Utah Rep. Bishop Lectures Colleagues on the Constitution After 2nd School Fined $19K for Selling Soda

When Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) heard that a school in his home state was fined $15,000 for accidentally selling soda during lunch, thus violating federal law, he was angry. But that's only part of the story. While The Blaze brought that story national attention on Thursday, now we come to find out that it wasn't the only school that had to fork over thousands of dollars for selling soda at the wrong time.

As it turns out, Box Elder High School in Brigham City, Utah, was fined $19,000 for its own violation of the Healthy, Hunger-free Kids act of 2010.

That led Bishop to deliver a passionate House speech on Wednesday where he lectured his colleagues on the Constitution.

"It is restated in the 10^th Amendment where each level of government had a specific and distinct responsibility. When the states were interfering with the federal government, it produced historical catastrophic consequences," Bishop said on Thursday. "But also when the federal government interferes with the role of states, the consequences will range from being catastrophic to just plain silly.”

He wasn't done:

“In 2010, this congress passed the Healthy and Hunger-free Kids Act. We were wrong to pass it for five reasons. Number one, it was a Senate bill--that should have been our first tipoff.  Number two, it was opposed by the National Governor's Association. Three, it was opposed by the school boards association. Four, it violated the Constitution. Finally, number five, we created a one-size-fits-all federal program, not defined by us.”

Bishop explained both schools are important to him: he graduated from one and taught at the other for 23 years.

“It was wrong for Congress to invade the role of states. It was wrong to punish kids for these silly reasons. It is wrong to violate federalism," he concluded. "If a community, school, and their PTA wanted to create the standards themselves, fine. It is wrong for this body to think that every issue has to be decided here in this room and it is wrong for us to forget that the 10^th amendment has a purpose. It is there for a reason and should be respected.”

You can watch the speech below:

By the way, Bishop pleaded with his colleagues in 2010 not to pass this exact legislation for fear of a federal power grab (that would replace local and parental common sense). It seems he was right: