Breaking News -- New Hampshire State Legislature Hearings: Reject USA Patriot Act

NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE LEGISLATURE HEARINGS: REJECT USA PATRIOT ACT

Posted: March 14, 2005
1:05 AM Eastern
NewsWithViews.com

The New Hampshire State Legislature will begin holding hearings today on HB 520, An Act relative to the USA Patriot Act. This bill states that the USA Patriot Act shall not be recognized in the state of New Hampshire.

The bill reads as follows:

Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [~~in brackets and struckthrough~~.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five

AN ACT relative to the USA Patriot Act.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

Purpose. New Hampshire supports the constitutions of New Hampshire and of the United States; therefore, New Hampshire is taking this position against the USA Patriot Act, along with other states and communities, because:

I. The USA Patriot Act blatantly violates both the constitutions of New Hampshire and of the United States. Because of this violation, the USA Patriot Act poses a greater threat to the security and freedom of the residents of both New Hampshire and of the United States.

II. It seems that the well being and security of the United States and of the sovereign states is not truly of paramount interest to the drafters of the USA Patriot Act since the drafters ignored concerns of the generals of our Joint Chiefs of Staff that our homeland security is at major risk because the federal government has relinquished its Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 responsibilities by its actions of having given the United States production and supply capability to foreign powers and influences, as a result of treaties like GATT, NAFTA, treaties with the World Trade Organization, and other ill begotten commercial treaties and agreements; which means that if we or our allies are attacked we are in serious jeopardy of not being able to supply our troops or our allies, especially if we are attacked by the powers to whom we have given our production capability.

III. With this in mind and to resolve this very serious homeland security situation, New Hampshire is additionally insisting that the nation and all the states rebuild our manufacturing and production capabilities and accomplish this rebuilding with a similar philosophy and the strategies our nation used when putting a man on the moon.

2 Nullification of the USA Patriot Act. The state of New Hampshire shall no longer recognize the USA Patriot Act, including any subsequent rules, executive orders, or judicial interpretations to have effect or to be binding on the state or on the residents of this state.

3 Copies. The clerk of the house of representatives shall send copies of this act to the President of the United States, the New Hampshire congressional delegation, and to the speakers of the house of representatives of the other 49 states.

4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2006.

Since the adoption of the USA Patriot Act by Congress, 342 cities and four states have moved to reject or refuse to recognize it. On July 27, 2004, Des Moines, Iowa's largest city, became the second Iowa community to pass a resolution condemning certain sections of the USA Patriot Act; the resolution included seeking redress from federal officials.

Should New Hampshire's General Court (state legislature) pass this resolution, it would join the growing ranks of elected public officials throughout the states of the Union to find fault with the USA Patriot Act. With Des Moines' adoption of their resolution, the number of Americans represented by the cities and states who have rejected the USA Patriot Act exceeds 53 million. That number would increase by 1,287,687 with the passage of HB 520. In Hew Hampshire, if both the House and Senate pass a bill or agree on an amended version, it then goes to the Governor's desk for approval. The Governor has five days to veto the bill or, if the Governor takes no action within five days, the bill passes into law.