250,000 Petitions Demand Hearings on American Sovereignty Restoration Act

American Policy Center Calls on Chairman Smith

Washington, DC -- Tom DeWeese, president of the American Policy Center, an activist think tank, met with Rep. Ron Paul (R-14th, TX) to inform him that 250,000 petitions had been delivered today to Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R- 4th, NJ), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights, The petitions call for hearings on HR 1146, the American Sovereignty Restoration Act.

The petitions, said DeWeese, "demand that Constitutionally guaranteed property and other rights be protected by Congress. The refusal by Chairman Smith to even allow these issues to be debated puts the interests of the United Nations ahead of the rights the citizens of the United States."

Rep. Smith is opposed to any discussion of withdrawal from the United Nations, believing, said DeWeese, "that we need this international debating society whose role in preventing wars has been dismal." DeWeese noted the United States deliberately by-passed the UN with its decision support NATO’s war on Yugoslavia.

Acknowledging that the issue remains "under the radar of the American public, most of whom are unaware of the loss of sovereignty over the American landmass represented by the proliferation of UN-sponsored international treaties. These treaties impact American property rights and economic independence." In a letter to Rep. Smith, DeWeese warned "the UN is amassing power well beyond what was originally intended" calling his attention to the widely acknowledged "waste, corruption, and mismanagement of the United Nations" that is a concern even to supporters of the organization.

DeWeese said, "As this century comes to an end, the American Sovereignty Restoration Act may be the last opportunity to re-assert the intent of the US Constitution and to re-evaluate this nation’s relationship to the United Nations. This is a debate that a single Congressman from New Jersey should not obstruct. Our petitions demonstrate that this is rapidly becoming a critical issue for concerned Americans."

The American Policy Center is headquartered in Herndon, VA. It publishes The DeWeese Report and the Insider’s Report, in addition to mobilizing action on a variety of issues, environmental and educational, that are believed to pose a threat to American freedoms and rights.