CONGRESS BLATANTLY THWARTS PEOPLE'S WILL

Everybody is talking about the case for impeachment against President
Clinton. Yes he did lie to the American people, but how many adulterers
wouldn't lie? And yes he committed perjury, but I have my doubts about these
being impeachable offenses considering the "crime."

Last month in Washington D.C., a very un-American act occurred in Congress.
As the election drew near and the federal budget was being finalized, Rep.
Robert Barr, R-Ga., added an amendment to prohibit the use of funds to count
the vote on the District's ballot initiative, I-59.

I-59, if passed, would allow doctors in D.C. to discuss and recommend the
use of medical marijuana with their patients. No matter your view on medical
marijuana, the fact that for the first time in American history Congress has
silenced the voice of the People should disturb us all. This sets a
frightening precedent. Congress decided that doctors should not be allowed
to discuss a proven medicine with their patients. This amounts to practicing
medicine without a license, a federal offense.

What's next? How long will it be before Congress does this again? It has
proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is not concerned with the will of
the People. Congress must be reminded that the People do not answer to the
government, the government answers to the People.

While Congress tries to thwart the will of the People it tells us that
medical marijuana shouldn't be decided by politics, but by medical science.
Nobody in favor of medical marijuana is opposed to this. But Congress has
made this a political issue and forced the People to use the ballot box to
keep the government reigned in.

Since 1996, the voters in five states have approved the medical use of
marijuana. The voters of Colorado did so this year but had the results
thrown out by the courts on grounds of insufficient petition signatures.
Arizona approved for the second time in two years the use of medical
marijuana. Voters there were forced back to the polls on this issue by that
state's legislature who tried to overturn the 1996 vote. The legislature was
sent a message that was loud and clear: The People have made their decision
and the government MUST live by it.

Exit polls last month in D.C. show that 60 percent or more voted in favor of
I-59, but Congress has decided to hold the People hostage.

This act by Congress is obscene. Every member of Congress who supported this
should be removed from office immediately. Their act was blatantly
unconstitutional.

Congress has no power that the People don't give it. In the United States of
America the power belongs to the People.

Brad Manzenberger
Trre Haute

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst