Sounds innocuous, doesn't it? A lot of the most controversial legislation before the U.S. Congress doesn't hit you over the head with its intent. As I was looking through this year's legislative efforts so far on Thomas, a great website run by the Library of Congress, I stumbled across this bill.
I almost passed H.R. 19 over, but the name of the sponsor kept my attention: Republican Bob Barr of Georgia's 7th district. If you live in or around Marietta, Rome, Cartersville, Douglasville, Dallas, Carrollton or LaGrange, Bob Barr is your Representative in Congress. Rep. Barr is well known for colorful, bold legislative proposals. I thought I'd take a quick look.
It turns out that under that bland title, H.R. 19 is pretty exciting stuff. The various executive orders that the bill would nullify have to with political assassination, the killing of foreign public figures because of their irksome positions on policies. H.R. 19 would cancel executive orders by three Presidents (Ford, Carter and Clinton) that forbid U.S. military and intelligence agencies from engaging in such assassinations. For example, Barr's bill would cancel President Gerald Ford's order that "no employee of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, political assassination." (executive order 11905)
You didn't read about this bill in the New York Times, because apparently this news didn't meet their standard of "fit to print." But what exactly makes this bill so un-newsworthy? After all, the man who is pushing this killer cookie is part of the leadership team of the Republican Party in the House. Barr is also Vice Chair of the Governmental Reform Committee. As a leader in the majority party, you might think that Bob Barr's position on legalizing assassination might be newsworthy. But the major media outlets have been mum on the issue.
That's why Congress Watch is here. American citizens have the right to know what their representatives are up to. Without that knowledge, an informed citizen-led democracy is impossible. I pledge to keep dredging legislative efforts like this out into the light of day. As long as Suite 101 offers the space, Congress Watch will continue to be here.
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