UN Arms Trade Treaty Opposed By 130 Members Of Congress

mkatt0313Freedom Outpost – by Tim Brown

The United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is scheduled to be signed by Barack Obama on June 4, this Monday. He has already said he will sign it. However, the United States Senate passed a resolution that they will not ratify the document. Now a letter has been sent to Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry by 130 members of the House of Representatives opposing the ATT.  

On May 30 the 130 congressmen wrote to remind both Obama and Kerry that they are supposed to be “defenders of the sovereignty of the United States and as such the representatives wrote to “express…grave concern about the dangers posed by the United Nations’ Arms Trade Treaty.”  

According to the letter, “Our country’s sovereignty, and the protections it affords our individual freedoms, including those recognized by the Second Amendment, must not be infringed.”

The letter then went on to cite three reasons not to sign the treaty:

  1. The treaty as adopted by the General Assembly is deeply flawed.
  2. The treaty suffers from vagueness.
  3. The procedure by which the treaty was adopted violates a red line set out by Obama’s own administration.

The congressmen expounded on the flaws of the treaty. They wrote, “It includes only a weak preambular reference to the lawful ownership and use of, and trade in, firearms, and recognizes none of these activities, or personal self-defense, as inherent rights. It frequently employs the term “end users,” which can refer to individual firearms owners, and, in its sixth Principle, it creates a national “responsibility” to “prevent … diversion” of firearms, a requirement that could be used to justify the imposition of further controls within the United States.”

“This risk is enhanced by Article 5.1, which requires nations party to the treaty to implement it in accordance with this principle,” the letter reads. “We know that, in the final March negotiating conference, your administration opposed a number of these treaty elements: we do not believe that your administration should now support them by signing the treaty.”

The letter also points out that “in Article 20.3, allows amendments by a three-quarters majority vote. We note that Article 20.4 makes it clear that amendments are binding only on those nations that accept them, but we do not regard this as an adequate safeguard.”

The vagueness of the treaty was also pointed out. “It defines none of the terms essential to interpreting or implementing it, or defines them only by reference to terms that are themselves undefined. This means that, by becoming party to the treaty, the United States would be accepting commitments that are inherently unclear.”

By being unclear, it would thus open the US to repeated charges of breach of faith, and no doubt it would also place pressure on the US to adopt new interpretations or amendments to the treaty.

Specifically the congressmen point out Article 7.1 (b)(i) and (ii) of the treaty, which requires nations party to the treaty to assess whether exports could be used to “commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law,” or of “international human rights law.”

As for the violation of the “red line” set by the Obama administration, well they used former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s owns word to bolster their claim, citing Obama’s support for the negotiation of the treaty. Clinton stated in October of 2009:

“As long as that Conference operates under the rule of consensus decision-making needed to ensure that all countries can be held to standards that will actually improve the global situation by denying arms to those who would abuse them, the United States will actively support the negotiations. Consensus is needed to ensure the widest possible support for the Treaty and to avoid loopholes in the Treaty that can be exploited by those wishing to export arms irresponsibly.”

They further pressed Obama’s hypocrisy in the matter by stating “the State Department noted that consensus was necessary to provide “the opportunity to promote the same high standards for the entire international community.” But when the March 2013 negotiating conference failed to reach a consensus agreement, your administration supported the move to adopt the treaty through the U.N. General Assembly, where opponents and abstainers included many of the world’s most important and irresponsible arms importers and exporters, including Iran, North Korea, the People’s Republic of China, Russia, and Egypt.”

Therefore, the US didn’t even come close to ensuring “that all countries can be held to standards that will actually improve the global situation.”

Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) issued a statement regarding the letter he authored and submitted:

“As the signing period for the ATT gets underway next week, President Obama has an opportunity to take a monumental stand for our national sovereignty and our Constitutional rights. The ATT threatens both of these things and should be fully rejected.  Any treaty that would put the United States–the world’s defender of peace and freedom–on equal footing with the world’s worst dictatorships and terror-sponsors ought to be condemned, dismissed, and ultimately denied our country’s signature.  I sincerely hope the administration will listen to the very real objections my colleagues from both parties in Congress share and rightly decide that joining the ATT is not at all in America’s interest.”

