Hensarling House Conservatives Secure Victory for Religious Liberty

Earlier this month a very real breach of our First Amendment right to religious liberty occurred right here in Washington D.C. a city that is supposed to embody the freedoms and liberties that Americans hold dear.  Messages requested by citizens to appear on the certificates accompanying flags flown on their behalf over the U.S. Capitol were purposefully altered and references to God were removed by the Architect of the Capitol. 

An Eagle Scout who requested a certificate reading “for the love of God family and Country” received a certificate that merely read “for the love of family and Country.”  This restriction of expression is an outrage and is an infringement upon our religious liberties.  In response to what I believe was an unconstitutional infringement of your rights I along with other House conservatives called on Speaker Pelosi to investigate this matter and to review the authority under which the Architect of the Capitol was suppressing religious expression in America.

I am proud to announce that religious liberty prevailed in this round.  On October 11 the Architect of the Capitol announced that he was reversing this policy that infringed upon the First Amendment rights of American citizens. 

I am overjoyed that this ridiculous policy has been overturned.  Make no mistake about it this was an affront to your personal liberty and the First Amendment.  There is simply no reading of American history our Declaration of Independence or Constitution that would permit condone or sanction the suppression of religious expression that we saw in this instance.  I am relieved that the policy has been overturned and will work to ensure that future requests are not edited by a Washington bureaucrat.

America is a nation of many faiths and the Constitution rightly protects the freedom of each American to exercise their chosen faith.  The liberties granted to us in the United States Constitution are sacred.  Those rights make America the land of the free and there is nothing more important to me than ensuring that we remain free and that we remain “one nation under God”. 
 
Hensarling Calls For Action on Veterans Troop Funding
America’s servicemen and women and veterans truly are our nation’s heroes and in order to ensure that they continue to receive the benefits services and care they have earned and deserve Congress must act quickly and pass H.R. 2642 the 2008 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs spending bill.  This bill which I strongly supported when it was considered by the House and was passed by both the House and the Senate with overwhelming support funds services for America’s veterans and men and women currently in uniform. 

Since the bill has passed both the House and the Senate a conference between the two bodies is now needed to produce a final version of the legislation so Congress can consider it once again and send it to the President for him to sign into law.  Unfortunately precious time is being wasted due to the unwillingness of Speaker Pelosi to appoint conferees to the conference that will finalize the bill.  According to press reports this important legislation is being held up by the Majority so it can serve as a vehicle for passing billions of dollars in unrelated spending.

It is absurd that big spenders in Congress are playing games with funding for our nation’s troops and veterans and their families by refusing to appoint conferees to the bill.  Everyday that goes by without passing this legislation is another day that our veterans cannot see the benefits of the largest historical increase in funding for our nation’s veterans.

In an attempt to speed this process up I along with other concerned members of Congress have urged Speaker Pelosi to put aside partisanship and quickly appoint conferees to the bill so that we do not leave funding for America’s heroes in jeopardy.  An excerpt from our request can be viewed below:

“Few issues are more important than adequate funding for our nation’s veterans.  The Leadership in the House cannot allow this critically important funding to fall victim to the usual partisan wrangling which occurs all too often in Washington. 

“Veterans should not be used as tools for…bargaining and gamesmanship.  Both the House and the Senate passed the FY08 MilCon-Veterans appropriations with overwhelming majorities because our commitment to veterans rises above partisan squabbling.”

It is my hope that the Speaker and big spenders in Congress will heed our call and appoint conferees to this bill so that it can be signed into law on behalf of the men and women who have sacrificed so much for our safety our way of life and the liberties we as Americans hold so dear.