear Congressional prohibition against the giveaway, and in doing so, are actively undermining the constitutional separation of powers, in supporting the transfer of government property without any clear Congressional authority to do so.

“The Hatch-Blunt resolution intends to raise public awareness of the Internet giveaway, and yet ignores the key controversy surrounding it, which is that the administration cannot perform the transfer without clear Congressional authority. The free and open Internet is too important to hand off to an unaccountable private foundation just to create a global monopoly on the domain name system and the assignment of IP addresses. We oppose this resolution in the strongest possible terms.”

Attachments:

“Protect the Internet: Keep the contract with ICANN,” Washington Post editorial, Jan. 4, 2015 at http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/protect-the-internet-keep-the-contract-with-icann/2015/01/04/b1ff61c2-7bff-11e4-9a27-6fdbc612bff8_story.html

“Congress Will Oversight ICANN: And You Can Take That to the Bank,” By Sophia Bekele, CircleID, Jan. 5, 2015 at http://www.circleid.com/posts/20150105_congress_will_oversight_icann_and_you_can_take_that_to_the_bank/

“AmericanExceptionalism.com,” By L. Gordon Crovitz, Wall Street Journal, Feb. 1, 2015, at http://www.wsj.com/articles/l-gordon-crovitz-americanexceptionalism-com-1422832103

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at (703) 383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Rick Manning.

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Filed Under: Press Releases Tagged With:

Trans-Pacific Partnership not free trade, but managed trade

February 4, 2015

Feb. 4, 2015, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging Congress to reject President Barack Obama’s request for fast track trade authority on the Trans-Pacific Partnership:

“The allure of the concept of free trade is like a siren song for many on the right. But the Trans-Pacific Partnership is not a free trade agreement, it is a managed trade agreement negotiated in secret by governments and special interests seeking to maximize their individual economic interests. The only protector of the American people’s interests is a Congress that is fully engaged in the treaty ratification process. To give away the power to filibuster, amend, or delay consideration of a treaty negotiated by President Obama is a slap in the face of those Americans who voted to rein in this administration. We urge Congress not to grant Obama fast track trade authority.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at (703) 383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Rick Manning.

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Filed Under: Press Releases

House to repeal Obamacare

February 3, 2015

Feb. 3, 2015, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising the House of Representatives for taking up legislation that will wholly repeal the health care law, including the individual mandate to purchase insurance:

“Today the House of Representatives will affirm that the Affordable Care Act is neither affordable, nor does is provide the kind of health care Americans want. In the weeks ahead, low income Americans who chose not to bow to the federal government’s demand that they buy health care will receive a punitive tax bill known as the individual mandate.

“Now is the time for our nation to have a substantive discussion about how to rebuild our nation’s health care system around a market based approach. Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, who is renowned as a health care expert, has put forward one comprehensive proposal that could well serve as a launch point for this conversation over the months ahead.

“In the meantime, Americans for Limited Government strongly commends the House and Speaker Boehner for making it clear that federal government run health care is not the answer, in fact, it is the problem.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at (703) 383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Rick Manning.

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Filed Under: Press Releases

Debt grew $1.1 trillion in 2014, not $484 billion

February 2, 2015

Feb. 2, 2015, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to the latest White House budget proposal for FY 2016:

“It is indeed mindless to be lectured on the need to end austerity by a President who has seen the national debt increase by more than $8 trillion since he became President.  It is equally ironic that while the President pointed to a budget deficit that has dropped to under $500 billion from in excess of $1.4 trillion during the early years of his presidency, he fails to recognize that in the same fiscal year, the national debt skyrocketed by justshy of $1.1 trillion, according to the U.S. Treasury.  He also fails to acknowledge that if over the past four years Congress had followed his path, the federal government would have continued to increase spending without regard for the long-term damage being done to our nation’s fiscal solvency.

“Now, President Obama pushes forward a $4 trillion budget proposal that makes no pretense of ever reaching balance, and is an extension of his stated desire to fundamentally transform America by further expanding the size and scope of the federal government.  While Obama’s budget is a meaningless document, and all of the real budget battles will be fought over the appropriations bills, it is truly a shame that the President has waved the white flag in the fight to restore fiscal sanity to the federal government, and in doing so, has ensured that those who depend upon social safety net programs will face a dire future as more and more of the budget is eaten up by unavoidable interest payments on the debt.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at (703) 383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Rick Manning.

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Filed Under: Press Releases
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