I was extremely upset reading here on Current that the President was taking away your 'Right to Assemble'. So I went to all the legitimate news agencies and could not find anything on the bill. So I Google it, and this is what I found:
HR-347 but it does not say the you are not allowed the ‘right to assemble’ Under this bill it is a prosecutable offense to knowingly, and without lawful authority, enter “(1) the White House or its grounds or the Vice President’s official residence or it’s grounds, (2) a building or grounds where the President or other person protected by the Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting, or (3) a building or grounds so restricted due to a special event of national significance.” This legislation has been changed from previous versions to omit the adverb ‘willfully’.
People are trying to smear the President by saying that the elimination of the adverb “willfully” as meaning that it will be used against protesters. When in fact what it is doing is basically updating the current law covering Secret Service personnel with respect to their authorized actions against trespassers. It was drafted to resolve this problem. It is not new it is just clarifying the Federal authority and the Secret Services duties in protecting the President, Vice President, or other persons protected by the Secret Services.
Also, it only applies to areas already restricted, AND each instance of the added protection off of the White House grounds must be designated by Presidential memo. The House passed this bill 1 year ago by a vote to 399 to 3. Earlier this month, the Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent. Ron Paul was one of the three dissenting voters a year ago.
So all the bill it doing is clarifying the Secret Services' authority to protect the President, Vice President, and right now it also includes the GOP Candidates that currently have Secret Service Protection. I wish people would stop trying to make mountains out of mole hills. No one is taking your ‘right to assemble’ away. It was not a major news event because it was just clarifying an existing law. Why Ron Paul would be opposed to clarifying the Secret Service duties in protecting the President, Vice President or anyone else is beyond me.
For further information go to:
www.salon.com/2012/03/07/the_inside_scoop_on_hr_347/singlton/> of 2011
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northernexpat
- brushwithdeathtoothpaste voted up HR-347 “Anti-Trespass Bill” – Is not Preventing a ‘Right-to-Assemble’ 25 days ago
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