From the beginning, the United States was conceived as an independent state. Our founding fathers wished to be governed by our own laws, ideals and customs, not shackled by the demands and desires of external kings and tyrants. The Declaration of Independence leaves no question in the reader’s mind concerning this basic truth. Today, however, this basic tenet of our freedom has been jeopardized by a section of our Constitution which Jefferson, Adams and Madison could never have envisioned.

Article VI Section 2 of the Constitution of the United States reads as follows:

This Constitution and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the Supreme Law of the Land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary, notwithstanding.

The Supreme Court, in a vast majority of decisions concerning this matter, has interpreted that ANY Treaty or Executive Agreement (Executive Order etc.) takes precedence over the Constitution, as well as Federal, State, and Local Law in the United States. Research indicates that there are 11,344 treaties and executive (presidential) agreements in place today. The implications of this problem are evident to anyone who reads a newspaper. The United States is experiencing international meddling in our internal affairs as never before. One needs only to look at many of the 185 decisions made by the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Global Accord on Tariff Trade tribunals to recognize the effect they are having on American jobs, businesses and communities. Those decisions were made on the basis of Treaties and not U.S. Constitutional law; adjudicated not by U.S. courts but UN tribunals.

Trade is not the only area affected by treaties. Recently the United States Senate agreed to our inclusion in the Chemical Weapons Convention, a treaty which on the surface espoused noble intentions … the control and destruction of all chemical devices of mass destruction. The reality of the matter however could be quite different. The convention (treaty) provides for unlimited inspection of any facility in any country that subscribed to the agreement. Quite simply, this would allow U.N. inspectors to conduct warrant less searches in direct violation of the Fourth Amendment which protects us from unreasonable search and seizure. Clinton’s latest foray into the dark world of treaties is, of course, the Climate Change Protocol, which, even under the most conservative estimates, will destroy millions of jobs and decimate the economy. The list goes on and on. Needless to say, the problem is a major threat to the individual guarantees of freedom, liberty and prosperity that have made us the envy of the world and the bane of tyrants for over 200 years.

The problem has reached epidemic proportions today with the proliferation of "one world government" schemes and Clinton’s "all the world’s a village" mentality. This constitutional trap was first recognized as a threat over 40 years ago. In 1952 Senator John Bricker from Ohio realized the threat resulting from Article VI, Section 2, and attempted to remedy the problem by means of a constitutional amendment. The Bricker Amendment, as it came to be called, provided an amendment to the treaty making powers by preventing "any treaty or executive agreement from undermining the fundamental rights of the American people or from sacrificing essential attributes of sovereignty." Specifically:

· Section 1. A provision of a treaty, which conflicts with this Constitution, shall not be of any force or effect.

· Section 2. A treaty shall become effective as internal law in the United States only through legislation, which would be valid in the absence of a treaty.

· Section 3. Congress shall have the power to regulate all executive and other agreements with any foreign power or international organization. All such agreements shall be subject to the limitations imposed on treaties in this article.

· Section 4. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Frank Chodorov of Human Events wrote at the time, "The proposed amendment arises from a rather odd situation. A nation is threatened by invasion, not by a foreign army, but by its own legal entanglements. Not soldiers, but theoreticians and visionaries attack its independence and aim to bring its people under the rule of an agglomeration of foreign governments. This is something new in history. There have been occasions when a weak nation sought security by placing itself under the yoke of a strong one. But, here we have the richest nation in the world, and apparently the strongest, flirting with the liquidation of its independence. Nothing like this has ever happened before."

Mr Chodorov’s comments ring as true today as they did over 40 years ago.

The Bricker amendment originally had 56 co-sponsors, but was defeated in a floor vote 42-50 with 4 not voting. The defection of key conservative senators doomed the issue. A watered down version known as the "George proposal" also lost… by one vote.

At the time of the amendment’s defeat Frank E. Holman, president of the American Bar Association wrote, "In the destiny of human affairs a great issue like a righteous cause does not die. It lives on and arises again and again until rightly won. However long the fight for an adequate constitutional amendment on treaties and other international agreements, it will and must be won. This will be the history of the Bricker Amendment as it has been the history of all other great issues and causes."

Mr. Holman’s prophecy has been realized in Congressman Helen Chenoweth’s re-introduction of the amendment as HR 83 last fall.

In a time when we see UN Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage designations taking place with neither the knowledge or consent of local citizens, when we watch the shutdown and blackmail of mining, logging, farming, ranching and other resource operations as a result of international interference, it is time for Congress to put America first. It is time for the Bricker Amendment.

If ever there was a litmus test for our elected officials this is it. There are no logical arguments against this kind of protection, its only purpose is to preserve our system of representative government. Either you vote to preserve the sovereignty of the United States of America or you vote to deliver the future of this nation, and its people, to third world feudal tyrants. Either you believe that American men and women should determine their own destiny and success according to the precepts of a constitutional republic, or you believe that only an elite few should make those decisions. Each and every elected official in this country should have to go on record concerning this issue.

Thanks to Congressman Helen Chenoweth and the late Senator Bricker, we have the tool to derail this train of self destruction. Government by treaty and executive order is no less onerous than the tyranny of King George III, or Adolph Hitler. If we are to protect and defend this land of freedom and liberty, as countless thousands of our forebears have, we must assert our right to determine our own destiny, free from the intervention and intimidation of an autocratic international body composed of tin horn dictators and totalitarian despots. It is incumbent upon every citizen who treasures the freedom that this country affords its citizens to take back the reins of power by making every elected official responsive to YOUR wishes; demanding a written position on the Bricker Amendment is a good place to start.