Church State Newsflash!!!

VOTE EXPECTED ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY PROTECTION ACT

CONTACT YOUR U.S. SENATORS AND SENATE MAJORITY LEADER  TRENT LOTT BY PHONE 
AND E-MAIL TO URGE SUPPORT FOR RLPA

February 24, 2000

The fate of the Religious Liberty Protection Act (RLPA) could be decided by 
Tuesday, February 29 in the United States Senate.   This crucial bill is 
our best hope for redressing the right of free exercise of religion 
stripped away by the Supreme Court in 1990. Now is the time for action.
On Tuesday evening the Senate leadership informed our RLPA coalition that 
the bill would be introduced late this week with a "cloture" vote expected 
Tuesday, February 29.  A "cloture" vote cuts off debate on the bill and is 
a necessary prelude for a final vote to occur in the Senate.  It is crucial 
that we win the support of 60 Senators for this vote so the bill may move 
forward and not perish by filibuster.

Attempts are also being made to render RLPA impotent through amendments. 
 (We oppose all amendment attempts and urge you to tell your Senators to 
only support a "clean" bill with no amendments.)  Amendment attempts 
include:

• A domestic violence amendment. Senator Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) falsely contends that RLPA will grant a religious right to parents to beat their kids with impunity. It will not.

• A prisoner exemption. Some senators are worried about an onslaught of lawsuits filed by convicts who "invent" a religion and then file a RLPA-based action charging that their free exercise rights are violated by a prison policy or rule. This concern is unfounded given the relatively few actions pursued while the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) was in force and similarly few cases that currently appeal to state RFRAs.

• A military amendment.  Senator Strom Thurmond (R-South Carolina) wants the military exempted from RLPA in order to protect the armed forces from Wiccan, the pagan religion that reportedly practices various forms of witchcraft.  The fact is that there is no need for RLPA to address military matters due to the ongoing protection of RFRA provided to all federal institutions.

• A civil rights amendment.  The most serious attempt to amend RLPA is likely to be mounted by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) or an ally framed as a general civil rights amendment protecting housing or gay-rights.  This amendment would insure that nothing in RLPA would trump present or yet-to-be established civil rights. In other words, religious freedom takes a back seat to everyone else's rights.  This is unacceptable.

Contact information:

The generic address for all the Senators is:

    The Honorable (Senator's name)
    United States Senate
    Washington DC 20510

Senate Majority Leader

Trent Lott
Phone: 202-224-6253
Fax: 202-224-2262
E-mail: senatorlott@lott.sen.gov
Web: www.senate.gov/~lott/
AOL Users Click Here:
<a href="http://www.senate.gov/~lott/">Trent Lott</a>

Arizona

John McCain
Phone: 202-224-2235
Fax: 202-228-2862
E-mail: john_mccain@mccain.senate.gov
<mailto:john_mccain@mccain.senate.gov>
Web: www.senate.gov/~mccain
AOL Users Click Here:
<a href="http://www.senate.gov/~mccain">John McCain</a>

Jon L. Kyl
Phone: 202-224-4521
Fax: 202-224-2207
E-mail: info@kyl.senate.gov
<mailto:info@kyl.senate.gov>
Web: www.senate.gov/~kyl/
AOL Users Click Here:
<a href="http://www.senate.gov/~kyl/">Jon L. Kyl</a>

California

Barbara Boxer
Phone: 202-224-3553
Fax: 202-228-1338
E-mail: senator@boxer.senate.gov
<mailto:senator@boxer.senate.gov>
Web: www.senate.gov/~boxer
AOL Users Click Here:
<a href="http://www.senate.gov/~boxer">Barbara Boxer</a>

Diane Feinstein
Phone: 202-224-3841
Fax: 202-228-3954
E-mail: senator@feinstein.senate.gov
<mailto:senator@feinstein.senate.gov>
Web: www.senate.gov/~feinstein
AOL Users Click Here:
<a href="http://www.senate.gov/~feinstein">/a>

Hawaii

Daniel Akaka
Phone: 202-224-6361
Fax: 202-224-2126
E-mail: senator@akaka.senate.gov
<mailto:senator@akaka.senate.gov>
Web: www.senate.gov/~akaka/
AOL Users Click Here:
<a href="http://www.senate.gov/~akaka/">Daniel Akaka</a>

Daniel K. Inouye
Phone: 202-224-3934
Fax: 202-224-6747
E-mail: senator@inouye.senate.gov
<mailto:senator@inouye.senate.gov>
Web: www.senate.gov/~inouye
AOL Users Click Here:
<a href="http://www.senate.gov?~inouye">Daniel K. Inouye</a>

Nevada

Richard Bryan
Phone: 202-224-6244
Fax: 202-224-1867
E-mail: senator@bryan.senate.gov
<mailto:senator@bryan.senate.gov>
Web: www.senate.gov/~bryan/
AOL Users Click Here:
<a href="http://www.senate.gov/~bryan/">Richard Bryan</a>

Harry Reid
Phone: 202-224-3542
Fax: 202-224-7327
E-mail: senator_reid@reid.senate.gov
<mailto:senator_reid@reid.senate.gov>
Web: www.senate.gov/~reid
AOL Users Click Here:
<a href="http://www.senate.gov/~reid">Harry Reid</a>

Utah

Robert Bennett
Phone: 202-224-5444
Fax: 202-224-4908
E-mail: senator@bennett.senate.gov
<mailto:senator@bennett.senate.gov>
Web: www.senate.gov/~bennett
AOL Users Click Here:
<a href="http://www.senate.gov/~bennett">Robert Bennett</a>

Orrin Hatch
Phone: 202-224-5251
Fax: 202-224-6331
E-mail: senator_hatch@hatch.senate.gov
<mailto:senator_hatch@hatch.senate.gov>
Web: www.senate.gov/~hatch/
AOL Users Click Here:
<a href="http://www.senate.gov/~hatch/">Orrin Hatch</a>

=====================================================================
The Religious Liberty Newsflash and Legislative Alerts are occasional 
publications of the Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 
Department of Public Affairs & Religious Liberty. If you are receiving this 
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You are encouraged to forward this to those who may be interested. Please 
do not post on the world wide web without prior permission.

Director, Alan J. Reinach, Esq., ajreinach@msn.com; 805-497-9457 ext.398. 
Associate Director Bradford Newton, D.Min., bradnewton@earthlink.com; 
805-497-9457 ext. 228. 
Associate Director, Lowell Bock, 74617.3673@compuserve.com.

For assistance with a religious liberty problem, contact any of the above 
persons.  [We serve five western states, including Arizona, California, 
Nevada, Utah and Hawaii.  For problems outside our area, we can refer to 
someone more local.]