Guarantee liberty, support H.R. 3676

235 years ago, a brave group of patriots signed their names to a piece of parchment declaring that all individuals are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
 
Today, we find these rights endangered by vague language passed late last year in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which if interpreted incorrectly could allow the indefinite detention of American citizens.
 
I will not stand for such a degradation of our rights. I can’t. On January 5, 2011, I placed my hand on a Bible and swore before God to defend the Constitution against “all enemies both foreign and domestic.”

 Sometimes our enemies are not obvious. In fact, the enemy that keeps me up at night is the slow erosion of our Constitutional rights. Over the last 30 years, Congress has wrongly handed over more and more of its Constitutional powers to the President and unelected bureaucrats in the Executive Branch. As a result, the size and scope of government has increased and our liberties have decreased.
 
The NDAA continues this trend. This bill includes provisions which allow the President to hold any individual associated with terrorist forces in “detention under the law of war without trial until the end of hostilities.” While these provisions do mention certain protections for American citizens, the language defining these exemptions could be interpreted a number of ways – some good and some providing no protection of our rights.
 

To give temporary protection, I entered into an exchange with the House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon on the floor and entered this exchange into the Congressional Record. Our exchange sets the “legislative intent” that nothing in this language allows Americans to be held indefinitely. This is important because courts must consider the legislative intent when they are uncertain about a law’s meaning.
 
However, temporary protection is not enough when liberty hangs in the balance; we must be clear. We must provide language that is clear as day that U.S. citizens are provided certain rights untouchable by this President, future Presidents, or anyone else in government.
 
To provide this lock-solid protection, I have introduced a bill to fix the NDAA and provide a bright line of clarity for American rights. H.R. 3676 is a one-page bill that would clearly state that nothing in the NDAA allows an American to be held in custody without due process or the right to trial.
 
H.R. 3676 has received support from both ends of the political spectrum. My bill has 57 sponsors – Democrats and Republicans, ACLU liberals and Constitutional conservatives – because the issue of liberty is not a political party issue, it is an American issue.
 
Going forward, I will be working to ensure Congress passes and the President signs into law H.R. 3676. Doing so is the only way I know to honor my oath and honor the faith that the good people of Louisiana have placed in me.

To join me in this effort, please contact your representative and ask him or her to cosponsor H.R. 3676. Together, we can return our government to the vision of our Founding Fathers and guarantee liberty and freedom.

Rep. Landy serves on the House Natural Resources Comittee and is a strong supporter of The Constitution.

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