Legislative
Update
09/15/2003
LEGISLATIVE
UPDATE - WEEK ENDING
SEPTEMBER 12, 2003
CONGRESS
IN SESSION
-
No Votes Friday
THE
SENATE
PARTIAL
BIRTH ABORTION
I
receive many e-mail's
asking me why the
Partial Birth Abortion
Ban (PBA), which passed
both Houses of Congress
earlier this year, is
somehow still stuck and
not yet at the
President's desk. The
problem lies in the fact
that two versions of the
PBA were passed. The
Senate version (S-3)
passed 52-46. The House
version (HR-760) passed
on June 4th by a margin
of 282-139. But, as
mentioned above, the two
versions have slightly
different language. It
is very rare for any
bill to pass both Houses
of Congress with
identical versions. As a
result almost every bill
must go to a
"conference
Committee," which
is a joint committee
made up of members from
both Houses to work out
the differences. The
Conference Report is
then sent back to both
Houses for a final vote.
The
same liberal Democrats
who have been blocking
the judicial nominations
of President George W.
Bush have also been
blocking the nominations
of conference committee
members, to stop
legislation from
becoming law even after
they have lost the
actual vote. Thus, even
though the PBA won in
the Senate, Senators
Clinton, Kennedy, and
Boxer, and other
pro-abortionists have
blocked with various
procedures the
appointment of the
conferees to work with
the House. Why? Since
Republicans control the
Senate, the majority of
Senators on the
conference committee
will be pro-life
Republicans and so there
is not a chance the PBA
will reflect a pro
abortion view.
This
standoff could end next
week. Majority
Leader Bill Frist
may force a vote in the
Senate to officially
disagree with the House
version. This vote will
force the appointment of
conferees. Within thirty
days the conference
report will be voted on
and will pass both the
House and the Senate. It
will then be presented
to the President for his
signature.
Many
of the e-mail's I have
received have been
extremely hostile to the
Senate and to Majority
Leader Frist in
particular for the lack
of speed in moving the
PBA to the President's
desk. Many of the
e-mail's say
"...why bother to
vote Republican if they
can't do this?"
Sometimes these e-mail's
are the result of radio
and TV shows by well
known and well meaning
evangelical leaders who
just do not understand
congressional processes
and particularly the
procedures of the
Senate. Many evangelical
leaders who are fast to
criticize Senator Frist
have no offices in
Washington and no direct
relations with
congressmen or Senators.
With
just one or two more
Republicans in the
Senate, Senator Frist
could pass more social
conservative
legislation. Because of
health and other issues
he cannot count on all
51 votes the Republicans
have in the Senate each
and every day. Social
conservatives should
spend less time
badmouthing Senator
Frist and the Republican
Senate and more time
working to oust liberal
Democrat Senators who
stand in Senator Frist's
way.
THE
FILIBUSTERS
"Why
don't the Republicans
force the Democrats in
the Senate to have a
real filibuster? Why do
they let them just drop
a sheet of paper to stop
bills and nominees? Make
them stay up all night,
that is what I
say." This is one
of hundreds of e-mail's
and letters I have
received demanding that
Republicans take action
and force a
"real"
filibuster by the
Democrats on judicial
nominees.
Here
is the sad filibuster
truth .... only one or
two liberal Democrats
need be in the Senate
Chambers to conduct
their filibuster, but
all 51 Republican
Senators would have to
remain in the Chamber to
"force" the
Democrats to do a
"real"
filibuster. There must
be a quorum in the
Senate at all times for
the filibuster to
continue. If even one
Republican goes to the
bathroom, the Democrat
doing the filibuster
demands a "quorum
call" and he gets
to rest while all the
Republicans are rounded
up to form a quorum. As
one Democrat gets tired
he hands off to a buddy
while he sleeps;
meanwhile all fifty-one
Republicans have to stay
in the chamber all day
and all night. Many of
these men are in their
70's and have had major
surgery including heart
by-pass operations. It
just can't be done.
Also, if all the
Republicans were stuck
in the Chamber, the
Democrats would get to
run all of the committee
meetings. Evangelical
leaders who call for
this "real
filibuster" to
"teach the
Democrats a lesson"
are just plain ignorant
of Senate procedures.
Maybe they watched Mr.
Smith Goes to Washington
and they think that is
how the system works; it
doesn't.
THE
HOUSE
SCHOOL
VOUCHERS AMENDMENT
School
vouchers for inner city
schools in Washington,
DC have been approved by
the House. The amendment
to the DC spending bill
was offered by
Congressman Tom Davis
(R-VA) and strongly
supported by the
President. The principle
opposition comes from
public school teachers'
unions including the NEA.
The unions view vouchers
as a threat to union
jobs. RFC executive
director Peggy
Birchfield and myself
attended an event in
July with President Bush
supporting school
vouchers for DC's inner
city kids who are in
failing schools.
Congressman Davis'
amendment to the DC
appropriations bill
passed by only one vote,
showing the power of the
unions. To read
Congressman Davis'
comments on the victory click
here. The vouchers
face an uncertain future
in the Senate where
union teachers' pet
Senator, Ted Kennedy,
threatens to filibuster
the entire DC
appropriations bill to
stop this small voucher
program. To view a
pro-voucher Internet
site click
here.
CHARITABLE
GIVING ACT
What
is left of President
George W. Bush's faith
based initiative is in
the Charitable Giving
Act (HR-7) sponsored by
Majority Whip Roy Blunt.
Congressman Blunt has
moved the bill out of
committee and expects a
vote on the floor within
a week. As previously
mentioned, the bill
would open corporate and
IRA funds to charitable
giving. This is an
important bill that will
assist faith-based
organizations across
America. Read
more here.
