III 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 289 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that socialism poses a significant threat 

to freedom, liberty, and economic prosperity. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2019 

Mr. DAINES submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that socialism poses 

a significant threat to freedom, liberty, and economic 

prosperity. 

Whereas Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines socialism as— 

(1) ‘‘any of various economic and political theories 

advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution 

of goods’’; and 

(2) ‘‘a system of society or group living in which 

there is no private property’’; 

Whereas socialism and the policies advocated by self-described ‘‘democratic socialists’’ have an underlying historical connection to the Marxist theory; 

Whereas history has witnessed countless failed Marxist-inspired regimes; 


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•SRES 289 IS 

Whereas, because of the perverse incentives and inherent 

flaws of the Marxist theory, socialism inevitably leads to 

societal rot, resulting in devastation, economic poverty, 

and destruction; 

Whereas prominent elected officials in the Senate and the 

House of Representatives are self-described socialists and 

espouse socialist proposals; 

Whereas socialist policies such as the Green New Deal and 

socialized medicine would— 

(1) eliminate the private property rights of all people 

of the United States; and 

(2) force taxpayers to pay trillions of dollars to implement; 

Whereas Alexis de Tocqueville wrote, ‘‘Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But 

notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in 

liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.’’; 

Whereas Margaret Thatcher once stated, ‘‘Socialist governments . . . always run out of other people’s money’’, and 

thus the way to prosperity is for the state to give ‘‘the 

people more choice to spend their own money in their 

own way’’; 

Whereas free-market capitalism is the greatest engine for 

human advancement in the history of the world, bringing 

more people out of poverty and into prosperity than any 

economic model in the history of mankind; 

Whereas the United States is the single greatest country in 

the history of the world, due in large part to its system 

of government that secures the private property rights of 


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•SRES 289 IS 

all citizens through the genius of the Constitution of the 

United States; and 

Whereas, on February 5, 2019, in the State of the Union address, President Donald J. Trump declared— 

(1) ‘‘We are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism 

in our country’’; and 

(2) ‘‘America will never be a socialist country’’: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) acknowledges that Marxism and socialism 

3 are failed ideologies; 

4 (2) recognizes that socialism poses a significant 

5 threat to the freedom, liberty, and economic pros6 perity of all countries and people around the world; 

7 (3) accepts that socialism is a failed experiment 

8 of governance that inevitably ends in misery and suf9 fering; 

10 (4) declares that, throughout the history, tradi11 tion, and national civic spirit of the United States, 

12 the United States has been a beacon of light shining 

13 like a lighthouse to the rest of the world, dem14 onstrating that freedom and liberty are the surest 

15 foundation of government; and 

16 (5) affirms that the United States should never 

17 be a socialist country. 

Æ 


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