WASHINGTON — Hundreds of young libertarians gathered on Wednesday night to celebrate the legacy of retiring Rep. Ron Paul hours after the House passed legislation to audit the Federal Reserve — legislation that the Texas congressman has been pushing for years.
“We had a little vote today in the House of Representatives,” the Paul said to roaring applause at the Young Americans for Liberty event in his honor.
After the young crowd began chanting, “End the Fed! End the Fed!” Ron Paul responded, saying, “I’ve always argued that once the Fed gets audited, the Fed will end.”
While the House overwhelmingly passed Paul’s signature legislative desire Wednesday, Democratic Majority Leader Harry Sen. Harry Reid’s office has signaled that he won’t bring the legislation to a vote in the Senate.
Paul’s son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul — who also addressed the crowd at Catholic University on Wednesday night — urged those assembled to email Reid’s office and plead with him to call a vote on the legislation.
The lawmaker said his staff uncovered video showing Reid in the 1990s “going to town, talking about how we should audit the Fed.”
“Now, you have to convince him that he still believes that,” Rand Paul said. “And so one of the things you can do, if everyone in this room left here and emailed Harry Reid, I think it would help.”
Ron Paul predicted that the Senate would pass the legislation if actually brought to a vote.
The Texas congressman said, “If they did have an up or down honest vote in the Senate right now, I’m convinced the majority would vote for it.”
The remarks were made Wednesday at the national convention of the Young Americans for Liberty, an organization that grew out of the students supporting Ron Paul’s presidential run in 2008.
The group held a “Ron Paul Legacy” event to honor the congressman’s twelve-terms in the House. Paul, who ran for president as a Republican in 2008 and 2012, and as a Libertarian in 1988, will retire from Congress this year.
His son paid tribute to him, saying, “I think that’s one of the things that my father’s legacy will show is that he’s really been beyond the petty partisanship.”
“I think that’s what’s endeared him to a lot of people,” Rand Paul said, “what’s brought a lot of people to the movement. And I think what you’re seeing is — and what you will see in the future — is this isn’t the end with my father retiring. It’s the beginning of a new wave.”
Follow Alex on Twitter
Join the conversation on The Daily Caller
Read more stories from The Daily Caller
Lieberman: No need for more studies or hearings on cybersecurity bill
Ron Paul's legacy celebrated after House votes to audit Federal Reserve
Wisconsin state senator breaks from Democratic caucus
Democrats pop balloons, cut cake, sing Happy Birthday to Medicare, Medicaid [VIDEO]
TheDC's 10 hottest politicians of the last few decades [SLIDESHOW]