Citizen Empowerment Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. I thank the chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2711. Let me tell you why.

I hear about protecting rights all the time and how important it is for the government to be able to do the things that they need to do. Let me tell you what it's like as a private citizen to be sitting in your office and getting a phone call from somebody that says, I'm sitting here in Detroit, I'm recording this, and I have a lawyer sitting beside me because we're going to put you out of business today.

And my response was, Give me a little bit of time. Let me get my lawyer, and let me get a tape recorder and tape what you're saying to me.

Now what's right anymore? Boy, have we confused things. Is this a government that works for the people or people that work for the government? My goodness, have we gotten things out of focus here.

We think we are so powerful, we are so intelligent. We have reached a level of arrogance that is unbelievable to the American people. Why do they no longer trust us? I can record you but you can't record me. I can have a whole list of everything that you've done, but God help you if you ever try to look into what I'm doing to you. Baloney. It's time for it to stop.

If we're really going to restore trust in this government, it's going to take both sides. This is not a Republican or a Democrat issue. This is an American issue. My goodness, how can we be so far from what the Founders envisioned when they had absolutely nothing to work for, nothing to work with--nothing but the providence and the hand of God in helping to form a government that is absolutely phenomenal?

We're sitting here today and saying it's not okay for a private citizen to record what this government is saying to them. Now the government can do just the opposite. And I don't want to get mixed up with what's legal, because we all know that what's legal has nothing to do with what's right. We've seen that too many times. We've watched it pushed back and forth.

And while it may be funny to some, I've got to tell you, it may be funny when you sit here, but I would love you to meet me in the private sector and get a phone call from somebody from the government. It is truly not just chilling; it is freezing. You have got to sit back and listen to these folks, and they're recording every single thing you say. God help you if you stumble or stutter. That's what they're looking for.

This gives the private citizens the same rights that they should have. This is a government that's supposed to work for the people and not the people working for the government. It's time to restore trust in this government.

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