LEGISLATIVE UPDATE - WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 1, 2004

HOUSE AND SENATE IN SESSION

THE PRESIDENCY

THE DEBATE

Senator John Kerry did well in the first Presidential debate last night. Kerry is a silver-tongued orator who joined his high school debating team as a teenager and has been twisting words ever since. On the other hand, President George W. Bush simply and honestly says what he believes. Most people who scored the debate thought that Kerry won, despite the fact that he contradicted himself numerous times. For example he said that Iraq was the “…wrong war at the wrong time in the wrong place,” and then promptly said he could talk other nations into joining us to fight that war. He talked about adding two more divisions to the Army despite the fact that for two decades he has voted to reduce the size of the Army and to take weapons from them. He actually voted against the Apache Helicopter program which is the mainstay of our armed forces in Iraq. Kerry claimed the Iraq war was a “diversion” and that the real war on terror is in Afghanistan when actually the war on terror is international and includes not only Iraq, but numerous other fronts. Although President George W. Bush effectively answered Kerry and pointed to many of his flip-flopping positions, Kerry did do well. Debates always help the challenger. Millions of people who have never heard more than a few seconds’ sound bite from Senator Kerry saw him at least claiming that he would fight to defend America as Commander in Chief – with permission of the “Global Community.” I am not sure how many caught the fact that he said the United States needed permission from foreign dictators and despots in the United Nations to defend itself, but late in the debate he flipped on that position as well. There were no knock out blows, no clear winners in the debate and I seriously doubt there will be much movement in the polls as a result. I believe the President will do far better when social issues are discussed at a later debate. The same-sex marriage issue and not Iraq may well determine the outcome of this election, as ten key states have that issue on their ballots for the election. A final note: I have supported the Transportation Bill in the Senate to fix our roads and bridges. Economic conservatives in the Republican Party have convinced the President to veto the bill to make it appear he is not a “big spender.” Because of the veto threat the bill has died in the Senate. It came up last night … Kerry accused the President of spending money on war, “…but not to fix our tunnels and bridges.” I have warned, as has ultra-conservative Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), that failing to pass the Transportation Bill to repair our roads and other infrastructure before the election was a big mistake. Expect the Democrats, particularly Kerry, to have a field day with this issue.

FAITH IN THE WHITE HOUSE

Our Internet store has sold more copies of George W. Bush, Faith in the White House than any other product we have ever offered. The documentary is not a campaign piece that sells the President, it is an honest investigation of how this man moved from a bar stool to a church pew and how the faith he found in Jesus Christ affects his private and public life. I would urge not only conservative, but moderate pastors as well to show this video to their congregations. At the very least, an option should exist for Sunday School teachers to show the video in their individual classrooms. George W. Bush, Faith in the White House, is a genuine Christian testimony message that should be of interest to all. Although we have the VHS version in stock, I highly recommend the DVD version as it has additional features. DVD and VHS orders are shipped within 24 to 48 hours of receipt. The retail price of the DVD is $14.95 and can be purchased at many different Internet outlets. Because I believe the distribution of this documentary is important, it is offered at the Internet store operated by our ministry organization for $12.95. We offer free shipping if you order two or more copies. Order at www.faithofgeorgewbush.com or click on the image.

THE SENATE

INTELLIGENCE WORK

Virtually all other work in the Senate has come to a halt as Senators consider a bill to completely change the intelligence operation in the United States. The bill, among other things, would reorganize the nation's intelligence-gathering operations, give budgetary power to a newly created national intelligence director and establish a National Counterterrorism Center. As a result I expect no further votes on the judicial nominations made by President George W. Bush before the recess on October 8^th. In fact, I don’t even expect a vote on the Transportation and other funding bills until after the election.

THE HOUSE

HOUSE VOTES TO END FREE SPEECH

On Wednesday the House joined the Senate to recommend that the First Amendment to the Constitution be tossed out and that the great experiment of free speech should come to an end in the United States after more than 200 years. The House passed a motion 213-186 to allow “Hate Crimes” legislation added by the Senate in the Defense Authorization Act. Under the “Hate Crimes” (which I call Thought Crimes) provision anyone can go to jail for making a disparaging remark to a homosexual or about homosexuality. Thus if a homosexual says to another homosexual “You are truly gay” it is a compliment, but if a straight man says to a homosexual “You are truly gay” it is an insult that can land him in jail. There is still time to stop the “Hate Crimes” provision added to the Defense Authorization Act by Senator Kennedy. The Conference Committee while ironing out differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill can iron out “Hate Crimes.” If it stays in, anyone saying that traditional marriage should be preserved or that homosexuality is a sin will be in violation of federal law. Next week the Religious Freedom Coalition will host a Swedish lawmaker in Washington, DC who will talk to congressmen and Senators about the arrest and conviction of a Swedish pastor for preaching that homosexuality is a sin. (See International section.)

