BARR '08

Rep. Bob Barr Announces Presidential Exploratory Committee Libertarian Party

Kansas City, MO – Addressing Midwestern activists at the Heartland Libertarian Conference today, Rep. Bob Barr announced the launch of an Exploratory Committee for President of the United States.

“The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality,” Barr declared, adding that “America faces a grave leadership crisis today, and neither I nor millions of my fellow citizens can afford to remain neutral. Some say it is not the time to do the right thing, for the right reason. I ask you, when has there been a better time? When has the risk of inaction carried such enormous consequences? When will it be appropriate to take extraordinary steps? What must happen to our Constitution before we set aside our complacency or pragmatism?”

Barr was appointed by President Reagan to serve as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, a position he held from 1986 to 1990. He has served as an official with the CIA for nearly eight years. Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003, where he served as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, as Vice-Chairman of the Government Reform Committee, and as a member of the Committee on Financial Services.

Since leaving Congress, Barr has been practicing law and actively advocating our right to privacy and other civil liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. He serves as a board member for the National Rifle Association and works with the American Conservative Union, and other groups.

Barr’s speech to the Heartland audience touched on the issues the candidates for the two major status quo parties have not addressed sufficiently, namely the urgent need for actually cutting the size of the federal government, the protection of civil liberties, securing our borders, fundamentally reforming our tax code, and ending dependency on entitlement programs.

“Removing ‘earmarks’ but not cutting the underlying spending is simply government as usual and is nothing more than a cynical shell game,” Barr stated; adding, “That’s the high water mark in the debate thus far. That isn’t enough and America’s voters deserve better than a choice between the lesser of two evils.”

The Libertarian Party nominee will appear on the ballots in 48 states at this time, with the remaining states to be confirmed shortly. The nominee will be chosen at the Libertarian National Convention which will be held in Denver, CO May 22 through 26.