CONGRESS IN SESSION

THE HOUSE

"UNDER GOD" In the PLEDGE

Congressman John Hostettler (R-IN) offered an amendment to the Commerce, Justice, State Appropriates bill (HR 2799) barring any action upon the 9th Circuit Court's ruling to ban "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. His amendment to this appropriations bill passed by 307-199 with virtually every Republican plus nearly 100 Democrats voting with him. The Amendment simply stated, "...None of the funds appropriated in this ACT may be used to enforce the judgment in Newdow v. U.S. Congress 292 F.597 (9th Cir.2002). This effectively prohibits all the Federal law enforcement agencies from enforcing the 9th Circuit Appeals Court decision against the Pledge of Allegiance phrase "One Nation Under God."

The Commerce, Justice, State Appropriates bill must still be voted on in the Senate and a final version must be agreed to by both Houses. It is highly unlikely, however, that the liberals in the Senate will bother to try to have the Hostettler's Amendment removed considering the overwhelming vote by the House. This is not the end of the fight. After this legislation becomes law it is likely that atheist Newdow will file a lawsuit trying to find this law unconstitutional. This is unlikely as the Constitution gives full discretion in spending to the Congress alone and no court may order the Congress to spend one dime it does not want to spend. "Under God" ties and ladies scarves are available at the RFC Internet store!

TEN COMMANDMENTS

Congressman Hostettler (R-IN) was on a roll this past Wednesday when he introduced a second Amendment to the Commerce, Justice and State Appropriations bill (HR-2799). In his second successful amendment he effectively barred any Federal Marshal from removing the Ten Commandments from the Supreme Court of Alabama on behalf of a Federal court. The text of the Amendment which was passed by a vote of 260 to 161 simply stated, "...None of the funds appropriated in the Act may be sued to enforce the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Glassroth v. Moore, decided on July 1, 2003 ..."

Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court had ordered the Ten Commandments placed there in a very high profile case involving the ACLU and other organizations. Federal Marshals would have to remove the Ten Commandments from the Alabama Supreme Court because the order came from a Federal court. Since the marshals receive their funding from HR-2799, and since the Amendment does not even allow them to use gasoline to drive to the Alabama Court building, the ruling of the 11th Circuit Court is bypassed.

NO PATENTS FOR HUMAN DNA

Congressman Dave Weldon (R-FL) has successfully added an Amendment to HR-2799 (Same bill as above) to stop the patenting of human DNA. The concept of a company getting a patent on human DNA degrades and belittles life. Recently a research firm attempted to patent a "male-female" hybrid human embryo it had created in a test tube. The concept of experimenting on human life in this way is abhorrent and Congressman Weldon wants to make sure the firms cannot profit from such horrid experiments. The Amendment will be a part of the funding bill when it is passed and sent to the Senate. We congratulate Congressman Weldon on this victory for the pro-life movement in America.

PEER TO PEER PORNOGRAPHY

Do you think KaZaA, Morpheus, and LimeWire are just about sharing music files? Think again. These services are also used to share hard core pornography including child porn. Although commercial sites have to ask the age of those purchasing pornography online the peer-to-peer trading services do not exercise any control at all. Your kids or grand kids can download hard-core porn from a peer-to-peer server just as easily as an old Beetles song.

Congressman Joe Pitts (R-PA) has offered a solution in The Protecting Children from Peer-to-Peer Pornography (P4) Act. Among other things the P4 Act would require warning notices be given with P2P software that it can be used to trade pornography and that it not be distributed to a minor without the consent of a parent. The bill also requires that P2P software not be able to commandeer a personal computer as a "supernode" and not be able to circumvent security software installed by a parent. (Some people do not realize that when they download programs such as KaZaA they are also giving permission to the software distributor to use their personal computer as a server. In the background the user's PC is processing and using bandwidth to distribute music and other files onto the KaZaA system. With slower computers it can bring the system to a virtual halt. If your kids have downloaded KaZaA onto your system you are serving out music files and the music companies will win a lawsuit against you if they file one.)

Congressman Pitts is seeking co-sponsors. Has your congressman co-sponsored this bill?

