Wednesday, 06 July 2011 14:33
You want to know whether you make a difference or not?
Consider what YOUR INFLUENCE was able to accomplish in the U.S. Senate.
Last week, the Senate debated whether to allow Barack Obama to appoint political hacks to 170 top government positions -- rather than requiring Senate confirmation, as the Constitution requires.
But before passing the bill, the Senate unanimously passed amendments which would require the most important Presidential appointments to still be approved by the Senate.
This was a huge victory. But do you have any idea why this happened?
It happened because of YOU! It happened because of your calls and emails to your U.S. Senators. It happened because you changed their minds! This is what we have heard from Senate staff on the Hill.
Remember how your emails told Senators that the Assistant Attorney General, Robert Weich, was stonewalling and lying to the congressional oversight committee about the deadly ATF policy known as Fast and Furious?
Remember how your emails told Senators that people like him NEEDED to be approved by the Senate? This is what we suggested you tell them:
"[I]t’s important that federal officials who are responsible for telling Congressmen what documents they can or can't review should be first approved with the ‘advice and consent’ of the Senate."
Amazingly, this just hadn’t occurred to the Senators. It hadn’t occurred to them that allowing the Weichs of the world to be appointed -- without Senate confirmation -- would be a huge mistake!
But, when you pointed it out to them, EVERYONE fell into line. Even anti-gun zealot and New York Senator Charles Schumer was forced to admit on the Senate floor that, “of course,” the people who control the flow of information to the Senate should be subject to confirmation by the Senate.
Realize that you get the credit for making this happen!
With the exception of an agreement by the Heritage Foundation that it would rate the vote, NO OTHER organization on Capitol Hill –- and no other activists from any such organization -– lobbied against this bill.
But you were active in a battle that saw 41 senators vote for important amendments and witnessed changes that were UNANIMOUSLY approved to the bill’s core provisions.
Having said that, the bill, as it passed the Senate, would still allow Barack Obama to appoint a political hack to head the Bureau of Justice Statistics, rather than being confirmed by the Senate.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics is intended to provide non-partisan statistics which can be used to formulate federal crime policy.
In the past, its work has highlighted the use of guns by law-abiding Americans for self-defense.
But if its director became a political hack, appointed by an anti-gun President without Senate confirmation (as S. 679 would provide), it could rapidly become an engine for politically correct anti-gun “junk science.”
For this reason, we are asking you to write your Representative to kill S. 679 in the House.
On Thursday, The Washington Post stated that “[t]he House of Representatives ... has indicated that it will pass [S. 679].”
They’ve already pronounced the final verdict ... and the vote hasn’t even occurred yet!
But you can help change the outcome. Please, contact your Congressman and ask him or her to oppose S. 679.
ACTION: Contact your Representative and ask him to declare S. 679 “dead on arrival.” And please forward this alert to your pro-gun family and friends.
Click here to send your Representatice an email.