The letter’s signatures included Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-CA), and Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-TX).

Rep. Steve Stockman, who also signed the letter, said “The right to keep and bear arms is granted by God and protecting from government aggression by the Constitution.  It is not subject to the whims of global totalitarians massed in New York City. I oppose any UN treaty touching the right to keep and bear arms.  It’s beyond time for the United States to withdraw from the UN.”

I completely agree with his assessment. However, once a treaty is signed by a president, it normally remains available for the Senate to ratify. This treaty must not only not be ratified, but it must be completely removed off the table from any future ratification.

Read more: http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/06/un-arms-trade-treaty-opposed-by-130-members-of-congress/#ixzz2V5dW6rt4

23 thoughts on “UN Arms Trade Treaty Opposed By 130 Members Of Congress

  1. “The United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is scheduled to be signed by Barack Obama on June 4, this Monday. He has already said he will sign it. However, the United States Senate passed a resolution that they will not ratify the document. Now a letter has been sent to Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry by 130 members of the House of Representatives opposing the ATT. ”

    OMG!! REALLY? The best thing these 130 members in Congress can do with all of their power of office and authority is merely submit a petition that rejects his signing of the treaty and that is supposed to make us happy and feel blessed? REALLY??? ARE YOU F**KING KIDDING ME??!!!

    ENOUGH WITH THE SIDESHOW!! HOW ABOUT GOING TO THE WHITE HOUSE WITH A BUNCH OF MARINES AND SHERIFFS AND ARREST THE SON OF A BITCH FOR TREASON!!!!!??? DO YOUR DUTY DAMMIT!!! STOP HORSESHITTING AROUND THE ISSUE!!!

    This is all a show so that they can say, “Well see, we tried to stop him before signing” when in actuality they did nothing like the cowards that they are and merely was paid by the Zionist lobby to do this as an act of controlled opposition. YOU ARE CONGRESS!! IF YOU REALLY WANTED TO PROVE YOURSELVES, THEN YOU’D ARREST OBAMA FOR HIGH TREASON ONCE AND FOR ALL BECAUSE YOU HAVE EVERY AUTHORITY TO DO SO BY THE CONSTITUTION!!! WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU!!!!

    130 against 1! Really? Are they that much of cowards?

    UNF**KINGBELIEVABLE!! I’m SOOO Sick of this sideshow bullshit that they do in order to portray themselves as doing something about it. KICK THESE 130 ASSHOLES IN THE ASS ALL THE WAY TO THE WHITE HOUSE DOORSTEP and make them take Obama away in handcuffs. PERIOD!!!

    This petition like everything else will do nothing and Obama will just sign it anyways. ENFORCE YOUR WORDS WITH ACTION NOT PAPER, YOU STUPID, COWARDLY FOOLS!!! GROW SOME F**KING BALLS!!

    OMG! I’m SO SICK OF THIS BULLSHIT!! WHY CAN’T PEOPLE SEE THROUGH THIS SHIT BY NOW!! They do it all the time. GRR!!!!

    1. NC, over all I agree but don’t you mean 130 against, what, 390?
      And even more disgustingly, these 130 are most probably only pandering to constituents for votes.
      Political office = PROSTITUTION.
      No honest convictions, just dishonest connections. They have to keep the sheople asleep. Now where is my remote, AMERICAN IDIOT must be coming on somewhere!! LOL

  2. If these assholes were serious they would send a letter, accompanied by law officers, stating that they are beginning impeachment preceedings and that he is immediately unde arrest and toss his ass in a cell under the captiol building. This is high treason, pure and simple. An open act of war against the US government and the people.

