US Congressman Ron Paul’s Congressional Speeches/comments on Health Freedom (10)

1) HR2117 Health Freedom Protection Act

http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c110:./temp/~c110C4w2An

Ron Paul Speech to Congress on Health Freedom May 2, 2007

http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2007/cr050207.htm

Excerpts:

“The American people have made it clear they do not want the federal government to interfere with their access to dietary supplements, yet the FDA and the FTC continue to engage in heavy-handed attempts to restrict such access. The FDA continues to frustrate consumers’ efforts to learn how they can improve their health even after Congress, responding to a record number of constituents’ comments, passed the Dietary Supplement and Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA). FDA bureaucrats are so determined to frustrate consumers’ access to truthful information that they are even evading their duty to comply with four federal court decisions vindicating consumers’ First Amendment rights to discover the health benefits of foods and dietary supplements”

…if we are serious about putting people in charge of their health care, then shouldn’t we stop federal bureaucrats from preventing Americans from learning about simple ways to improve their health?”

2) H. R. 2832 Comprehensive Comparative Study of Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Populations, June 22, 2007

http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c110:./temp/~c11087O8p6 full text

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct or support a comprehensive study comparing total health outcomes, including risk of autism, in vaccinated populations in the United States with such outcomes in unvaccinated populations in the United States, and for other purposes.

Excerpts H.R. 2832:

(5) The number of immunizations administered to infants, pregnant women, children, teenagers, and adults has grown dramatically over recent years.

(6) The incidence of chronic, unexplained diseases such as autism, learning disabilities, and other neurological disorders appears to have increased dramatically in recent years.

(7) Individual vaccines are tested for safety, but little safety testing has been conducted for interaction effects of multiple vaccines.

(8) The strategy of aggressive, early childhood immunization against a large number of infectious diseases has never been tested in its entirety against alternative strategies, either for safety or for total health outcomes.

(9) Childhood immunizations are the only health interventions that are required by States of all citizens in order to participate in civic society.

“I also opposed the Homeland Security Bill, H.R. 5005, which, in section 304, authorizes the forced vaccination of American citizens against small pox. The government should never have the power to require immunizations or vaccinations”.

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3) Ron Paul Congressional Speech, March 2006

http://www.sierratimes.com/06/03/06/Paul.htm

“Mr. Speaker, the practice of rushing bills to the floor before individual members have a chance to study them contributes to public distrust of Congress. Voting on bills before members read them makes a mockery of representative government.

…For example, just this past December the House voted on the fiscal year 2006 Defense Appropriations conference report at approximately four a.m. – just four hours after the report was filed. Yet the report contained language dealing with avian flu, including controversial language regarding immunity liability for vaccine manufacturers…”

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4) HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS before THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES October 6, 2004 http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2004/cr100604.htm No Mandatory Mental Health Screening for Kids

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the Let Parents Raise Their Kids Act. This bill forbids federal funds from being used for any universal or mandatory mental-health screening of students without the express, written, voluntary, informed consent of their parents or legal guardians. This bill protects the fundamental right of parents to direct and control the upbringing and education of their children.”

“Forced mental-health screening could also endanger the health of children by leading to more children being improperly placed on psychotropic drugs, such as Ritalin, or stigmatized as “mentally ill” or a risk of causing violence because they adhere to traditional values”.

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5) HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS before THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES October 5, 2004

Reject a National Prescription Database http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2004/cr100504b.htm

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to HR 3015, the National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act. This bill is yet another unjustifiable attempt by the federal government to use the war on drugs as an excuse for invading the privacy and liberties of the American people and for expanding the federal government’s disastrous micromanagement of medical care. As a physician with over 30 years experience in private practice, I must oppose this bill due to the danger it poses to our health as well as our liberty”.

A doctor who is willing to treat chronic pain patients with medically justified amounts of controlled substances may appear at first look to be excessively prescribing. Because so few doctors are willing to take the drug war prosecution risks associated with treating chronic pain patients, and because chronic pain patients must often consume significant doses of pain medication to obtain relief, the prosecution of one pain doctor can be heralded as a large success.

Once doctors know that there is a national database of controlled substances prescriptions that overzealous law enforcement will be scrutinizing to harass doctors, there may be no doctors left who are willing to treat chronic pain”.

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6) HON. RON PAULOF TEXAS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Tuesday, July 24, 2001

Ron Paul on Medical IDs /Patient Privacy Act (HR1699)

http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2001/cr072401.htm

http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2003/cr041603.htm http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2000/tst020700.htm http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2000/tst061900.htm

“One way the House can act to protect patients’ privacy is by enacting my Patient Privacy Act (HR 1699) that repeals the provision of federal law establishing a medical ID for every American. Under the guise of "protecting privacy," the Health and Human Services' so-called "medical privacy" regulations allow medical researchers, insurance agents, and government officials access to your personal medical records--without your consent! Congress should act now to reverse this government-imposed invasion of our medical privacy”.

