Week Ending April 27, 2007 - Washington, DC
April 29, 2007 7:42PM EST

April 27, 2007

Week Ending April 27, 2007 - Washington, DC The April 27th edition of the Chairman's Report is now available in PDF .... Click here to read! The Administration battles border agents / Virginia Tech - Hate Crime or not? / Thought Crimes bill moves forward in House / Has Senator Harry Reid gone nuts? / Brownback wants US embassy moved to Jeruslaem / What is the Gariel Network? / Our Bob Armstrong completes Iraqi mission / North Korean Genicide week. THE PRESIDENT POLITICAL BORDER PROBLEM - The Administration is fending off a huge problem with the men and women who are sworn to protect our borders. The Administration has caused or is causing prosecutions of any border agents who use weapons to protect the border. Agents are in jail for simply protecting themselves. Now the border agents are fighting back. National Border Patrol Council President T.J. Bonner called U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner W. Ralph Basham "a political hack who blindly supports the president's ill-conceived immigration agenda without regard for the damage it does to the mission of the agency and the security of our borders." Mr. Basham is trying to stop a non- confidence vote in a resolution by the union of border agents against the current chief David V. Aguilar. The resolution accuses Chief Aguilar of "shamelessly promoting" a Bush amnesty program and noted a "growing frustration among front-line employees with the misguided policies and politics" of the agency. "Instead of maintaining their traditional neutral advisory role, these high-level managers have become advocates for the administration's ill- conceived political agenda that includes amnesty for millions of illegal aliens," it said. Click here for full story. THE HOUSE VIRGINIA TECH AND HATE CRIMES - Under the "hate crimes" legislation pushed by the Democrats, the shooting of 32 teachers and students at Virginia Tech would not be considered a hate crime - UNLESS - the killer, Cho, made a statement that he did not like "gays." Then, the killing of "gays" would be a "hate crime;" however, his murder of non- gays would not be a "hate crime." On the other hand, if he said he hated "gays and women" then the deaths of the "gays and women" would be "hate crimes" but the shootings of the men and blacks would not be hate crimes unless the blacks were women or gays. QUESTION: Does this make sense to you? If it does you are just as nuts as the people who propose these laws. Murder is murder and it makes no difference what a person was thinking when he or she committed the crime. Crimes should be punished for the act, not the thought behind the act. When we begin to punish people for what they "think" at the time of a crime the next step is to punish them for their thoughts when they speak. And who decides which thoughts are "hate" and which are not...Ted Kennedy or you? Click here to contact your congressman about HR-1592 THOUGHT CRIMES - I do not accept any speaking engagements in Canada because there I could be jailed for things I am still allowed to say in the United States. In Canada if I publicly said sodomy is a sin or that the Koran allows for attacks on civilians, I could be arrested. The Democrats that now control Congress want to bring this kind of "Canadian justice" to the United States. The logic is simple: any time liberals are offended by someone's comments, that person should be forcibly shut up or jailed. The liberals call this effort to suppress free speech "hate crimes" legislation. I call it "thought crimes" legislation. The leading proponent on the House side is Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, a member of the Progressive Caucus which is associated with socialists worldwide. On the Senate side the main supporter is Senator Ted Kennedy who is leading the charge to put anyone in jail who says that some acts are perverted and sinful. (Hmmm). Click here to view the letter sent to the Judiciary on "hate crimes bill HR-1592 by the Religious Freedom Coalition and other groups. THE SENATE JERUSALEM IS THE CAPITAL! - This week Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) reintroduced the Jerusalem Resolution (SJres-12), a joint resolution that would recognize Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel and would require moving the United States Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. "Jerusalem has been the capital of the Jewish people for 3,000 years, and is the seat of the State of Israel's government, parliament, and supreme court," Brownback said. "Yet, Israel remains the only country in which the United States does not place its embassy in, nor does it recognize, the city designated as the capital by the host country." Brownback sponsored similar legislation in previous sessions of Congress. In 2004, Brownback addressed the Knesset in Israel and voiced his support for the State of Israel HAS HARRY REID GONE NUTS? - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has just plain gone wacko. In all the years I have worked on the Hill I have never seen anything like this. The man is swinging from side to side on major issues within days and sometimes hours. He claims to have confronted President George W. Bush and told him the "war in Iraq is lost." But I know witnesses at the meeting that said he did not make that remark at all. Just after his meeting with the President he had said it was "constructive." Within a day he changed his story to "the war will be lost." That is three versions of the meeting in less than 24 hours! Secondly, on December 17, 2006 Senator Reid recommended sending more troops to Iraq and now he says the President is wrong for following his (Reid's) advice to conduct the "surge." Thirdly, as I reported last week Reid voted for the Partial Birth Abortion Ban and then criticized the Supreme Court for upholding the law he himself had voted for! His office then made a sta tement that his criticism of the conservatives on the high Court was general in nature and that he did in fact support the partial Birth Abortion Ban. That, combined with the screaming into microphones, makes me wonder what exactly is going on in this man's head. RELIGION AND CULTURE THE GABRIEL NETWORK - On Thursday, April 26th my wife Nancy and I attended the gala dinner in honor of the ten year anniversary of the Gabriel Network in Maryland. The Garbiel Network helps over 2,000 women a year find an alternative to abortion and operates four homes for pregnant women in that state. My dear friend, Paul M. Weyrich of the chairman of the Free Congress Foundation received a "Culture of Life Award." Also, a young woman who was a former atheist and who nearly committed suicide while pregnant gave a beautiful testimony of salvation through her experiences at the Gabriel Network which has more than 60 member churches. The first Gabriel Network was founded in Texas. INTERNATIONAL IRAQ MISSION - Earlier this month our legislative director, Bob Armstorng, traveled on a mission to the Sudan and Iraq. While in Iraq he met with government officials and Christian leaders. This is a great report which includes several photographs. Click here to view his full report on the Iraq mission trip. NORTH KOREAN GENOCIDE - This week (April 23-28, 2007) was proclaimed North Korean Freedom week by activists in Washington seeking help for the plight of North Koreans. This year's events call attention to the actions of China, where so many North Koreans have fled as refugees, but China sends them back to their deaths. On Saturday there will be a program and demonstration in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC as well as at Chinese embassies around the world. For information see www.nkfreedom.org. SUPPORT THE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM COALITION CHRISTIAN INTERNET STORE - There are literally tens of thousands of Christian theme items available at our affiliate store including jewelry from the Holy Land. It is a great place to shop for gifts. The store is located at www.rfcstore.com. Please help us with our various projects on Capitol Hill and in the Holy Land by shopping at our affiliate Christian Superstore . Contributions to the work of the Religious Freedom Coalition can be made at www.rfcnet.org.. email: support@rfcnet.org phone: 202.742.8990 web: http://www.rfcnet.org William J. Murray, Chairman Religious Freedom Coalition, PO Box 77511, Washington, DC 20013 - (202) 742.8990 This publication is a service of the Religious Freedom Coalition (RFC). Links to political and other sites are for informational purposes and do not constitute endorsement. No statement is intended to assist or defeat any candidate running for public office. Religious Freedom Coalition * Copyright - 2007