PLEDGE
PROTECTION ACT
The
Pledge Protection Act
(HR-2028) sponsored by Congressman
Todd Akin now has
221 co-sponsors. A bill
only needs 218 votes to
pass the House; thus
victory is assured. Yet,
the bill had been held
up for unknown reasons
by Congressman
Sensenbrenner the
chairman of the
Judiciary Committee.
Those wishing to ask
Congressman
Sensenbrenner why he is
stalling a bill the
majority of congressmen
want to vote on, may
contact him here.
HOUSES
OF WORSHIP FREE SPEECH
ACT
Congressman
Walter Jones now has 161
cosponsors for the Houses
of Worship Free Speech
Act (HR 235). A special
Internet site set up
to support the bill
states: "HR 235 was
introduced to liberate
clergy from the muzzle
imposed by the absolute
ban on all speech that
may be regarded as
"political,"
and thereby enable them
to speak out on all
vital and moral and
political questions of
the day. It will free
houses of worship from
the fear and anxiety and
uncertainty created by
the threat that the IRS
will impose financial
penalties or revoke
tax-exempt status
altogether." The
RFC has prepared a
downloadable MS Power
Point presentation in
support of the HR 235.
Click here to view Power
Point. If your
congressman has not
co-sponsored this
important legislation
please contact him. View
list of current sponsors
and obtain phone numbers
from those who have not here.
THE
PRESIDENCY
SEPTEMBER
11
President
George W. Bush spent a
rather low key week
after his Sunday
night address to the
nation, preparing for
the somber events of
this week. The President
spoke at the FBI
Academy located on the
grounds of Marine Base
Quantico on the 10th and
then early on the
morning of the 11th briefly
spoke at St. John's
Church in Washington,
DC.
RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM COALITION
ACTIVITIES
IN
THE NEWS
Paul
Weyrich, who is
considered the father of
the political
conservative movement in
Washington, DC, recently
wrote a commentary
concerning big corporate
assistance to the
promotion of the
homosexual lifestyle.
The commentary featured
American Airlines'
support of a bisexual
conference in California
and the very pro-gay
Internet travel agency
Orbitz. My comments
concerning Orbitz were
featured in the
commentary as well. To
read Paul Weyrich's
commentary click
here.
ISRAEL-US
SOLIDARITY RECEPTION
The
Religious Freedom
Coalition was a
co-sponsor of the annual
awards receptions at the
Rayburn House Office
Building on Capitol Hill
on September 10th. The
primary sponsor was the
Christian-Israel
Political Action
Committee. At the
reception several
congressmen including
Walter Jones (R-NC),
Dave Weldon (R-FL),
Ralph Hall (D-TX) and
others received awards
for their support of
Israel's right to exist.
Several speakers
demanded that President
Bush follow the law
passed by Congress and
move the US embassy from
Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
BRUSSELS,
BELGIUM
The
week of September 15th I
will participate in
panel discussions on
religious freedom at the
conference to be held at
the European Union
Headquarters in
Brussels, Belgium.
Officially, the
conference is titled the
Interparliamentary
Conference on Human
Rights and Religious
Freedom and is sponsored
by the Institute
for Religion and Public
Policy. Those
Americans participating
other than myself
include Senator
Sam Brownback
(R-KS). Several Islamic
Mullahs, Catholic
Bishops and Jewish
leaders will also have
panel positions. For
more information on the
event click
here. I will give a
full report on the
conference in a future Weekly
Update.
SEPTEMBER
11
Yesterday
was the second
anniversary of the 9-11
Jihad attack on the
United States. By now,
stores have stopped
selling patriotic items
and we have long been
back to "business
as usual" in
Congress with backbiting
and accusations flying
wildly. On the campaign
trail the nine Democrat
candidates for President
are making wild
accusations against
President Bush,
virtually blaming him
for the terrorists acts
against this nation
rather than the Muslims
who are truly
responsible. And the
Democrats have a good
reason not to blame
Muslims. A new survey
shows the overwhelming
majority of Muslims in
the United States are
Democrats and only 2
percent plan to vote for
George W. Bush in the
next election, according
to a Washington
Times story. Over
the past two years I
have been very critical
of the President for
having an open door at
the White House for
Muslim leaders, many of
whom turn out to support
terror. In the past six
months the White House
seems to have mended its
ways. No longer do we
hear the daily mantra
from the White House
that Islam is a
"religion of
peace." Perhaps the
President's men have
begun to understand that
they were lied to about
the Muslim population in
the United States by the
likes of Islamic
apologist Grover
Norquist. Most Muslim
voters, according to the
poll, favor Gov. Howard
Dean for president. I
wonder why? Is it
because Dean would bring
our troops home and
allow Islamic extremist
to do whatever they want
to, anywhere in the
world? You decide.
We
here at the Religious
Freedom Coalition still
remember the Jihad
attack against us and
what it really
Represents. (Read
my statement from last
year.) We also
continue to offer
patriotic items at our
online store. We still
offer patriotic
and Christian
ties for men. For ladies
we found patriotic scarves.
We have an "In
God We Trust" scarf
that is a good match to
the "Under
God" tie. For
couples that attend
political meetings or
conventions it is a set
they have to have. For
ladies' scarves click
here. For men's ties
click
here. Guys ... the
Inspiration socks are
now in stock. To view
socks click
here.
WRAP
UP
Check
our Internet site at www.rfcnet.org
for last minute updates!
Please feel free to
forward this weekly
update to friends.
We are now at over
60,000 subscribers ....
Get the word out and
help us hit the 100,000
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year! See below for
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instructions. God richly
bless you, that is my
prayer.
William
J Murray, Chairman
Religious
Freedom Coalition
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