Recognizing that it is the sense of the United States House of Representatives that Socialism poses a significant threat to the freedom, liberty, and economic prosperity.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 253 Recognizing that it is the sense of the United States House of Representatives that Socialism poses a significant threat to the freedom, liberty, and economic prosperity. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 25, 2019 Mr. BROOKS of Alabama (for himself, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. GREEN of Tennessee, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia, Mr. PERRY, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, and Mr. KING of Iowa) submitted the following resolu- tion; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned RESOLUTION Recognizing that it is the sense of the United States House of Representatives that Socialism poses a significant threat to the freedom, liberty, and economic prosperity. Whereas, Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines Socialism as ‘‘any of various economic and political theories advo- cating collective or governmental ownership and adminis- tration of the means of production and distribution of goods’’; Whereas, Merriam-Webster Dictionary also defines Socialism as ‘‘a system of society of group living in which there is no private property’’; VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Mar 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR253.IH HR253 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 253 IH Whereas, Merriam-Webster Dictionary also defines Socialism as ‘‘a system or condition of society in which the means or production are owned and controlled by the state’’; Whereas, Socialism and the policies advocated for by self-de- scribed ‘‘democratic socialists’’ have an underlying histor- ical connection to the Marxist theory, also known as Marxism; Whereas, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels originally estab- lished Marxist theory when they published The Com- munist Manifesto and Das Kapital; Whereas, the theory developed by these books and that of Marxism are a direct attack against the capitalist model of economic production and opposed the notion of secured private property rights; Whereas, Karl Marx wrote in The Communist Manifesto that ‘‘[w]hen in the course of development, class distinctions have disappeared, and all production has been con- centrated in the hands of a vast association of the whole nation, the public power will lode its political character. Political power, properly so called, is merely the orga- nized power of one class for oppressing another’’; Whereas, history has witnessed countless failed Marxist in- spired regimes. Time and time again, without fail, Marx- ist and Socialists inspired governments fail. Socialism is guaranteed to fail, no matter whether it takes the form of democratic Socialism, central planning socialism, or authoritarian Socialism, Socialist policies and programs do not work; Whereas, history has witnessed the rise and fall of enough Marxist inspired socialist regimes to recognize that Marx- ism and Socialism are failed ideologies; VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Mar 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR253.IH HR253 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 253 IH Whereas, in the 20th century the ideologies of Marxism and Socialism spread throughout the world; Whereas, throughout the reign of the former Soviet Union, socialist policies and programs were responsible for the death of millions of his own citizens based on the devas- tation caused by the implementation of socialist policies and programs, resulting in famine, death, and destruc- tion; Whereas, socialist policies and programs failed in the Soviet Union, leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall and complete collapse of the Soviet Union. On December 25, 1991, the Soviet hammer and sickle flag lowered for the last time over the Kremlin, thereafter replaced by the Russian tri- color in the early 1990s; Whereas, Mao Zedong was the principal Chinese Marxist theorist, and the leader of the revolution that created the Chinese Communist Party. Mao Zedong served as Chair- man of the Chinese Communist Party 1943 through 1976; Whereas, socialist policies and programs continue to destroy countries in the 21st century; Whereas, today, in 2019, the country of Venezuela is in mas- sive turmoil, with riots in the streets, massive protests, disputed elections, and challenges to establish a working government that is supported by its citizens; Whereas, Venezuela is run by two rival political organiza- tions, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela and Pop- ular Will, a progressive social-democratic party; Whereas, due to the perverse incentives and inherent flaws of Marxist theory, Socialism inevitably leads to societal rot, resulting in devastation and destruction; VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Mar 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR253.IH HR253 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 253 IH Whereas, existing socialist policies are destabilizing Ven- ezuela’s economy and national stability; Whereas, Venezuela is rich in natural resources. Venezuela has the largest proven barrels of oil reserves in the entire world, reported to be 300 million barrels, by World Atlas in January of 2019; Whereas, because of the socialist policies and leaders in Ven- ezuela, their inflation rate had soared to 80,000 percent by the end of 2018, with nearly 90 percent of the citizens of Venezuela living below the poverty line; Whereas, because of the socialist policies and leaders in Ven- ezuela, the average Venezuelan has lost 24 pounds in the last year due to malnutrition and lack of access to food, water, and other basic nutrients; Whereas, there is an alarming amount of support for social- ism and democratic socialism spreading across the United States of America; Whereas, a 2018 Gallup Poll showed 57 percent of Demo- crats have a favorable opinion of socialism, while only 47 percent of Democrats polled have a positive view of cap- italism; Whereas, an increasing number of Democrat politicians have labeled themselves as ‘‘democratic socialists’’ over recent years. The line between democrat and socialist has been increasingly blurred.; Whereas, Senator Bernie Sanders, a top 2016 Democrat presidential candidate, has declared, ‘‘I am a democratic Socialist’’ and went on to advocate that ‘‘it’s time we had Democratic Socialism for working families’’; Whereas, freshman Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib are registered members of the Demo- VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Mar 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR253.IH HR253 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 5 •HRES 253 IH cratic Socialists of America and are self-described social- ists; Whereas, in October of 2018 The White House’s Council of Economic Advisers published a report entitled The Op- portunity Costs of Socialism; Whereas, this report highlighted the inherent failure of social- ism. The report stated that ‘‘[i]n assessing the effects of socialist policies, it is important to recognize that they provide little material incentive for production and inno- vation and, by distributing goods and services for ‘free’, prevent prices from revealing economically important in- formation about costs and consumer needs and wants’’; Whereas, this report from the Council of Economic Advisers is quoted as ‘‘[w]e find that historical proponents of so- cialist policies and those in the contemporary United States share some of their visions and intents. They both characterize the distribution of income in market econo- mies as the unjust result of ‘exploitation’, which should be rectified by extensive state control’’; Whereas, the report by the Council of Economic Advisers also found that there is ‘‘a strong association between greater economic freedom and better economic performance’’; Whereas, Margaret Thatcher (1976), once argued, ‘‘Socialist governments . . . always run out of other people’s money’’, and thus the way to prosperity is for the state to give ‘‘the people more choice to spend their own money in their own way.’’; Whereas, free-market capitalism is the greatest engine for human advancement in the history of the world, bringing more people out of poverty and into prosperity than any economic model in the history of mankind; VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Mar 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR253.IH HR253 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS 6 •HRES 253 IH Whereas, the United States of America is the single greatest Nation in the history of the world, due in large part be- cause of its system of government that secures private property rights of all citizens through the genius of The United States Constitution; and Whereas, on February 5, 2019, in the State of the Union ad- dress, President Donald J. Trump declared that ‘‘we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country’’ and that ‘‘America will never be a socialist country’’: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) acknowledges that Marxism and Socialism 2 are failed ideologies; 3 (2) Socialism poses a significant threat to the 4 freedom, liberty, and economic prosperity to all 5 countries and citizens around the world; 6 (3) Socialism is a failed experiment of govern- 7 ance that inevitably ends in misery and suffering; 8 (4) throughout the history, tradition, and na- 9 tional civic spirit of the United States of America, 10 our country has been a beacon of light shining like 11 a lighthouse to the rest of the world demonstrating 12 that freedom and liberty are the surest forms of gov- 13 ernment; and 14 (5) stand with President Trump and affirm 15 that America will never be a socialist nation. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Mar 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR253.IH HR253 jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with BILLS