Ron Paul Re-Introduces Legislation to Capture Bin Laden

In a statement released yesterday on Ron Paul's campaign website, his campaign chairman, Ken Snyder, reminds us that Ron Paul has been at the forefront of the efforts to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden. On October 10, 2001, Congressman Paul led the effort in Congress to give President Bush the tools he needed to capture, dead or alive, Osama bin Laden and the other terrorists responsible for September 11th. Dr. Paul introduced on that day H.R. 3076 - The September 11 Marque and Reprisal Act of 2001. If passed, the legislation would have given President Bush an additional weapon against bin Laden. If Dr. Paul's legislation had passed in 2001, it is likely bin Laden would not still be at large six years later.

For those not familiar with Letters of Marque and Reprisal, they would improve chances to capture Osama bin Laden and others more quickly, decrease the risk of American military being wounded or killed, decrease the risk of a larger war developing, decrease the number of innocent civilians killed, and reduce the cost of U.S. military operations.

Article I, Section 8, Clauses 10 and 11 of the U.S. Constitution grant Congress the power to offer a bounty and appoint stealth warriors, private companies and individuals, to capture or kill an enemy such as Osama bin Laden and his fellow terrorists, as well as seize their property. Two hundred years ago the founding fathers saw the need for ways to capture or kill those who threatened us, and provided a way to do so without having to go to war.

In 2001 when Congressman Paul introduced his legislation to grant letters of Marque and Reprisal against Osama bin Laden, he said, "The founders and authors of our Constitution provided an answer for the difficult tasks that we now face. When a precise declaration of war was impossible due to the vagueness of our enemy, the Congress was expected to take it upon themselves to direct the reprisal against an enemy not recognized as a government."