Legislative Activity:
Political maneuvering is the order of the day as significant legislative issues have awakened the interest of a now much engaged public. The wrangling of the House and Senate committees regarding the issue of a national health care overhaul has captured the attention of many who may be fully realizing that the political decisions made in Washington have tremendous impact on the everyday lives of average Americans.
Health Care:
The Senate Financial Services Committee completed consideration of amendments to Senator Max Baucus' "Americans Health Future Act 2009." The bill itself does not technically exist, but is drawn from a "concept" from Chairman Baucus. On Tuesday, October 13, the Senate Finance Committee will vote on the final concept. Despite the fact there is no actual text legislation and that the Senate Finance Committee has not completed its work, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has already started merging the legislation with the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee bill, S. 1679. Similarly, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is merging the bills that came out of the three House committees of jurisdiction before H.R. 3200 is considered by the full House. Already the Democratic leadership has been rewriting the committees' work to add their own incentives to the final products.
President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Reid and Speaker of the House Pelosi have repeatedly stated that abortion will not be included in the health care legislation currently being considered in Congress. However, in both the House and Senate, several important pro-life amendments that would have prevented the federal funding and coverage of abortion, as well as protected the conscience rights of health care providers who refuse to participate in abortion, were defeated. The message is clear; if abortion is not explicitly excluded in the legislation, it will be included. Since the majority of Americans do not want their tax dollars funding abortion, the public needs to stay engaged on this issue and continue to speak up by contacting their respective legislators and insisting that any health care bill passed by Congress contain language that explicitly excludes taxpayer funding of abortion.
On the House side, Speaker Pelosi continues to vow that "the bill will have a public option." The main champion for the public option in the Senate, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), has said that Democratic leadership is willing to subvert the democratic process by inserting the public option in conference after the House and Senate vote on their respective bills.
Hate Crimes:
In an attempt to pass a highly controversial bill, and one that is a long stated objective of the homosexual agenda, the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was attached to the FY 2010 Defense Authorization bill in the U.S. Senate. House Republicans offered a motion to instruct conferees to remove the thought crimes language from the Defense bill, but the motion failed. The Defense Authorization bill passed in the House with the hate crimes language included on October 8, 281 to 146, with 131 Republicans and 15 Democrats in opposition. This legislation will now move to the Senate for a final vote where the "thought crimes" language is expected to stay attached to the Defense Authorization bill.
This legislation establishes a new FEDERAL offense for so-called "hate crimes" and adds "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" as protected classes. It mandates a separate federal criminal prosecution for state offenses. Adding "sexual orientation" to thought crimes legislation gives one set of crime victims a higher level of protection than it gives to others. All people deserve to be protected from crime, and equal protection under the law means equal protection for ALL.
Kevin Jennings , founder of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), and President Obama's appointee for Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools , has come under increasing pressure to be removed from his position. Of course, one of the most shocking pieces of news about Jennings is a story he's told himself (in different ways at different times) about a 15 year old student who came to him and confessed that he was having sex with older men in a bus station restroom. Instead of reporting the high-risk behavior to the boy's parents, school administrators or the police, Jennings ' only response was to give the boy advice on condom use.
Other objections to his role as head of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools include his authorship of the foreword to the 1999 book Queering Elementary Education. Jennings has advocated bringing the topic of homosexuality, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered themes into the nation's classrooms, including elementary schools. Additionally, given the title of the office he heads, there is the fact that he has no experience in school safety or drug prevention.
Family Research Council has asked for Jennings ' resignation from this position, and pressure is mounting in the media and on Capitol Hill for his removal.
