LEGISLATIVE UPDATE - WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 6, 2006
HOUSE IN RECESS / SENATE IN RECESS
THE 109TH CONGRESS CLOSES IN SCANDAL
Because of the Religious Freedom Coalition's work I have been forced in the past to cooperate with Congressman Mark Foley's office in protecting minor children from sexual violence. I say forced, because the congressman was the head of the Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus which deals with legislation to protect children from sexual violence. I knew he was a homosexual and he gave me the creeps. Mark Foley was not one of "ours." He was not pro-life and in no way could he be considered a social conservative.
I was deeply hurt and offended to learn about his explicit e-mail's to boys working in his office as young as 16 years old, although it did not surprise me that much. I was equally dismayed that Speaker Dennis Hastert was informed of what had occurred a year ago and that he took no action whatsoever. The conservative Washington Times told Hastert on its editorial page to resign.
This exposes a bigger problem in politically correct Washington, DC. Everyone on Capitol Hill knew Congressman Mark Foley was a homosexual, that he was not a social conservative and that he voted the wrong way on key issues important to most Republicans, including on the abortion issue.
GING-PAC, the conservative political action committee I head, never endorsed Foley for election. Indeed I preferred that he step aside. Since no one came forward to run against Mark Foley in Florida in the Republican primary, GING-PAC had no real way to help get him out of the seat and replace him with a Republican who was pro-life and pro-family. Joe Negron, who is pro-life and pro-family, is now running for the seat from which Foley resigned.
My current estimate is for the Republicans to lose control of the House by ten seats if Hastert takes the blame and resigns now. If Hastert stays and fights it out, thus keeping the story alive on front pages until election day, the Republicans could be down as much as forty seats in the 110th Congress.
COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING
At the invitation of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and the U.S. Department of Justice, RFC Executive Director Peggy Birchfield represented this organization at the National Human Trafficking Conference which was held this week in New Orleans, LA. The conference was well attended by state and federal officials, law enforcement officers, ICE agency personnel, victims advocates and representatives of non-governmental organizations that have worked on this problem. The major goal of the conference was to come up with ways to help reduce and prevent human trafficking operations. Trafficking in persons and human smuggling is one of the fastest growing areas of international criminal activity. Human trafficking operations often involve a number of different crimes and are conducted by large networks spanning several countries. According to the U.S. Government, 600,000 – 800,000 victims are trafficked globally each year, with most victims being women and children. Traffickers can move their victims between locations within the same country or sell their victims to foreign trafficking organizations, making it difficult for prosecutors to identify and punish those who are trafficking people. One of the biggest problems law enforcement officers face with trafficking is obtaining information. Approximately 26 states in the United States have existing anti-trafficking laws, and several states have pending bills. The White House administration and Department of Justice are working on ways to obtain and coordinate information from state and local law enforcement agencies. RFC's Peggy Birchfield was part of the break-out discussions which examined ways to stop trafficking and to help those already victimized. Peggy Birchfield's report will be posted on the RFC website.
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William J Murray, Chairman
Religious Freedom Coalition , PO Box 77511, Washington, DC 20013 - (202) 543-0300
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