    1. Exactly what I’m saying, Drutch. Arrest the bastard for Treason! Enough with the nonsense piece of paper.

  3. hang all the basterds, they are either guilty of crimes against humanity, or treason! hang em all,plus the media.. f k the jewnited nations,

  4. Look, Showbama knows nothing from nothing, he is a teleprompter orator, period. His main source of scrip knowledge comes from the WH 33 Czars that are hand picked Federal Reserve Henchmen! If they are EXPOSED most of this will stop, being the Cowards that they are. This is not the only Administrative body that needs EXPOSURE & until we find common ground to fight these Evil Elitists we’re doomed!!!! EXPOSE EXPOSE EXPOSE—-Freedom is our Life Blood

  5. if they wandered in to my down range I would vote them off the planet. But thats me. Viva Anarchy. (no I dont mean chaos) (i can cope without them dictating to me what a good moral person is)

  6. I could well be wrong, but my understanding of the Constitution tells me the treaty must be ratified before it becomes law. Not just signed by a shill in the white house. And even if it is ratified it cannot contradict or abrogate our Constitution. However, that all being said…I’m well aware they will attempt to end run and/or ignore the Constitution. But in my opinion, if they violate the Constitution they are an outlaw government plain and simple. And therefore it becomes our duty to ignore any edicts from them. Not only ignore, but defy and stand firm and perhaps most importantly…stand together.

    1. Just so you know, this isn’t the first time Obama and our government have violated our constitution. NDAA and Patriot Act did most of that already. So this act of signing will make no difference.

      1. NC, I am aware of the numerous violations. I agree with you. I guess I should have mentioned that this signing was another example of unConstitutional behavior by an outlaw, illegitamate government. I neglected that. I apologize. My point was we have a duty to defy/resist any outlaw dictates. If we don’t, we give our consent by our submission. In my opinion, the time for us to put aside our differences and speak with one voice is upon us. And we should not just say no…we must say HELL NO!!! Sometimes I think the eyes of countless patriots who gave their all from Lexington til now watch us…and they wonder what we will do.

        1. Yep, it’ll never end until people stand up and enforce their rights and laws. Plain and simple.

          I wish we had the strong militias we had back then instead of the ones we have now. So far I haven’t seen shit from them, especially after the Boston incident and the illegal home invasions. They just stood idley by and watched it happen. But hey, “Ignorance is strength”, right?

          The people in our country need so much help and I mean mentally, more importantly, as well as physically.

          1. And War is Peace and Freedom is Slavery. You know NC, I don’t have all the answers…hell, I don’t even know all the questions. But one thing I see that bothers me is how divided we as a people are. We fixate on it. We seem to look for reasons to argue. We demand others agree with us 100%. For example, AJ is a shill so some don’t like people who listen to him. You hear don’t visit that site…it’s no good…visit THIS site. You hear “You’re a moron if you don’t agree it’s the jews, or the Masons, or the Illuminati, or the bankers or the “reptiles”…or who or whatever. Haven’t we heard of “Divide and Conquer”? When are we going to quit nit-picking each others views and agree to disagree on the details…and find common ground we can ALL rally around? We all know there is a problem. We argue over who’s to blame. Screw that. Come to a unified concept of how to FIX the problem. There’s enough blame to go around. Why do we claim others are only “half” awake? Hey man…half awake is better than all asleep. If we can’t quit our bickering and stick together dispite our differing viewpoints..forget it…we’re toast. I could keep going…but I’m feeling a bit sheepish for climbing on a soapbox. Sorry man…I just had to rant a little.

  7. These words need to be heard the next time obama enters the house for a speech. coming from the minority house leader: “Sgt at arms, arrest that man for investigation of sedition and treason”(points to obama).

    the rest would be history. then we could get back to fixing all the damage these hooligans have caused to our country.

    1. Uh, milidude, wouldn’t that leave BIDEN in charge?

      Oddly enough, that thought scares the CR@P out of me!!!

      We need to arrest them ALL, not just the HEAD (Zionist) puppet.

      1. # 1 NWO Hatr –
        It would be a nice start. there is no limit that i know of for the number of people that the house Sgt. @ arms can arrest for investigation of criminal behavior and or contempt of congress. but, yes, if biden were in charge it would be a very scary event!.

  8. Working hard to not be so cynical any longer. When people do the right thing, regardless of their intentions, that’s a good thing! I figure it this way, because I’m praying and God hears, I expect to see some light shine in the darkness.
    If and until the shot heard round the world rings out we can and should be prepared to defend our lives, liberty, and property, as well as be thankful when people do what’s right. Besides, there’s a gun behind every blade of grass. Don’t think they are going to be successful at the gun grab! We all know better!

Join the Conversation

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


*