Legislative
Update
11/14/2003
THE
SENATE
LEGISLATIVE
UPDATE - WEEK ENDING
NOVEMBER 14, 2003
CONGRESS
IN SESSION - SENATE ONLY
THE
SENATE
THE
JUDICIAL BATTLE
The
thirty hours of
continuous debate on
Judicial nominees
scheduled by Majority
Leader Bill Frist
began on Wednesday at
6:00 PM. Republican
Senators took to the
floor of the Senate
Chamber taking turns
pointing out how very
qualified individuals
have been systematically
filibustered by
Democrats because of
their faith. The code
word used by the
Democrats to describe
men who are committed
Christians is
"deeply held
beliefs." Senator
Schumer (D-NY) has made
it clear that he wants
no one with "deeply
held beliefs" to
hold a judgeship on the
Circuit Court of
Appeals.
The
Democrats have confirmed
over 150 Bush appointees
in the lower federal
courts which have
limited influence on the
definition of law. It is
at the Circuit Court
level that key
appointments are being
filibustered. Why? The
Circuit Courts are the
prime recruiting grounds
for nominees to the
Supreme Court. The
Democrats want to make
sure that there are no
judges with "deeply
held beliefs" on
any Circuit Court of
Appeals. That really
means, "deeply held
religious
beliefs." If a
nominee has a
"deeply held
belief" that a
fetus is not human, that
would be just fine with
Senator Schumer and
company.
THIRTY
HOURS - ALL NIGHT
Beginning
Wednesday night there
were press conferences
in the Mansfield Room
adjacent to the Senate
Chambers every sixty
minutes on the half
hour. Each press
conference had a theme
featuring different
types of organizations
who support President
George W. Bush's
nominees. Faith-based
organizations such as
the Religious Freedom
Coalition were assigned
the 3:30 AM time slot by
Senator Frist's office
and yes, I was there. In
fact, I was there most
of the wee hours of the
morning.
The
faith-based press
conference at 3:30 AM
was perhaps the best
attended as far as
participants. Besides
myself, speakers
included: Tony Perkins,
Family Research Council;
Jeff Ballabon,
Republican Jewish
Coalition; Dr. Barrett
Duke, Southern Baptist
Convention; Mychal
Massie, writer and
columnist; Lou Sheldon,
Traditional Values; Tim
Minnery, Focus on the
Family; Jim Davis,
American Family
Association, and several
others.
Our
press conference was
moderated by two
pro-life champions,
Senator Brownback of
Kansas and Senator
Santorum of
Pennsylvania. Unlike
Senators Ted Kennedy
(D-MA) and Richard
Durbin (D-IL), both Sam
Brownback and Rick
Santorum are practicing
Catholics who stand with
their church on the
issue of abortion.
I
was actually surprised
by the number of
reporters present.
Camera teams from
virtually every major
network were there as
were reporters from
major newspapers and
news services. After the
press conference a
reporter from the
prestigious Congressional
Quarterly spoke with
me as well. TV media
featured the thirty hour
marathon of Republican
Senators all day
Thursday and into the
evening. Although this
is something I would not
like to do on a daily
basis, it was a very
effective way of getting
out the Republican
message of bias against
conservative judges by
extremist Democrat
liberals. Remember this:
every single one of the
judges being
filibustered have enough
votes on the Senate
floor to win. Even some
Democrat Senators are
committed to vote for
them. It is only
left-wing extremists in
the Senate who are
stopping these fine
nominees from having an
up or down vote in the
full Senate Chamber.
SENATOR
ZELL MILLER
While
waiting to appear on a
Fox News program I met
with Senator
Zell Miller (D-GA).
Although a Democrat
Senator Miller has
announced that he will
support President Bush
for reelection next
year. Senator Miller was
on Fox promoting his new
book, A
National Party No More,
details the decline of
the Democrat Party. I am
very sure that Senator
Miller, although a
Democrat, would vote for
the judges that are
being filibustered by
extremists in the
Senate.
THE
HOUSE
HOUSE
NOT IN SESSION
The
House was not in session
this week at all.
However, there were some
Members in town
including Congressman
Trent Franks (R-AZ).
He was the only House
member to come to the
Senate side to assist
with the overnight news
conferences. He spoke at
the 4:30 AM news
conference which
featured various small
business groups and was
led by Senator Wayne
Allard who is a
veterinarian. (Senator
Allard said he is used
to the early morning
hours because it is
usually about 4:30 AM
when farmers call him
about sick cows. Most of
the Republican Senators
actually have other
careers.) Trent
Franks works with social
conservative groups on
various issues. After
the press conference we
spoke about other issues
including Holly's Law
introduced by
Congressman DeMint
(R-SC).
HOLLY'S
LAW
Last
week I went into some
detail about Holly's
Law, which was
introduced by Congressman
Jim DeMint (R-SC) to
stop the use of the
dangerous drug RU-486 as
a home use abortion
drug. DeMint's bill is
named after Holly
Peterson, a California
teenager who was killed
by RU-486 after it was
given to her by Planned
Parenthood in
California.
