Religious Freedom Coalition - Promoting Religious Freedom and Family Based Legislation

Congressman John Hostettler (R-IN) will be the guest of my political action committee at a reception at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday, January 23rd. The Congressman will also be on a marriage panel at CPAC at 9:45 that Friday morning. I requested that CPAC include this panel, and will be the MC for the discussion. Currently there are two major efforts in Congress to defend the traditional institution of marriage. One of those efforts is led by Congresswoman Musgrave (R-CO) who believes a Constitutional amendment is needed. The second effort is led by Congressman Hostettler who proposes a "super DOMA." DOMA stands for the Defense of Marriage Act which was passed several years ago by the Republican Congress and signed into law by Democrat President Bill Clinton.

Congressman Hostettler's bill would strengthen the already existing Defense of Marriage Act passed in 1996 by restricting the jurisdiction of federal courts. It is referred to as the " super-DOMA" because it uses Article III, Section I & II of the Constitution to restrict the jurisdiction of federal courts, including the Supreme Court. This is not an unusual act and the Congress passes several bills each year with language attached that forbids Federal courts from interfering with congressional acts. Most Americans believe there are three "equal" branches of government. This is false. All power rests with the Congress. The Congress can fire judges, or the President, for that matter. The Congress has the power to shut down any Cabinet office or to restrict the courts in virtually any manner. Because the Congress is often politically divided, the power is rarely used. I fully support Congressman Hostettler in his efforts to pass the Marriage Protection Act .

My political action committee, GING-PAC is a sponsor of CPAC and since this is an election year the Conference will primarily be about the upcoming elections. Vice President Cheney is expected to speak, along with numerous congressmen and Senators. Rush Limbaugh may be there, but this has not been confirmed. I will be the MC for all the events on Friday morning, January 23rd. The conference itself runs from Wednesday evening through Saturday and is a great opportunity for politically active individuals to meet with conservative leaders. Click here for registration information .

MARRIAGE COALITION PROBLEMS

Rabbi Marc Gellman , a syndicated columnist and conservative Jewish leader, resigned last month from the advisory board to the Alliance For Marriage

(AFM) because it includes a representative of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). The Rabbi resigned because of "alleged" ties between the Islamic Society and HAMAS, among other terrorist groups. Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed, an officer of the Islamic Society is on the Board of Advisors of the Alliance for Marriage. In his resignation statement Rabbi Gellman said, "My moral conscience cannot allow me to be associated with an organization, ISNA, that terrorist experts like Steve Emerson, whom I respect greatly, consider a front for Hamas and other hateful terrorist groups."

Although I agree with Rabbi Gellman on this comment, he did not address what I see as the fundamental reason why no Muslim should be admitted as a member of a group like Alliance for Marriage in the first place. Islamic doctrine does not teach monogamous marriage. Indeed, Islam allows each man who can afford it to have as many as four wives. In virtually every Islamic nation, other than the officially secular nation of Turkey, men are allowed to have four wives. In wealthy Saudi Arabia many men have four wives, leaving millions of other men with no wife at all. This allows for easy recruitment of young single men into Jihadist organizations such as Al Quaeda. All those Saudis who attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the 9-11 Jihad attack against us were single young men.

Did Dr. Sayyid Syedd denounce polygamy before signing on to the board of Alliance For Marriage? No, and he is not going to denounce polygamy because it is central to the theology of Islam. I am sure that Dr. Syedd will say that while in America he will abide by American law and only take one wife. That is not the issue. The movement to save traditional marriage in the United States is not merely to defend against same-sex marriage. The movement is intended to defend traditional Judeo-Christian marriage from all attacks, including polygamy. Dr. Syedd joined the AFM board to prove his organization is "mainstream" and to divert attention away from ISNA support of shady organizations which are the enemies of Western civilization. It is Dr. Syedd who should have resigned from the AFM board, not Rabbi Gellman.

THE SENATE

IMMIGRATION

Immigration is not normally one of our issues but:

Remember Senator John McCain (R-AZ)? McCain ran against George W. Bush in the Republican primary four years ago. His angry outbursts, much like those of Howard Dean's today, doomed his campaign. He is passionate about many things, including taking away free speech. The McCain-Feingold bill, otherwise known as "Campaign Finance Reform" prohibits organizations such as this one from buying advertising to tell the truth about a political candidate within 60 days of an election. I call it the "Incumbent Protection Act." Now McCain is applauding President Bush's new immigration policy because it mirrors one he proposed four years ago during his failed bid for the Presidency.

