Ron Paul on Small Government

Term limits, 1970s: Paul was the first member of Congress to propose term limits legislation in the House, one of several bills considered "ahead of their time" by Texas Monthly magazine.

Market Process Restoration Act of 1999. HR 1789, 1999-05-13. Repeals United States antitrust law (which limits cartels and monopolies), with intent to restore market economy benefits.

To repeal the Military Selective Service Act. HR 424, 2007-01-11, originally HR 1597, 2001-04-26, cosponsored since HR 2421, 1997-09-05. Abolishes the Selective Service System, prohibits reestablishment of the draft, and forbids denial of rights due to failure to register.

Eminent domain: Prevented the Department of Housing and Urban Development from seizing a church in New York through eminent domain.

International Criminal Court (ICC): Barred ICC jurisdiction over the U.S. military (2002 amendment).

Global tax: Barred American participation in any U.N. "global tax" (2005 amendment).^[14]

Surveillance: Barred surveillance on peaceful First Amendment activities by citizens (2006 amendment). Individual privacy may be an area of Paul's greatest influence, and he has long worked tirelessly against forms of what he considers to be federal snooping.

Sunlight Rule. HRes 63, 2007-01-12, originally HRes 709, 2006-03-02. Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to ensure that Members have a reasonable amount of time to read legislation that will be voted upon. Prohibits votes on legislation from occurring until ten days after its introduction, with the intent of giving lawmakers enough time to read bills before voting on them; allots 72 hours for House members and staff to examine the contents of amendments. Paul charged his fellow legislators with voting for the Patriot Act in 2001 without reading it first; more than 300 pages long, it was enacted into law less than 24 hours after being introduced.

Congressional Responsibility and Accountability Act. HR 3302, 2007-08-01. Prohibits federal rules and regulations not enacted into law by Congress, if they result in job loss or exceed specified costs to individuals, corporations, or all persons in aggregate.

American Freedom Agenda Act of 2007. HR 3835, 2007-10-15. To restore the Constitution's checks and balances and protections against government abuses as envisioned by the Founding Fathers. Proposes to "bar the use of evidence obtained through torture; require that federal intelligence gathering is conducted in accordance with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA); create a mechanism for challenging presidential signing statements; repeal the Military Commissions Act, which, among other things, denies habeas corpus to certain detainees; prohibit kidnapping, detentions, and torture abroad; protect journalists who publish information received from the executive branch; and ensure that secret evidence is not used to designate individuals or organizations with a presence in the U.S. as foreign terrorists."

See also the limited government and income tax abolition amendment.