I
spoke with Congressman
DeMint about the bill on
Wednesday at a reception
being held by his Senate
campaign committee.
Congressman DeMint is
running in the
Republican primary for
the seat being vacated
Democrat Senator Ernest
Hollings. Senator
Hollings is one of four
Southern Democrats who
will not seek reelection
next year. If DeMint
wins the South Carolina
Senate seat it will make
filibusters by liberal
extremists in the Senate
more difficult. For more
information on Holly's
Law please see
Congressman DeMint's
Internet
site. So far Holly's
Law (HR 3453) has 59
co-sponsors in the
House. Has your
congressman agreed to
sponsor this important
lifesaving bill? Contact
your congressman. Senator
Brownback (R-KS)
will introduce a
companion bill in the
Senate.
THE
PRESIDENCY
At
first I was shocked,
stunned and hurt by a
letter
"signed" by President
George W. Bush and
sent to a homosexual
church in California
congratulating them on
the "...sharing of
God's love and boundless
mercy ..." In
reality the Metropolitan
Church led and
founded by
"Rev." Troy
Perry is a meat market
for homosexuals to hook
up on Sunday. To thank
him for the letter of
commendation sent to the
Metropolitan Church on
its 35th anniversary the
"Rev." Perry
and other homosexuals
pounded away at the
President for signing a
proclamation for
Marriage Protection Week
in October.
Worldnetdaily
reported that the Senior
"pastor" of
the Metropolitan Church
in Los Angeles said,
"How does one
denounce the right of
gays and lesbians to
marry in their churches
and suggest they are
incapable of having
healthy marriages in one
moment, and in the next
rejoice in God's
faithfulness to a gay
and lesbian congregation
that performs such
same-sex
marriages?"
Actually, I would like
to know the same thing,
I
am sure President Bush
never read the letter
and probably didn't sign
it either. Most of the
letters that come out of
the White House are
approved by staff and
then "signed"
by a signature machine
with the President's
"official"
signature. I have
letters personally
signed by President
George W. Bush and I can
assure you that his real
signature and the
"official"
machine signature are
somewhat different. The
question is, does the
White House have senior
staff, able to approve
the President's
signature on letters,
who are so uninformed
they don't know that the
Metropolitan Church is a
meat market? Worse, is
there someone on the
staff who favors the
homosexual agenda and
who wants to embarrass
the President? Calls to
the White House for an
explanation have not
been returned.
THE
COURTS AND THE
COMMANDMENTS
JUDGE
ROY MOORE
Roy
Moore, the Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court of
Alabama, has been removed
from office for
failing to follow a
federal court order to
remove the Ten
Commandments from the
Supreme Court building
in Alabama. He had been
suspended since August
when the Ten
Commandments were
removed from the Alabama
Supreme Court Building.
The hearing to punish
Judge Moore for not
carrying out the order
himself was held before
a nine member review
panel of his peers. To
the great dismay of many
it was the job of
Alabama Attorney
General Bill Pryor
to prosecute the case
against Moore. What
makes that so unusual is
that Attorney General
Pryor is one of the
Circuit Court nominees
being filibustered by
Senate Democrats because
of his "deeply held
beliefs." It also
fell to Attorney General
Pryor to actually remove
the Ten Commandments
from the Court House, an
event which caused him
great distress. It is
said he actually cried
when he got home from
carrying out the court
order to remove the Ten
Commandments.
Both
Judge Moore and Attorney
General Pryor are men of
deep religious
conviction. Both men
believe that the
Constitution does not
prohibit the display of
the Ten Commandments and
that a Federal judge
erred in his decision
against Moore. They
differ in that the
Attorney General
believes that the rule
of law must be followed
regardless of how
distasteful it may be.
Attorney General Pryor
is the legal counsel,
the chief attorney for
the state of Alabama,
charged with carrying
out the law. I have
great sorrow for the
weight placed upon
Attorney General Pryor
because of an activist
federal court's desire
to rewrite the
Constitution.
After
the hearing in which he
was permanently removed,
Judge Roy Moore stated
that Congress should get
the Ten Commandments out
of the closet in which
it is being hidden and
move the sculpture to
the Halls of Congress. I
agree. This would send a
message to the liberal
establishment that wants
to destroy the intent of
our Founders. No court
can tell the Congress
what it can or cannot
display.
RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM COALITION
Do
you travel on American
Airlines? You can help
the Religious Freedom
Coalition cover travel
costs and still get all
your own AAdvantage
miles. When you make
your reservation simply
add Business ExtrAA
account number 533368 to
your reservation. This
will have no effect on
your personal account
but will give the
Religious Freedom
Coalition points toward
covering travel
expenses.
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
65,000 subscribers ....
Get the word out and
help us hit the 100,000
mark by the end of the
year! See below for
subscribe/unsubscribe
instructions. God richly
bless you, that is my
prayer.
William
J Murray, Chairman
Religious
Freedom Coalition
wjm_bthl1122702.html |
