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I just received this from Senator Rand Paul's news feed (source):

Sen. Rand Paul today took to the Senate floor to announce his intention an introduce an amendment to the upcoming surface transportation bill that would cut off the $1.3 billion given to Egypt annually in foreign aid until illegally detained American citizens are released.

Below is a video and transcript of his speech.

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I got this from Rand Paul's news feed last night (source):

Sen. Rand Paul today introduced the Freedom from Over-Criminalization and Unjust Seizures Act of 2012 - or FOCUS Act. This bill removes each and every reference to "foreign law" within the Lacey Act and substitutes the Lacey Act's criminal penalties with a reasonable civil penalty system. Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and James Risch (R-Idaho) are co-sponsors on this legislation.

"It is long overdue that the Lacey Act be revised to address its broad overcriminalization," Sen. Paul said. "We have seen the damage this extremely broad and vague law has done to American companies and it is time to change its language to better serve Americans and the American jobs it threatens."



Background on the Lacey Act:

The Lacey Act is a conservation law that attempts to prohibit trafficking in "illegal" wildlife, fish and plants. Since 1900, when the bill was first signed into law, subsequent amendments (the Lacey Act was amended in 1935, 1969, 1981, 1988, and most recently, in 2008) have produced what today is an extremely broad and vague law that contains harsh criminal penalties. Notably, the original Lacey Act, named after Iowa Congressman John Lacey, contained a penalty "not exceeding two hundred dollars." There was no provision imposing jail or prison time.

The Lacey Act now serves as a high-profile and frightening example of over-criminalization. Victims include David McNab and Abner Schoenwetter, who spent years in federal prison for "violating" invalid Honduran fishing regulations and, most recently, Henry Juszkiewicz, the Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar Corp., whose company was raided by armed federal agents this past August.

During a hearing regarding the 1981 amendments to the Lacey Act, a representative from the National Rifle Association (NRA) specifically voiced civil liberties concerns with the bill, stating that their "first concern [wa]s with the broad expansion of criminal liability." Under the existing Lacey Act at that time, violations could only be prosecuted as misdemeanors, not felonies. However, the 1981 amendments expanded the potential penalties to allow for felony convictions.

In Sykes v. United States, 131 S. Ct. 2267, 2288 (2011), Justice Scalia stated in his dissent that: "We face a Congress that puts forth an ever-increasing volume of laws in general, and of criminal laws in particular. It should be no surprise that as the volume increases, so do the number of imprecise laws . . . In the field of criminal law, at least, it is time to call a halt."

The Lacey Act as currently codified is overly broad, imprecise, vague, and subject to abuse by overzealous prosecutors and activist judges.

This is a video of Ron Paul addressing the House of Representatives on the issue of ending the TSA's rain of terror.

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In last night's Republican Debate, hosted by CNN's John King, there were a couple of questions (specifically questions related to the medical industry and abortion) where John King attempted to overlook Ron Paul and move on to the next question. Since Ron Paul is a medical doctor, the audience vocalized their disapproval of John King's attempt to pass over Ron Paul, and John King was forced to allow Ron Paul to answer the questions.

The first time John King ignored Ron Paul, and then was forced to ask him the question, Ron Paul's response (amidst cheers and applause from the audience) was, "PHEW, I thought maybe you were prejudiced against doctors and a doctor that practiced medicine in the military or something!"

The second time John King attempted to skip over Ron Paul, and go on to another question, however the audience began to loudly boo and shout "Ron Paul!", which forced John King to ask Ron Paul if he wanted to answer the question (to which the audience's response was once again loud cheering and applause). Ron Paul's response to John King was, "John, once again, it's a medical subject, and I'm a doctor", which resulted in some more cheers and applause from the crowd as Ron Paul went on to answer the question.

In addition to the videos below, you will find more information in this article from Infowars.

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This is another video of Ron Paul addressing the House of Representatives, and opposing the new debt ceiling increase.

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This is about 15 minutes of video of Alex Jones, where he starts out talking about Mitt Romney saying at the South Carolina debate that he would have signed NDAA into law, and then going on to various other subjects from there.

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I just received this from Ran Paul's news feed:

For the past several months, Sen. Rand Paul has opposed and led the charge against both the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Today, Sen. Paul issued the following statement.

"The Internet, as we know it, has had a profound impact on job creation, the global economy and prosperity. It has accelerated wealth creation and facilitated a more connected world. But the Internet's development is based on the free flow of information, innovation, and ideas, not central government control," Sen. Paul said.

"Both PIPA and SOPA give the federal government unprecedented and unconstitutional power to censor the Internet. These bills enable the government to shut down websites that it deems guilty of violating copyright laws. While we support copyright protections, we are also concerned about websites being shut down without their day in court, and making innocent third parties bear the costs of solving someone else's problems."

Sen. Paul concluded, "I will not sit idly by while PIPA and SOPA eliminate the constitutionally protected rights to due process and free speech. For these reasons, I have pledged to oppose, filibuster and do everything in my power to stop government censorship of the Internet."