The so-called immigration bill the United States Senate is considering this week (S.744) is about much more than immigration laws. As Ted Hesson explains at ABC News, the bill would significantly expand the US Border Patrol's already large role in the US government's war on drugs. Putting the legislation in context, San Antonio Express-News columnist O. Ricardo Pimental advises that the legislation advances what he calls the "growing border-industrial complex," which operates much like the...

The United States House of Representatives voted 225-220 on Thursday to remove the US government prohibition on colleges and universities growing industrial hemp for research purposes in compliance with state laws. The vote was taken on an amendment offered by Rep. Jared Polis and cosponsors Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Thomas Massie during consideration of the farm bill (H.R. 1947). While the farm bill failed to pass in the House, the amendment vote has established majority support in the House...

Today the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the United States House of Representatives is holding a hearing designed to cheer the US government's secret mass spying programs. The committee leadership's one-sided agenda is highlighted by the title of this morning's hearing—How Disclosed NSA Programs Protect Americans, and Why Disclosure Aids Our Adversaries—and the hearing's witness list, composed entirely of high-level managers and lawyers in government entities administering the...

Roll Call reports that Reps. Justin Amash and Thomas Massie are considering introducing an amendment in the United States House of Representatives as early as this week that would protect National Security Agency whistle-blower Edward Snowden from prosecution. Snowden may need such legislative help. Over at Fox Business, RPI Advisory Board Member Judge Andrew Napolitano calls Snowden a hero and explains why Snowden may face serious legal consequences.

United States Rep. Paul Broun of Georgia, who is running for US Senate, struck a nerve when he offered an amendment to eliminate funding for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) during consideration of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act in the House of Representatives last week. At Roll Call, this amendment is characterized as the latest example of Broun's "penchant for pushing amendments that are viewed as extreme, even by many in his own party." The article...

The United States Senate is preparing to end consideration of the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act (S. 954) without any vote on Sen. Ron Wyden's amendment that would eliminate the Controlled Substances Act prohibition on growing hemp. Ryan Grim at the Huffington Post presents a behind-the-scenes story of the lack of a vote on the amendment. Sen. Wyden made the following statement regarding the resolution of the amendment in this year's farm bill: "Ending the restrictions on industrial...

The United States Senate may vote this week on an amendment that would eliminate the Controlled Substances Act prohibition on growing industrial hemp. Sen. Ron Wyden has introduced in the Senate his Industrial Hemp Farming Act as Amendment 952 to the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act (S. 954). Sen. Wyden's amendment is similar in wording to the Industrial Hemp Farming Act. Rep. Ron Paul introduced previously and Rep. Thomas Massie has reintroduced in the House of Representatives. Below is...