LEGISLATIVE UPDATE - WEEK ENDING JULY 21, 2006
HOUSE IN SESSION / SENATE IN SESSION
THE PRESIDENT
WHITE HOUSE EVENT
On Wednesday, July 19th, the President made a major statement on the issue of biotechnology and issued the first legislative veto of his Presidency. Both RFC Executive Director Peggy Birchfield and myself were present in the East Room of the White House as President George W. Bush announced he had vetoed the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (HR-810). The bill would have allowed the destruction of viable human embryos in biotech experiments paid for with taxpayer dollars. In the East Room for his remarks were more than twenty children who were "extra" embryos left over at fertility clinics. Called "snowflake" babies because they were once frozen in suspended animation, they were adopted as embryos and implanted in their new mothers. The President pointedly said that these children were not spare parts for research, but viable human beings. At the same time the President announced that he had signed the Fetus Farming Prohibition Act. The bill specifically outlaws the implantation of embryos for the sole purpose of aborting them for either stem cells or spare parts. During his remarks the President pointed out that the government has allotted tens of millions of dollars to stem cell research that would not cause the death of embryos and he criticized Congress for failing to pass a bill that would have granted even more funds for adult stem cell and umbilical cord stem cell research. Click here to read the President's remarks or click here to view a web cast of the event.
THE HOUSE
BIG WIN FOR "UNDER GOD"
We are one step closer to permanently defeating the atheists and secularists who want to remove "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag. On Wednesday Congressman Todd Akin's Pledge Protection Act finally made it to the floor of the House for a vote. The vote came at the exact time that many of the key supporters of the Pledge Protection Act were at the White House in a meeting with President George W. Bush concerning the stem cell issue. Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) had to urgently call leadership from the White House to inform them that many of the key supporters of the legislation to protect the Pledge could not return to the Capitol Building to vote. As a result the Majority Leader had to order the Pledge Protection Act onto a suspension calendar to allow Congressmen Smith, Roscoe Bartlett, Joseph Pitts, Phil Gingrey, and others sufficient time to return. The vote was finally held at 4:41PM and we won by a large margin. The final vote was 260 to 167. Several amendments offered by liberal Democrats to alter the Amendment failed. In the end 39 Democrats voted with 221 Republicans to pass the Pledge Protection Act. There was a victory celebration in Congressman Akin's office and renewed vigor among the organizations supporting the Pledge Protection Act as it heads to the Senate where Senator Kyl is the chief sponsor of the legislation. A great deal of the large victory in the House can be attributed to the tens of thousands of petitions delivered to House members by the Religious Freedom Coalition, many of those signed by the subscribers to these updates!
THE SENATE
SENATOR SANTORUM - THE TRUST AT LAST
On Thursday, July 20th I attended a National Press Club luncheon hosting Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) as the keynote speaker. His remarks on the current dangers faced by America were presidential in insight and in scope. In his remarks, which were carried on CSPAN, the Senator said, Terror is a tactic, it is not the enemy. The enemy is Islamic Fascism." The liberal media in the room were stunned and I saw one reporter actually spit his coffee out in surprise when Senator Santorum uttered that sentence. It is so politically incorrect for Islam to be mentioned negatively by the Press that the New York Times actually has a policy never to use the word "Jihad" in the context of violence. Not backing off, Senator Santorum said, "In every continent except Antarctica we are fighting Islamic fascism. Showing a broad knowledge of the issue he explained the current fixation in the Islamic world with the 12th Caliph and the belief that only through death to infidels could this worldwide dictatorship be established. His depth of knowledge of the subject was equal to or greater than mine and I have been delivering this same message on these pages since before even the 9-11 Jihad attack against us. He clearly stated that there was indeed a World War, not different than those before in that there could be only one victor. "Like previous World Wars, it is a win or lose battle," Santorum said. At the conclusion of his address, the room, including those at my table, gave him a standing ovation. The "mainstream" media sat tight in their seats, for the most part stunned. This was not a re-election speech for a Senate seat; it was intended as a national agenda.
INTERNATIONAL
RFC FIGHTS FOR KOSOVO CHRISTIANS
This was an eventful week for the Religious Freedom Coalition and our special guest in Washington, DC, Orthodox Bishop Artemije of Kosovo. The persecution of Christians continues in the Serbian province of Kosovo under the nose of both United Nations and NATO armed forces. Christians continue to be forced from their homes, and their jobs continue to disappear. The Muslim dominated Kosovo Council is now headed by an indicted war criminal and the Albanian Mafia is given free rein in the drug and prostitution trade. Kosovo is now the main smuggling route for drugs into Europe from the Middle East. It appears that the United States and the European Union are so fed up with spending money to prop up the regime that they have decided to declare Kosovo an independent nation and hand control over to the Muslim thugs who run it. Bishop Artimije brought much evidence of, among other things, human trafficking and slavery. This material on human trafficking was presented to Ambassador Miller of the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combact Trafficking on Thursday, July 20th, prior to a press conference we arranged at the National Press Club. Numerous news outlets were present as the Bishop, my good friend Father Keith Roderick of Christian Solidary International, and Bishop Artemije spoke. Shortly after our press conference, there was a private interview with the Washington Times and then we all met in a private reception with Senator Santorum (R-PA) before he spoke at the Press Club luncheon. That evening the Religious Freedom Coalition sponsored a very large reception at the Capitol Hill Club that was attended by numerous congressmen, Senators, senate staffers and NGO leaders such as Rev. Rob Schenck of the National Clergy Council. Both the Bishop and I spoke at the reception. Senator George Voinovich (R-OH) who is of Serbian heritage, spent a great deal of time with Bishop Artemije at the recaption. Click here for American Spectator story featuring Kosovo that mentions RFC.
We are facing a MAJOR budge shortfall this summer. The Religious Freedom Coalition is more than $92,000 behind budget needs for 2006. Working on real issues out of a real office on Capitol Hill costs money. Please make your donation today! Click here to give a gift or send your tax deductible donation to the address below.
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William J Murray, Chairman
Religious Freedom Coalition , PO Box 77511, Washington, DC 20013 - (202) 543-0300
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