Ron Paul Bids Farewell To Congress, Says Constitution Has Failed

In his farewell speech Wednesday after a 23-year-long stint in the Congress, Texas Republican Ron Paul criticized successive governments for failing the Constitution.

Paul, a three-time Republican presidential hopeful who is known as the apostle of individual liberty, said: “Our Constitution, which was intended to limit government power and abuse, has failed. The Founders warned that a free society depends on a virtuous and moral people. The current crisis reflects that their concerns were justified.”

The 77-year-old libertarian called on the people to reject the authoritarian bureaucracy and to return to the Constitution.

Paul has always criticized the government, corporatism, taxation policies, war and federal spending. His unwavering commitment to his ideology gained him millions of supporters. And in his farewell speech, he lambasted government once again for moving away from the founding principles of the Constitution.

“If authoritarianism leads to poverty and war and less freedom for all individuals and is controlled by rich special interests, the people should be begging for liberty. There certainly was a strong enough sentiment for more freedom at the time of our founding that motivated those who were willing to fight in the revolution against the powerful British government,” he said.

Arguing that liberty was the only choice that could solve the current crisis, Paul said that there was a need for intellectual awakening. If the present system continued, the crisis characterized by the slowdown in the economy would worsen and individual freedom would be lost forever, he cautioned.

“If it’s not accepted that big government, fiat money, ignoring liberty, central economic planning, welfarism and warfarism caused our crisis, we can expect a continuous and dangerous march toward corporatism and even fascism with even more loss of our liberties. Prosperity for a large middle class, though, will become an abstract dream.”

Analyzing his long tenure in the Congress, he said that he had not achieved much, according to conventional wisdom.

“In many ways, according to conventional wisdom, my off-and-on career in Congress, from 1976 to 2012, accomplished very little. No named legislation, no named federal buildings or highways—thank goodness. In spite of my efforts, the government has grown exponentially, taxes remain excessive, and the prolific increase of incomprehensible regulations continues. Wars are constant and pursued without Congressional declaration, deficits rise to the sky, poverty is rampant and dependency on the federal government is now worse than any time in our history,” he said.

Paul, an advocate of the “gold standard,” questioned the concept of paper money and believed in the concept of limited government.

In his speech, Paul focused on several issues against which he had fought throughout his life and career. He has attacked the aggressive foreign policies of successive governments, the Federal Reserve, modification to acts like the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that restrict the liberty of U.S. citizens and excessive government spending.

He concluded his speech acknowledging the overwhelming welcome he had received from young people in the country for promoting personal liberty, and he called on the people to spread the message of liberty.

“I have come to one firm conviction after these many years of trying to figure out the plain truth of things. The best chance for achieving peace and prosperity, for the maximum number of people worldwide, is to pursue the cause of liberty. If you find this to be a worthwhile message, spread it throughout the land.”

Read the full text here.