Legislative Update
- Nov 2, 2006 - comment
During the weeks before Congress recessed for the midterm elections, Capitol Hill was awash in activity. Many congressmen and senators were busy trying to pass legislation, while others were just as determined to prevent passage of bills. The ERLC engaged on many issues during those weeks. Four of the bills under consideration received our greatest attention. Here is an update on those four.
Child Custody Protection Act
Concerted efforts to pass and sign into law the Child Custody Protection Act (S. 403) were thwarted once again as a majority of Democratic senators voted September 29 against a bill that would make it a federal offense to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion in circumvention of a parental notification or consent law in the girl’s home state. Fourteen Democrats supported the Child Custody Protection Act in July, but eight of the 14 switched their votes when given a second opportunity to vote on a similar parental notification bill, which passed by a 264-153 vote in the House of Representatives just days earlier. The Senate vote, 57-42, was three shy of the necessary 60 votes needed on the cloture motion, the last step before a final vote could take place on the bill itself. The House had stripped S. 403 of the Senate’s original language and inserted stronger provisions, known as the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, which would also require abortion providers to notify one parent of the minor prior to the procedure to kill the unborn baby. The bill also includes a provision demanded by some Democrats that bars a father who impregnates his daughter from taking her to another state for an abortion or from suing a person who provides such transportation. Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) are the chief sponsors of the legislation.
Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act
Both the Senate and House of Representatives passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which would create new enforcement tools to prevent or interdict gambling on the Internet. The House approved the bill almost unanimously as an attachment to the Security and Accountability for Every Port (SAFE) Act (H.R. 4954) on September 30, and the Senate quickly followed with a voice vote on the measure. While Internet gambling is already an illegal activity in the United States, Americans send an estimated $5.9 billion annually to offshore gambling websites. The new legislation, however, chokes business revenues by prohibiting financial institutions from approving transactions between U.S.-based customer accounts and offshore gambling merchants, thereby making it difficult for people to send money to online gaming coffers. Further, a person who knowingly accepts funds for unlawful Internet gambling could be punished by up to five years in prison. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Rep. Jim Leach (R-IA) are the chief sponsors of the legislation. President Bush signed the bill into law October 13.
Prayer for Military Chaplains
Military chaplains have been restored the right to pray freely in Jesus’ name, following passage of legislation that requires the Air Force and Navy to remove restrictive chaplain prayer policies. The Senate and House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 5122) September 29 that includes provisions backed by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) mandating that the Air Force and Navy rescind non-sectarian prayer guidelines issued in February 2006. Under the new legislation, the Air Force must reinstate its July 1, 1999, policy, and the Navy must revert to its October 12, 2000, policy. President Bush signed this legislation into law October 17. A different provision by Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) that would allow military chaplains to pray according to the dictates of their consciences passed in the House, but Sen. John Warner (R-VA) blocked the language from inclusion in the Defense Authorization Act conference report.
Public Expression of Religion Act
The House of Representatives passed the Public Expression of Religion Act (H.R. 2679) by a large margin, 244-173, on September 26, but the bill has not yet been taken up in the Senate. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN), would end a decades-old law requiring losing parties in Establishment Clause legal cases to cover attorneys’ fees of prevailing parties. It would bring equity to church and state separation lawsuits brought mostly by large, partisan groups that wish to eradicate any acknowledgement of God from the public square. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) introduced similar legislation, S. 3696, in the Senate in July.
It cannot escape anyone’s notice that the House of Representatives moved all these issues forward. The principal point of obstruction was the Senate. Considering the significant impact the Internet gambling bill has already had on overseas Internet gambling businesses, one can only imagine the positive effect on our culture had all these issues made it through the Senate. It is reported that Internet gambling businesses shed more than $8 billion in value the next business day following passage of the Internet gambling bill. It is unfortunate that we cannot say the rights of parents were protected, babies’ lives were saved, and young girls were spared a life of grief as a result of passage of the Child Custody Protection Act. We will resume the fight for this bill at the earliest opportunity. While we were unable to secure the absolute guarantee that chaplains’ prayers cannot be censored, our efforts helped to prevent the continuation of blatantly intrusive military policies on chaplains’ religious freedom. The Public Expression of Religion Act also did not make it through the Senate. Consequently, municipalities will still be inclined to surrender to the secularists’ call to strip away all content that even appears to have religious value rather than taking the chance of being hit with hefty legal bills if they fail to prevail in their defense. This issue will not go away, and it will undoubtedly take on new life in the 110th Congress.
We will remind the Senate of its unfinished business when it returns for its lame-duck session this month. We ask for the prayers of every concerned person until that time. May God once again shed His grace on our nation.
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