MARRIAGE

Yesterday the Federal Marriage Amendment, renamed the Marriage Protection Amendment, failed in the House although receiving a majority of votes. The Constitutional Amendment received 227 votes for and 186 against, a strong showing for a first vote on a Constitutional Amendment. The final vote for the Amendment included 191 Republicans and 35 Democrats. Some 27 Republicans voted no and 9 Republicans were not present to vote. The Amendment would have lost without them because a Constitutional Amendment requires two-thirds and thus with all present 290 votes are needed. The Amendment fell over 60 votes short.  Polls consistently show that between 75% and 82% of Americans are against same-sex marriage, yet only about 55% of congressmen voted to ban it. On the Democrat side less than 20% of congressmen voted for traditional marriage. Considering the will of the people it would seem that many congressmen are out of step with mainstream America. To see how your congressman voted go to: http://www.rfcnet.org/pdfs/FMAFINALVOTE.pdf

INTERNATIONAL

VOICE OF AMERICA

On Thursday, September 30^th I was at the studios of the Voice of America (VOA) to tape a newscast interview on the subject of Kosovo. The actual interview will probably air sometime next week in the Slavic language broadcast to the Balkans and Europe. The interviewer, Branko Mikasinovich, invited me to appear on the newscast because of the white paper prepared by the Religious Freedom Coalition on the persecution of ethnic Serbian Orthodox Christians in Kosovo. The Religious Freedom Coalition has spotlighted the plight of Serbian Christians in Kosovo and news stories concerning our activities there have appeared literally worldwide. A PDF of our white paper can be viewed at http://www.rfcnet.org/pdfs/KosovoWhitePaper.pdf

SWEDEN AND HATE CRIMES

The Week of October 4, 2004 the Religious Freedom Coalition will host two Swedish pro-life leaders to Capitol Hill. Mikael Oscarsson has been a Christdemocratic member of the Swedish Parliament since 1998. He is founder of the pro-life organization, JA till Livet. Johan Lundell is Executive Director of JA till Livet, the largest pro-life organization in Scandinavia with 18,000 members. Both men will be in Washington, DC to discuss the arrest and conviction of Swedish pastor Åke Green earlier this year. Pastor Green was convicted of a hate crime for preaching a message from the Word of God. His crime, basically, was to tell his congregation that the Bible condemned acts of sodomy. He actually spent 30 days in jail for the “hate crime” of calling the sin of homosexuality a sin. The Religious Freedom Coalition has arranged for both men to speak at numerous events on and around Capitol Hill and to meet with numerous congressmen and Senators. Please pray that in listening to the plight of Pastor Åke Green that American congressional leaders will move to strike out similar “Thought Crimes” language from the Defense Authorization Act. The “Hate Crimes” provision was placed there by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA). Presidential candidate Senator John Kerry supports having the same type of legislation in the United States that jailed Pastor Green in Sweden. For Senator Kerry’s comments see this homosexual publication link: http://www.pridesource.com/article.shtml?article=9545

HOLY LAND

There was yet more violence as Muslim Palestinians once again fired from the Gaza Strip and killed innocent civilians. There is a lack of understanding in the West that Christian Palestinians are not involved in the violence against Israel. The RFC helps Christian Palestinians who have been forced from their homes because they have converted from Islam and are under death warrants. Some of these families support themselves by producing handmade olive oil soap which we sell for them in the United States . For some of these families it is their only income. Because of terror attacks and other problems we do not always have this very popular item available and we apologize for that. However, we did receive a new shipment last week and the soap is once again available. For more information on the handmade complexion soap click on image or go to: http://gallery.bcentral.com/GID4906989P1933577-Holy-Land-Items/Handmade-Complexion-Soap-From-Samaria.aspx

William J. Murray, Chairman

Religious Freedom Coalition , P.O. Box 77511 , Washington , DC 20013 Phone: (202) 543-0300

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This publication is a service of the Religious Freedom Coalition (RFC) and does not necessarily reflect its views. It is neither an attempt to aid nor hinder the passage of any specific legislation nor an attempt to assist or defeat any candidate running for public office.

Religious Freedom Coalition * Copyright - 2004