Perriello ignoring Constitution

On May 8th, a group of local citizens from the Jefferson Area Tea Party met with Congressman Tom Perriello, D-Albemarle, at his office. He was presented with a petition signed by over a thousand people who had attended the April Tax Day Tea Party. At this meeting we were able to speak with Mr. Perriello about our various concerns.

One question that we asked concerned the congressman’s views on HR 450, the Enumerate Powers Act. This is a very simple piece of legislation: “To require Congress to specify the source of authority under the United States Constitution for the enactment of laws, and for other purposes.” Mr. Perriello at the time was not familiar with the bill, but after it was explained to him stated that he did not see any problem with the legislation. He promised to check into it and get back to us.

At the time Mr. Perriello was asked about this bill there were no Democratic co-sponsors; at the writing of this letter there are still no Democratic co-sponsors.
After a month I was able to finally get an answer from the congressman’s office: He would not sign on as a co-sponsor to the bill. According to his office, he felt that any legislation that currently was being passed was constitutional, and if it were not the courts could settle any questions. This bill according to him was an unneeded redundancy.
I find it odd that what seemed like a good idea when he met with his constituents turned out to be an unneeded piece of legislation. As a freshman congressman, he obviously will stick to party lines. After all, not one of the 42 co-sponsors is a Democrat, so it is obviously not a bill that is supported by the party.

Considering all the bills that have been passed over the last several years that are clearly beyond the constitutionally mandated powers of the federal government, this bill is needed.
I am amazed at the way our representatives either ignore or manipulate this document. They have sworn an oath to uphold our Constitution; I do not believe that there is one elected official in Washington that has not broken that oath. It is up to us as citizens to replace these oath breakers with representatives that will hold our Constitution inviolate.