William Thomas
P.O Box 27217
Washington, D.C. 20038
(202) 462-0757
January 10, 1993
Michael Espy
Presidential Transition Team
1120 Vermont Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20005
Dear Mr. Espy,
Congratulations on your new position. I am praying that you will use
your increased power with wisdom, because only wisdom will contribute to a
more perfect union.
You will probably agree that without freedom to assemble, "freedom of
thought" and "freedom of speech" -- the true keystones of any democracy --
become nothing more than hollow, meaningless phrases.
A lot of people who voted for President Clinton believe that Reagan/Bush
policy promoted the regulatory suppression of free thought and express, and
left this country a greatly diminished First Amendment. They hope this
administration will have the wisdom to reverse that trend of regulatory
abuse.
(if something is "" it is underlined if something is """ it is underlined and
quoted. This applied in the below paragraph only)
For much of the past seven years the Nation Forest Service, one of the
agencies with Agriculture, has repeatedly (albeit, thank God, unsuccessfully)
attempted to implement a regulatory scheme on """public lands.""" ""United
States v. Israel"", No. Cr-86-027-TUC-RMB (May 10, 1986; 53 ""Fed. Reg"".
16548 (May 10, 1988), ""amending"" 36 C.F.R. Sec. 251.50 ""et seq"", (1987);
""United States v. The Rainbow Family"", 694 F. Supp. 294, (June 1, 1989, J.
Justice, USED Tex. CA No. L-88-68); 55 ""Fed. Reg"". 8498 (March 8, 1990) and
related draft of proposed amendment to 36 CFR 251 submitted to OMB (February
22, 1990).
Now, it appears, NFS has somehow managed to obtain an exemption from
President Bush's current moratorium on regulations, and plans to submit
(before January 20th) for OMB's approval, yet another regulatory attempt to
subvert the First Amendment as it presently applies to peaceable assembly on
public lands.
I like to think that the departing administration is just trying to slip
another fast one by the American public before the new administration even
knows what's going on. You have an opportunity to nip this affront to
democracy in the bud, and reverse the authoritarian inclinations of the
preceding administration.
In my information proves correct, and NFS actually published a rule to
restrict public assembly on public lands, please have them recind the
publication as soon as you are able.
Sincerely, in service to the Creator of life,