Vote Coming to Confirm Anti-gun Radical -- "Guns Kill Civil Society," says State Department Nominee

[Greg Fasolt]

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: [phone] / FAX: [phone]
http://www.gunowners.org

Tuesday, June 23, 2009


Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has scheduled a Wednesday vote on a
State Department nominee who supports gun control on a global scale.

While advocates of the Second Amendment have come to expect that
appointees of President Barack Obama would be hostile to the rights of
gun owners, the president's nominee for legal advisor to the State
Department reaches a whole new level of anti-gun extremism.

Harold Hongju Koh, who served at the State Department under the Clinton
administration, is a self-described "trans-nationalist" who believes
that our laws -- and our Constitution -- should be brought into
conformity with international agreements.

"If you want to be in the global environment, you have to play by the
global rules," Koh told a Cleveland audience.

Koh's positions treat our constitutional law as if it were a mere local
ordinance on the greater world stage. This is of particular concern to
gun owners at a time when the U.S. Congress is under pressure from
President Obama to ratify an international gun control treaty with
countries in the western hemisphere. That treaty, known by its Spanish
acronym CIFTA, would likely serve as a forerunner to a more extensive
United Nations initiative, the "Program of Action to Prevent, Combat and
Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in all its
Aspects."

The Bush administration, under the leadership of UN Ambassador John
Bolton, rejected the small arms treaty. Bolton plainly told the world
that the United States will not accept a gun control document that
violates our Constitutional right to bear arms. Harold Koh commented
that Bolton was being "needlessly provocative."

In a paper entitled "A world drowning in guns," Koh maintains that a
civil society cannot exist with broad gun ownership: "Guns kill civil
society," he said.

Koh is eager to assume his post at the State Department, having lamented
that there is only so much that can be done from the outside to push gun
control treaties, and that ultimately we need people like him in
positions of power. The chief lawyer for the State Department is just
the position someone like him needs to put his agenda into play.

While Koh's nomination has been delayed largely because of Second
Amendment concerns, Sen. Reid plans to force a vote this week.

It is imperative that gun owners contact their Senators and insist that
they vote AGAINST this anti-gun extremist.

ACTION: Please contact your Senators immediately and urge them to
oppose Harold Hongju Koh's nomination to the State Department. You can
use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at
http://gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your Senators the pre-written
message below.


----- Pre-written letter -----

Dear Senator:

The Senate is expected to soon vote on a State Department nominee who
supports gun control on a global scale.

Harold Hongju Koh, who served at the State Department under the Clinton
administration, is a self-described "trans-nationalist" who believes
that our laws -- and our Constitution -- should be brought into
conformity with international agreements.

According to Koh, "If you want to be in the global environment, you have
to play by the global rules." Well, I don't support global rules that
contradict our own Constitution.

Koh supports international gun control treaties such as the United
Nations initiative entitles the "Program of Action to Prevent, Combat
and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in all
its Aspects."

When former UN Ambassador John Bolton told the world that the United
States will not accept a gun control document that violates our
Constitutional right to bear arms, Harold Koh commented that Bolton was
being "needlessly provocative."

And in a 2003 Fordham Law Review article entitled "A world drowning in
guns," Koh maintains that a civil society cannot exist with broad gun
ownership: "Guns kill civil society," he wrote.

I urge you to reject this trans-nationalist, anti-gun extremist who
would place foreign laws and international agreements on equal footing
(at minimum) with the U.S. Constitution.

Sincerely,

[Greg Fasolt]

Alert: Senate to vote on radical Koh nomination

By Michelle Malkin • June 23, 2009 11:08 PM

The Right’s best legal minds have been exposing radical leftist Stuart Koh, President Obama’s State Department legal adviser nominee, for months.

On Wednesday morning, the Senate votes.

From the folks at No Koh:

Harold Koh has been nominated to be the State Department Legal Adviser, a position that would make him the voice of the United States around the world on international legal issues. Koh is, however, a major champion of “transnationalism” – the belief that Americans should use foreign law and the views of international organizations to interpret our Constitution and determine our policies. He believes that the United States needs international permission in order to defend itself, even from imminent threats. Koh has gone so far as to refer to the United States as part of an “axis of disobedience” – along with Iran, North Korea, and Saddam Hussein’s Iraq – in reference to America’s alleged repeated violations of international law.

Where we are: The Senate vote on Koh is scheduled to take place Wednesday morning, June 24th. Because Senate Majority Leader Reid has filed a motion to invoke what is known as “cloture” – which would limit debate on Koh’s nomination, his supporters will need sixty Senators to vote in favor of the motion on Wednesday morning. If Koh gets sixty yes votes, he will effectively be confirmed for the State Department Legal Adviser post.

The number for the Senate switchboard – which can transfer you to the offices of both your Senators – is [phone].

Please let your Senators know your views on this nomination.

Take time to make a call and make your voices heard.