“As an OB/GYN-with more than 30 years experience in private practice, I know better than most the importance of preserving the sanctity of the physician-patient relationship. Oftentimes, effective treatment depends on a patient's ability to place absolute trust in his or her doctor. What will happen to that trust when patients know that any and all information given their doctor will be placed in a data base accessible by anyone who knows the patient's ``unique personal identifier?''

“In a free society such as the one envisioned by those who drafted the Constitution, the federal government should never force a citizen to divulge personal information to advance “important social goals.” Rather, it should be up to individuals, not the government, to determine what social goals are important enough to warrant allowing others access to their personal property, including their personal information. To the extent these regulations sacrifice individual rights in the name of a bureaucratically determined common good, they are incompatible with a free society and a constitutional government”.

*********************************************************************7) HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, July 24, 2003 Re-importation of Prescription Drugs http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2003/cr072403.htm

“Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be an original cosponsor of HR 2427, the Pharmaceutical Market Access Act”.

“Opponents of this bill have waged a hysterical campaign to convince members that this amendment will result in consumers purchasing unsafe products. Accepting this argument not only requires one to ignore HR 2427’s numerous provisions that ensure the safety of imported drugs, it also assumes that consumers will buy cheap pharmaceuticals without regard to whether they are buying quality products. The experience of my constituents who are currently traveling to foreign countries to purchase prescription drugs shows that consumers are quite capable of purchasing safe products without interference from the nanny state”.

“Fortunately, there are a number of market-oriented policies Congress can adopt to lower the prices of prescription drugs. This is because the main reason prescription drugs cost so much is government policies that give a few large companies monopoly power. For example, policies restricting the importation of quality pharmaceuticals enable pharmaceutical companies to charge above-market prices for their products”.

“Furthermore, if the supporters of the status quo were truly concerned about promoting health, instead of protecting the special privileges of powerful companies, they would be reforming current policies that endanger health by artificially raising the cost of prescription drugs. Oftentimes, lower income Americans will take less of a prescription medicine than necessary to save money. Some even forego other necessities, including food, in order to afford their medications. By reducing the prices of pharmaceuticals, HR 2427 will help those who have to choose between prescriptions drugs and other necessities”.

“Therefore, all members of Congress who are serious about lowering prescription drug prices should support HR 2427”.

*********************************************************************8) Ron Paul Congressional Speech, Nov. 2002:
http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2002/cr111302.htm

Excerpts:

HR 5710 grants major new powers to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) by granting HHS the authority to "administer" the smallpox vaccine to members of the public if the Department unilaterally determines that there is a public health threat posed by smallpox. HHS would not even have to demonstrate an actual threat of a smallpox attack, merely the "potential" of an attack. Thus, this bill grants federal agents the authority to force millions of Americans to be injected with a potentially lethal vaccine based on nothing more than a theoretical potential smallpox incident. Furthermore, this provision continues to restrict access to the smallpox vaccine from those who have made a voluntary choice to accept the risk of the vaccine in order to protect themselves from smallpox. It is hard to think of a more blatant violation of liberty than allowing government officials to force people to receive potentially dangerous vaccines based on hypothetical risks.

While this provision appears to be based on similar provisions granting broad mandatory vaccination and quarantine powers to governors from the controversial "Model Health Emergency Powers Act," this provision has not been considered by the House. Instead, this provision seems to have been snuck into the bill at the last minute. At the very least, Mr. Speaker, before Congress grants HHS such sweeping powers, we should have an open debate instead of burying the authorization in a couple of paragraphs tucked away in a 484 page bill!

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9) Ron Paul Medical costs can be cut with freedom, December 14, 1998 http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst98/tst121498.htm

“…socialist systems in the world perceived as "inexpensive" by those desiring similar government programs here. In those nations, the cost is hidden in individual tax-rates in excess of fifty percent, so the extremely high costs for care are still being paid by the patient, they just don't write the check to the doctor, they write it to the tax collector”.

“What the politicians and their bureaucrats refuse to acknowledge is that the cost of routine health care is spiraling out of control precisely because of the federal involvement”

“The insurers and HMOs only make matters worse by further restricting the consumer's choices and limiting the services a physician in their group can offer

To deal with the ever-rising costs, consumers… forced to relinquish more control to insurance companies and health maintenance organizations (HMOs). At the same time, doctors are forced into the systems so that the burden of regulatory paperwork can be lifted from them.

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10) Congressional Control of Health Care is Dangerous for Children http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul411.html

Excerpts:

"Many parents have very valid concerns about the drugs to which a child labeled as "suicidal" or "depressed," or even ADHD, could be subjected. Of further concern is the subjectivity of diagnosis of mental health disorders. With universal mental health screening being implemented in schools, pharmaceutical companies stand to increase their customer base even more, and many parents are rightfully concerned”.

“Despite political rhetoric about a War on Drugs, federally funded programs result in far more teenage drug use than the most successful pill pusher on the playground. These pills are given out as a result of dubious universal mental health screening programs for school children, supposedly directed toward finding mental disorders or suicidal tendencies. The use of antipsychotic medication in children has increased fivefold between 1995 and 2002. More than 2.5 million children are now taking these medications, and many children are taking multiple drugs at one time. More...”

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