Kentucky Senator Rand Paul made it clear that he won’t sit by and participate in Democrats making up the rules during a Homeland Security Committee hearing on Wednesday.
According to Fox News, Paul got into it with Michigan Democrat, Senator Gary Peters after Peters blocked every Republican amendment to the Fire Grants and Safety Act. Paul was trying to introduce amendments to the bill that would make fire departments ineligible for federal grants if they fired anyone based on their COVID-19 vaccination status.
Paul also introduced a bill to prevent funding the NIH for “gain of function” research on the coronavirus in Wuhan, China, and other labs.
Peters intervened in both. He shut down the first of Paul’s amendments by including language that would “require the U.S. Comptroller on the departments conduct audits and reports denied federal funds.” Effectively introducing bureaucracy instead of straightforward action. Bizarrely, on the NIH funding, Peters wanted to shift the language to say the funds from the Fire Grants and Safety Act were barred “from being provided to a Chinese fire department.”
At that point, Paul had had it.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Paul said. “This is legislative legerdemain to obscure the fact that you’re trying to not vote directly on this.”
Paul’s frustration reached a boiling point and he called out how the committee was being run unfairly by the Democrats according to Fox News:
“We have what, unlimited second-degree amendments?” the Republican senator asked. Peters then suggested Paul does not have the jurisdiction to call up an amendment for a vote.
“If this is the way you’re going to run the committee, I would suggest that Republicans leave. I don’t see why we should stick around if you’re going to make up the rules. I mean, you’re going to offer up a third-degree amendment,” Paul said during the hearing.
…
Paul continued to debate Peters’ effort for a secondary amendment. “I, for one, won’t stay here and recommend that no Republican stay here if we’re going to have third-degree amendments that only the majority gets to offer,” he said.
Paul’s assessment of the Democrat’s strategy was right on the money. Democrats didn’t want to be caught voting against firefighters so their strategy was to alter the language of bills as often as they pleased to avoid putting themselves on record.
Naturally, Paul was attempting to stop the madness of vaccine mandates, which should be stopped as the forced injection of a vaccine that clearly doesn’t work into your bloodstream is a huge violation of one’s personhood. Stopping funds from reaching a department should they double down on the Democrat’s authoritarianism is a solid way to get departments to leave that policy in the trash where it belongs.
Democrats want to keep this policy in place but don’t want to be seen doing it. Thus the game playing.
Paul’s walkout is indicative of his unwillingness to play games, especially with the American people and Republicans should seek to imitate Paul’s views and methods of Democrat shenanigans.
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