This is my summation of the McCain-Kolbe-Flake plan before Congress and the closely related plan proposed by President George W. Bush:

Everyone who can get into the United States by whatever means (hiding in the trunk of a car; swimming a river; using phony documents; etc.) and obtain a job by whatever means (phony social security card; forged documents; stolen identities; stolen documents; etc.) will be given legal status for three years as long as they can prove they have a job. How will this job status be proven? Well, with a letter on a company letterhead, I guess. Of course any idiot could forge any kind of document saying someone has a job somewhere, but that is another issue.

After three years the illegal immigrants, who will then be legal "guest workers," can apply for another three years as long as they have a job. Basically, as long as they can "prove" they are employed they get to stay. We don't want them to be lonely, so the plan allows them to bring in relatives such as wives and children who can then use free medical services, apply for welfare payments and get government housing. Any children they have while in the United States will be citizens and thus the parents can stay forever, even if they themselves never become citizens.

Mexican newspapers and Internet services are ready to spool up to offer millions of American jobs to even more illegal immigrants to the United States. This sounds better and better doesn't it?

Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) the Senate Majority Leader - for whom I have great respect - was in Mexico to meet with President Fox during the announcement made by President Bush. The Senator assured President Fox that he could get Senate approval to legalize those Mexicans who came to the United States unlawfully and who have obtained jobs in the United States using stolen or forged documents. Do you speak Spanish?

THE PRESIDENCY

IMMIGRATION AND THE ELECTION

No puedo comprender qué ha sucedido en un año de la elección. (Actually I can't comprehend what has happened in an election year.) Fresh polls show that most Americans are against massive new immigration into the United States. Only 7% of Americans favor increased immigration to the United States. Most Republicans in every poll taken are against illegal immigration. Because of illegal immigration the United States has a population growth rate about the same as many third world nations. The net increase in U.S. population is about one person every 12 seconds, according to the US Census Bureau and most Americans want this growth rate to at least slow down - without using abortion as a tool to do so. Health care and emergency services in the United States are being overwhelmed by illegal aliens who do not pay their bills. Yet, President George W. Bush has proposed a system to legalize all those who have entered the United States illegally.

What about those who do not qualify for the President's program? The President says that every alien will have to come forward, register and have a background check to stay. But will they? Does anyone believe someone here illegally who has a criminal record is going to come forward for a background check? Will employers be forced to report those who don't register? Those laws are not enforced now. It is against the law to employ an illegal alien, yet there are at least 10,000,000 and perhaps as many as 14,000,000 illegals working in the United States today. To send an e-mail directly to the President about his immigration plan click here .

MARRIAGE

We continue to hear rumblings from the White House that civil unions are the solution to the same-sex marriage issue. Now come the polls again this year .... the American people don't want gay marriage and they don't want civil unions and they will vote against candidates who support civil unions. A recent CBS poll found that 61 percent of Americans are against same sex marriage and 54 percent are against civil unions and that the opposition is growing virtually monthly.

There are those in the White House who believe that President George W. Bush should run a Clinton type campaign and "steal the issues" from the other side. They honestly believe that if the President supports gay civil unions (while saving the word "marriage" for heterosexuals), and if he supports amnesty for illegal aliens, he will get more votes in November. However, all the polls indicate that the President is moving to the wrong side of these two major issues.

I believe President George W. Bush is the man of the hour, the only man who can protect this nation during this critical time in history. He has moved forward to remove from power our enemies in Afghanistan and Iraq. He has forced nations such as Libya to surrender their nuclear and biological weapons. The President has stood by his faith and has demanded that God be placed back in our society. It would be a shame for this man to lose in November and be replaced by someone like Howard Dean because his advisors moved him to the wrong side of the immigration and civil union issues.

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM COALITION

UNTIL JANUARY 20

Congress will not reconvene until January 20th. That week we will return to our normal format of reporting on social conservative legislation. Between now and then I will try to keep you updated on what social conservative organizations are doing here in Washington, DC to get ready for the return of Congress.

William J. Murray, Chairman - Religious Freedom Coalition

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