Week Ending September 29, 2006 - Washington, DC
RFC
September 30, 2006 2:17PM EST

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE - WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 29, 2006

HOUSE IN SESSION / SENATE IN SESSION

THE 109th IS ALMOST OVER!

The 109th Congress adjourns at the close of business today and its members go home to campaign to keep their seats in Congress. During the past two years a great deal was accomplished for the social conservative cause. According to the liberal media this was a "do nothing" Congress. It is true that they did almost nothing for the liberals, but much was done. The 109th Congress will meet only once more from November 13, 2006 to Thanksgiving. During that session only bills affecting agency funding will be addressed. A really good summary of social conservative legislation passed by the 109th was prepared by Congressman Pitts' (R-PA) office in PDF format. Although this is only a House view, it gives a good idea of how much has actually been done. Click here to view and print the PDF summary!

THE SENATE

CHILD CUSTODY PROTECTION ACT

The Religious Freedom Coalition participated in a press conference on Tuesday to urge leadership in the Senate to stop their obstruction of this bill. The House version of this bill, called the Child Custody Protection Act (HR 748) passed before the August recess, and the Senate version, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (S 403) also passed. However, these bills have been deliberately held up from moving forward to conference. The Senate Minority Leader, Senator Harry Reid, is attempting to kill the bill even though it passed with bipartisan support, 14 Democrat Senators having voted for it. The House may be able to bypass Senator Reid by voting to accept the Senate version, which contains a substitute amendment called the Boxer-Ensign Amendment on incest. (The Senate has filed a cloture vote for this bill, the vote could take place into early Saturday morning, possibly 3:00am, depending on the debate schedule.)

CIVIL LIBERTIES FOR TERRORISTS

Senator Harry Reid, (D-NV) led his Democrat Party caucus fight against the Terrorist Detention bill claiming that it did not afford foreign terrorists enough "civil liberties." The bill was needed to continue the use of detention camps to hold and try terrorists caught in foreign nations such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the end only 12 Democrats and two Republicans voted against the bill including Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY). Clinton was the only presidential candidate to vote against holding and trying terrorists in military courts. Clinton believes that terrorists who have killed innocent women and children should be afforded the same or better rights than American citizens and tried in federal courts with defense attorneys paid for by the tax payers. (Click here for Washington Times story)

THE FENCE

Just a few months ago the Senate voted to give full amnesty to illegals in the United States for crimes they had committed, including many felonies, and to allow them to become citizens. The Senate bill would have forgiven all laws broken in the process of filing false tax returns, obtaining fake identification and even failing to register with the Selective Service (the draft) which is required of all men residing in the United States regardless of status. There was so much public resentment and outcry against the Senate position that it died on the way to the House. Today the Senate is set to vote on a House bill to fund 700 miles of additional fence along our border with Mexico. What a difference an election year makes! Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal has editorialized against the fence claiming that stopping illegals from coming into the United States will "increase the burden on local law enforcement." (Yes, they actually said that.) Corporate America wants the illegals here because they bring down the entire wage level of every American, allowing companies to make more profits. Meanwhile yet another cop has been murdered by an illegal in Houston. It is estimated that about one in every eight illegals in the United States are wanted for felonies. Frequently they are cut loose for crimes that Americans would go to jail for, because localities do not want to deal with the paperwork involved with their status.

THE HOUSE

PUBLIC EXPRESSION OF RELIGION ACT PASSES

The House passed on Tuesday the Public Expression of Religion Act (HR 2679) with a final vote of 244 to 173. This bill, sponsored by Congressman John Hostettler (R-IN), would prohibit judges from awarding taxpayer dollars to lawyers such as those hired by the ACLU in religious freedom cases. Twenty-six Democrats voted for the bill and 6 Republicans against. Click here to view the vote count. Now it goes to the Senate for a vote, and the Senate needs to move quickly to approve this bill. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) has introduced the companion bill, S. 3696.

PRAYER IN SCHOOL?

Several years ago during the height of the battle to pass a Constitutional amendment to allow prayer in our schools I wrote a book titled Let Us Pray. The book detailed the secularist battle to remove prayer from our schools and the arguments for the freedom to pray, tracing the roots of religious freedom in Western society. The history and arguments in the book are as valid today as when I wrote it in 1996. During our planning to move our office on November 1st of this year several unopened cases of Let Us Pray were found. Because we don't want to move these to our new location, they are being offered for just $2.99 each. These are new $20.00 hardback books for just $2.99 each. Get one for yourself and one for your local library. If you will make an additional contribution to our work of $10.00 I will autograph the book to you before it is shipped!

INTERNATIONAL

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM - KOSOVO

On Thursday, September 28, 2006 the Religious Freedom Coalition and Christian Solidarity International held a one day conference at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, DC from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM. Speakers included Father Keith Roderick, Robert Spencer, Cliff Kincaid and Srdja Trifkovic. More than 50 organizations and congressional offices participated in the conference which was covered by members of the media. It is through sponsored events such as this that the Religious Freedom Coalition is able to expose the true conditions of persecution under which Christians live in Kosovo under the new Muslim-led administration. Kosovo, a part of Serbia, was taken over forcibly by the Clinton Administration for the purpose of establishing a Muslim state in Europe in the 1990s. The reward for this kindness to Muslims was the 9-11 Jihad attack against the United States.

YOU CAN HELP!

The Religious Freedom Coalition is working on real issues out of a real office on Capitol Hill and that costs money. To help us with our work on Capitol Hill, 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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Religious Freedom Coalition * Copyright - 2006