Rare News Desk
Seven members of the House Liberty Caucus spoke to student activists at Young Americans for Liberty’s 6th annual convention on Wednesday night, where each congressman offered some advice for the Millennial audience.
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Here’s how each of them said young people can help promote a more libertarian message effectively:
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — “Find more of you”
“Sometimes we sign up for the ass-kicking so we can put other members on record,” Massie said. “Then you need to do something about it.”
Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) — “Pick your battles”
Labrador urged the audience to narrow the focus to piecemeal change, instead shooting for rapid change overnight. He suggested picking three issues at a time instead of trying to attack every problem at once.
“If you pick three issues you can move the ball,” he said.
He added that the young activists should, once successful, then move on to three more issues.
Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Ca.) — “Hold fast to the Republic”
Rep. McClintock offered a reflection, pointing to the fall of Rome. Rome fell, McClintock says, because of the usurpation of the senate by executive power. “The senate continued to convene for 400 years, but it wasn’t the same,” he said.
The parallel is clear.
McClintock addressed the audience: “Save [the American] Republic, or step back and watch it collapse.”
He closed with a passage from Daniel Webster:
Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster and what has happened once in 6,000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world.
Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kans.) — Scare your congressmen
“If you think they’re afraid of you, you’re having success,” Huelskamp said, imploring the audience to make D.C. play by their rules not its own.
Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) — “Be willing to lose”
Mentioning William Wallace’s final breath in Braveheart, Rep. Sanford said, “Be willing to lose on issues you strongly believe in.”
Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) — “Get off the internet and get into the streets”
Rep. Jones lamented the fact that people just don’t seem to protest the way they used to. The 71-year-old congressman said, “Sadly, the color of their hair is mine, not yours.”
“Get off the internet and get into the streets,” he declared. “Why not stage a protest: No more money for Afghanistan.”
Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) — “Make people understand”
When it comes to getting the liberty movement message out there, Rep. Justin Amash wanted to make it clear that the onus is on the movement, not other people.
“Make people understand that your principles are the principles of this country,” Rep. Amash said.
Amash, who followed Jones, also joked, “Well, maybe a little internet.”
(Photo credit: Associated Press, unless otherwise stated)
