The “TRACE” Act—Is This the World We Want?
by Mary Holland, Vice Chair and General Counsel, Children’s Health Defense
May 15, 2020
Unless we put medical freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize into an undercover dictatorship to restrict the art of healing to one class of Men and deny equal privileges to others; the Constitution of the Republic should make a Special privilege for medical freedoms as well as religious freedom. ~ Benjamin Rush, Physician and Signer of the Declaration of Independence
House of Representatives’ Bill H.R. 6666, the “COVID-19 Testing, Reaching, and Contacting Everyone (‘TRACE’) Act” is a startling piece of proposed legislation. Introduced by Rep. Bobby Rush, Democrat, from the South Side of Chicago, it seems fitting that he introduced it on May 1, or May Day, the worldwide term for a distress call in a life-threatening emergency. Another bizarre and troubling detail, its number – 6666 – incorporates what is considered the number of the beast in the Book of Revelation. Omens such as these must surely give pause to even the agnostic among us.
The bill is short – under five pages – but grants $100 BILLION to entities around the country “to trace and monitor the contacts of infected individuals, and to support the quarantine of such contacts.” It would do this through mobile health units “at individuals’ residences” and provide “services related to testing and quarantines” and “for other purposes.” Priority for funding would go to “hot spots” and “medically underserved communities.”
The Centers for Disease Control Director would direct the funds to health clinics, schools, high schools, universities or basically any other entity the CDC Director chooses. $100 billion in funding would be for Fiscal Year 2020 and “such sums as may be necessary” for FY 2021 and any year thereafter when the emergency continues. The bill almost humorously notes that it must not contradict medical privacy laws.
One hundred billion dollars is the size of New Jersey and Illinois’ entire state budgets, combined. The bill is wildly unconstitutional on myriad grounds. Yet, it now has 58 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. If passed, this bill would surveil EVERYONE.
The bill creates a federally-funded “health” police force with power to “conduct diagnostic testing for COVID-19, and related activities…at individuals’ residences,” paving the road to violations of due process and equal protection. Journalist Ben Swann provides an excellent overview of the bill’s stunning problems in this 15-minute video.
But as bad as the bill would be for everyone, H.R. 6666 is especially ominous for children. If passed, it would lead to family separations—as promoted by the World Health Organization—despite the fact that children rely on their parents and guardians in every way — physically, emotionally and psychologically.
And the threat of child separation is not far-fetched—an ad on a Washington State job board suggests that child separation for quarantine is already in the works.
The State of Washington, ahead of the federal curve on contact tracing, has already outlined the plan for wide testing, quick isolation, contact tracing and quarantine. The graph below comes from Governor Inslee’s recent presentation on the State’s plans.
If you do not like the totalitarian future that H.R. 6666 foreshadows, violating inalienable rights to one’s person, home and property, to one’s life, freedoms, privacy and security and that of your children, then please take action. Send a letter to your legislator and share this with your friends. The time to act in preservation of the freedoms established by our forefathers in the Constitution is now.
Make sure your U.S. Representative in Congress hears from you! Go to our Advocacy Center and scroll down to the form to easily send a letter.
The Children’s Health Defense Team is devoted to the health of people and our planet. Their mission is to work aggressively to reduce exposure to all sources of mercury, hold those accountable who failed to protect our planet and people from unnecessary exposure, restore health to those who have been harmed, and make sure this tragedy never happens again.
They do what they do for many reasons. Some have children who have been injured. Some have seen an injustice and feel the need to step in where others fear to tread. Some are focused on the demand for scientific integrity, others on improving the health of this, and future, generations.
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