THE SENATE

THE FIGHT FOR JUDGES

"Catholics need not apply." That is the message from Senator Chuck Shumer of New York and other Democrats in the Senate who are filibustering judicial appointments made by President George W. Bush. Three of the four Judges currently being blocked by filibuster or otherwise are devout Catholics who refused to refute the word of their Church in Senate hearings. Nine Democrats attempted to block the nomination of Alabama Attorney General William Pryor from passing out of the Judiciary Committee chaired by Senator Orin Hatch (R-UT). The session became so heated that at one point Senator Hatch stated, "I'm concerned we are reaching a point where a judicial nominee with deeply held religious views may be prevented from serving as a federal judge." A pro-abortion Catholic, Senator Richard Durban, insisted that he was against Pryor because he was "extreme." Senator Jeff Sessions responded by saying, "...the doctrine that abortion is not justified for rape and incest is Catholic doctrine. It's the position of the Pope, and it's the position of the Catholic Church."

In reality many pro-abortion "Catholic" congressmen and Senators have been informed by their Bishops that they may not refer to themselves as Catholic or receive Catholic sacraments because they have publicly disavowed the teachings of the church on abortion.

One conservative Catholic organization is running newspaper ads in states with Democrat senators who oppose William Pryor with a picture of a courthouse door with a sign on it that says, "Catholics need not apply." Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA), who is Jewish, called the ads "tawdy" and "diabolical." Perhaps Senator Feinstein and other Democrat Senators should read Article 6 of the Constitution which states, "No religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

THE PRESIDENCY

YES ... I am one of those people who actually bought a deck of the "most wanted" cards put out by our military in Iraq. The deck had four aces with Saddam Hussein being the ace of spades. The ace of diamonds was already in custody when this week the aces of clubs and hearts fell. The sons of Saddam, who were both murderers and rapists, are dead. There is only one ace left in the deck and that is Saddam. Of the fifty-five cards issued only eighteen remain on the loose ... Perhaps even fewer by the time you read this update. My sources indicate that Saddam is now on the run from even some of his most trusted former aids who want the $30 million reward and the Green Card that comes with it.

Today's Washington Times pointed to an alarming trend in the criticism of President Bush by Democrats running for his office. Apparently the strategy of eight of the nine candidates, particularly Governor Dean depends upon bad news from Iraq. There was apparently some despair in the Democrat camp that Udai and Qusai were killed. Any success by our military in Iraq is now looked upon as a setback to the campaigns of the leading Democrats. I believe this to be despicable. Only Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) has stayed away from this strategy. Unfortunately his official Internet site is now questioning whether the Bush Administration could have somehow stopped the 9-11 Jihad attack on the United States. I believe Lieberman should stay to the high ground. He is the most conservative and the best suited Democrat to represent the center of his party.

RFC ACTIVITIES

INTERNATIONAL

Our mission team is on their way back home from Israel. The team set up a Vacation Bible School for Palestinian children in the West Bank village of Beit Jala in the Bethlehem area. This area was placed under the control of Yassar Arafat just before our team arrived. This year was the first time since the Intifada began that a Christian organization was able to set up a Vacation Bible School in the area. Many children attended and the village and our team were blessed by the experience. The RFC has a long term commitment to fund Christian schools operating in the West Bank. Our new video documentary, Holy Land Settlements, the Jewish settlements in Samaria and Judea, which was mentioned in several previous updates is now in stock at a reduced price of $14.95! Click here for information.

"UNDER GOD"

Many ladies have sent e-mails complaining about the patriotic and Christian ties we offer for men at our Internet store. It seems they like them, and even buy them for husbands, but, complain that we don't offer anything similar for ladies. OK, OK! I have found scarves that match the patriotic ties. We now have an "In God We Trust" scarf that is a good match 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

Beer For My Horses (Toby Keith and Willie Nelson) from the CD Unleashed has been the number one country song for four straight weeks. For those of you who are not country fans the song is about bringing evil doers to justice. (See lyrics) The popularity of this song, particularly among the nation's youth is a statement about our culture that should not be ignored by politicians. Full information on Unleashed CD click here.

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 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

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