[mobile users] Sen. Rand Paul Calls For The Release Of Detained Americans In Egypt – 02/14/12

Sen. Rand Paul on The Willis Report on Fox Business – 2/15/12

Rand Paul And Jerry Doyle Talk Fed Audit

TSA Takes on Sen. Paul

Rand Paul on being detained by TSA The Situation Room CNN 1/23/12

PIPA, the Senate version of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), is being sponsored by Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy and pushed by Reid as a “job creator.”

The bills would ostensibly crack down on online copyright infringement, but critics contend that the legislation would also challenge free speech and the ability of large websites to function.

Texas Republican Rep. Lamar Smith, the sponsor of SOPA, announced Tuesday that the bill would continue to undergo markup in the House Judiciary Committee, which he chairs, in February.

Rand Paul promises to filibuster ‘censor the Internet’ legislation [continued]

Sen. Rand Paul Defends American Citizens Against Indefinite Detainment

The war in Iraq cannot be considered definitively concluded if Congress does not reclaim its constitutional power to declare war by repealing the underlying authorization. Until Congress takes this action, the President would still possess the legal authority to move troops into Iraq or to conduct kinetic operations within its borders, agreements with the Iraqi government notwithstanding.

“On several occasions this year, Congress has been ignored or remained silent while the President committed our forces to combat. It is my intention to urge Congress to reclaim its constitutional authority over the decision to go to war, or to end a war – it is one of the body’s most important powers,” Sen. Paul said. “It is right that we wrest it back from a President who has shown he cannot be trusted to obey the Constitution or powers prescribed to Congress in it.”

The President has ordered withdrawal of most forces by the end of the year, and Sen. Paul’s amendment continues the spirit of that decision by formally ending the war. Sen. Paul will push for a vote on this measure during consideration of the Defense bill. Under existing laws, necessary actions to protect U.S. personnel in Iraq (such as at the embassy) will still be allowed.

“Americans should celebrate the safe return of our soldiers, thank those who served, and mourn those we lost.  We should honor them by committing to a return to a more rational and constitutional foreign policy,” Sen. Paul added.

Sen. Paul Introduces Resolution to End War in Iraq [continued]

My name is David Kretzmann. I am a 19 year old student at Berea College in Kentucky; I’ve lived in Kentucky since August of 2010. Today I urgently write you to investigate the death of Abdulrahman Al-awlaki.

Within the past 45 days, three U.S. citizens have been killed at the hand of U.S. drone attacks in Yemen. The most well known of these incidents was the case of Anwar Alawlaki, the U.S. citizen born in New Mexico suspected (but never officially charged) of working with Al-Qaeda. Alawlaki was on the CIA’s public hit list, signed off by President Barack Obama, for 17 months prior to his assassination on September 30, 2011. Alawlaki’s constitutional rights as a U.S. citizen were ignored by the Obama administration, despite attempts from Alawlaki’s father and the ACLU to protect Alawlaki.

What’s even more disturbing than Alawlaki’s assassination is the death of his 16 year old son, Abdulrahman Al-awlaki, just two weeks later on October 14, 2011. Abdulrahman Al-awlaki was having a Friday night barbecue with his cousin and fellow teenage friends. A U.S. drone strike took their lives that night.

Abdulrahman Al-awlaki was born in Denver, Colorado, in 1995. He was an American citizen and just 16 years old. He was no less a U.S. citizen than you and I. He had no ties whatsoever to Al-Qaeda or any other militant group.

The Obama administration has been eerily silent on this matter, not so much as acknowledging that a U.S. drone strike killed a 16 year old American citizen. This is the primary reason I am writing you this letter. We need to know why Abdulrahman Al-alwaki was killed; whether it was an intentional killing (i.e. assassination), casualty of war, or a tragic misfire incident.

On November 2, 2011, hundreds of Yemeni individuals peacefully came together to protestU.S. drone attacks in Yemen. I highly encourage you to observe some of the pictures and footage that came out of this event; it is remarkable seeing these people come together to bring about a change in their country. Innocent civilians, including children and teenagers, are losing their lives in Yemen because of U.S. drone strikes. This is the heartbreaking reality for a growing number of families in Yemen, and demonstrates the urgency of the plea I bring to you today.

I know that you can, above anyone else in the Senate, bring about an investigation of Abdulrahman Al-awlaki’s death. You have proven yourself to be a principled voice of liberty, reason, and the rule of law in the U.S. Senate, and there is no one I would trust more to spearhead an investigation. At the very least, people deserve to know why their tax dollars are going to war efforts that have now taken the life of an innocent American teenager.

An Open Letter to Rand Paul: Investigate the Killing of an American Teenager [continued]