Here is my account of how a question/answer between me and my

congressman Doug Ose R - CA at a Town Hall meeting tonight (3/24):



When I walked in, I was handed a 3x5 card for questions,

and I rewrote my question as follows (intended draft below):



Rose Lear is in her 20th day of a hunger fast in an attempt to

get the federal government to answer a proper petition for

grievances. This petition has been signed by tens of thousands

of Americans and was delivered to EVERY congressman's office on

April 15th, 2002 and November 8th, 2002. In your opinion, does

the 1st Amendment right to petition include a duty of the

government to respond in a truthful and timely manner, and

what will you do to answer the We the People Foundation's

petition and save Rose Lear's life?



Ose promptly asked for clarification, to which I raised my hand

and engaged in the following (nearly as I can remember)



Ose: What is this petition about?

me: This regards the proper ratification of the 16th Amendment,

amongst other things.

Ose: And will you clue everybody in to what is the 16th?

me: It's the one that provides for, or allegedly provides for,

the federal income tax.

Ose: I don't know anything about this, what committee would

it have been referred to?

me: I can provide you proof of service if you'd like....

Ose: No, no, I don't doubt that it was delivered, but this

kind of thing would have been referred to a committee, maybe

the Judiciary?

me: I don't know, maybe.

Ose: I just want to locate the petition so I can know what it's

all about.

me: Maybe, Judiciary, I don't know.

(audience): Who's Rose Lear?

me: Rose Lear is from Muskegon, Michigan, her representative

is Pete Heckstra.

Ose: Hoekstra

me: Hoekstra. The petition she is trying to get answers for

include things like this example:

"Will the federal government admit that in 1909, when the

16th Amendment was proposed, the Revenue Statutes section 205

provided that "official notice" of a State's ratification of

an amendment must be received at the State Department?"



I will tell you that Congressman Bartlett responded to this

petition with the following:

"It is my duty as an elected representative to the United

States Congress to insure that once a petition, such as yours,

is properly framed, our government timely and properly responds."



Ose: I know Roscoe.

me: I have a letter here from the DOJ to Congressman Bartlett

in which they flat out refused to answer the questions posed

by the congressman, including the one I just read.

Ose: I believe that when a constituent asks me a question, that

I'll do everything I can to get that answer.

me: Well Congressman Bartlett has looked at these questions

and said "they will answer me, I'm a congressman", but the letter

I have here, the DOJ flat out refuses to answer. Now Rose Lear's

congressman, Pete Heckstra,

Ose: Hoekstra

me: Pete Hoekstra, his aide said "You may have the right to

petition, but that doesn't guarantee you'll get an answer."

So obviously we have a couple of congressmen with different

opinions of what the 1st Amendment means.

Ose: Can you imagine that? Two congressmen with different

opinions on something?

audience: [laughter]

Ose: There are only 435 of us, and we have a lot of different

opinions.

me: well, what I'm asking is if you agree more with Congressman

Bartlett, or with Congressman Hoekstra regarding the 1st

Amendment?

Ose: Have you tried to use FOIA to get the DOJ to answer?

me: That's how I have the letter addressed to Congressman

Bartlett. I've been going around with FOIA and the IRS since

last February. I've also been working with one of your staff

over the last couple of months. Your staff is currently

trying to locate a 1913 document from the state of Minnesota

to the Secretary of State.

Ose: Who have you been working with?

me: Terri Brewster

staff: We've only been aware of the FOIA for 30 days.

Ose: So have you FOIA'd the DOJ for this document?

me: No, I wouldn't expect them to have it, I'd expect it to

be the Secretary of State.

Ose: We'll find it.

me: Except that it doesn't exist. That's why I asked for that

particular document.

Ose: So Terri, there's your answer.

staff: He's sent 5 copies of a FOIA to the IRS and hasn't

received an answer from them, we've now sent 2.

me: but Congressman, I'm asking if your view of the first

amendment is closer to Congressman Bartlett or Congressman

Hoekstra.

Ose: We'll get an answer to your FOIA.

me: Thank you Congressman.

Ose: I will find answers for my constitutents.

me: Thank you Congressman.