January 13, 2003

Religious liberty views up for grabs in new Congress
___By Robert Marus
___ABP Washington Bureau
___WASHINGTON (ABP)--It will be either the best of times for religious liberty or the worst of times.
___Some groups that track church-state issues on Capitol Hill warn that the 108th Congress will blast religious liberty with a frontal assault. Yet other religious-issue advocates look for action on the same issues with eager anticipation.
___According to legislative liaisons for groups that support strong church-state separation, Republican leadership in both houses of Congress and the White House means more attempts at weakening the metaphorical "wall of separation" that bans government support for religion.
___"We are expecting a very tough congressional session this year, with everything on the table from school vouchers to faith-based funding for churches," said Joe Conn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "President Bush sees tax-funded religion as the answer to every social problem, and he will be pushing hard for that agenda."
___Conn especially noted that some of the new leaders of Congress--such as Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, the new House majority leader--are outspoken opponents of the very concept of church-state separation. In 2001, DeLay told a group of conservative Christian leaders that he supports "standing up and rebuking this notion of separation of church and state."
___Because of leaders with views such as this, Conn warned, "the concept of religious liberty is very much at stake" in the new Congress.
___Both Conn and People for the American Way Legal Director Elliott Mincberg and Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs General Counsel Holly Hollman cited several anticipated pieces of legislation as likely bones of contention in the new session of Congress:
___ A second attempt at passage of the so-called "Houses of Worship Political Speech Protection Act," sponsored by Religious Right ally Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., in the last Congress. The bill would have exempted churches, synagogues, mosques and other houses of worship from laws that prevent involvement in partisan politics by non-profit groups organized under section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code.
___Supporters--such as the Southern Baptist Convention's ethics agency and Presbyterian television evangelist James Kennedy--said the bill simply would have restored a right taken away from churches in the 1950s. Opponents said it would have led to a disastrous politicization of religious groups and created a huge loophole in the federal campaign-finance reform law.
___Jones has vowed to re-introduce the bill in this session, even though it failed in the House by a wide margin last year and its Senate version never got off the ground.
___"I'm not sure that it will produce significantly different results this time, even with a Republican majority in the Senate," Mincberg said. "I expect that there will be bipartisan concern."
___However, Religious Right supporters have vowed to fight hard again for the bill's passage.
___ Federal school-voucher proposals. Last year, the Supreme Court said a Cleveland program that provides government scholarships to children in private schools, including religious schools, is constitutional as long as the recipient families have a legitimate choice between using the scholarships at secular and religious schools. Emboldened by this decision, proponents of government funding for religious schools have vowed to push for voucher programs on the federal level. Both Mincberg and Conn said they expect legislation in this session to set up a voucher program in the District of Columbia, over which Congress has legislative authority.
___Mincberg also noted the possibility that members of Congress would propose legislation this year to institute a nationwide voucher program for special-education students, since the legislation that deals with federal special-education funding will be up for renewal.
___However, voucher legislation may be less popular in Congress than its supporters expect because voucher proposals have met several legislative and electoral defeats around the nation in recent years, Mincburg said. But the BJC's Hollman said new committee assignments in both the House and Senate may make for smoother sailing for voucher proposals.
___ Federal funding for religious charities. A recent executive order by President Bush instituted many of the most controversial parts of his "faith-based initiatives" that got bogged down in the last Senate term. Nonetheless, opponents of such "charitable choice" programs said legislators may attempt to add legislative authority to that executive order. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., has said he will reintroduce his Senate version of the faith-based bill that died least year.
___"One of the most interesting questions as we approach 2004 is what Sen. (Joe) Lieberman, (D-Conn.), will do," Mincberg said. Lieberman was Santorum's co-sponsor on the legislation in the Senate last year, but his priorities may change since he is widely believed to be eying a run for the presidency.
___"Pro-family" groups, however, are much more optimistic about their vision of religious freedom being advanced in the 108th Congress. Family Research Council head Ken Connor said Republican control of the executive and legislative branches "means that we can expect the GOP to advance the (conservative) social-issues agenda." That agenda includes support for Bush's expansion of government funding for religious charities, school-voucher programs and Jones' church-politicking bill--as well as proposals legalizing government-sanctioned prayers in public schools.
___While Religious Right groups are rejoicing over their newfound Congressional prowess, both Conn and Mincberg said perhaps the most important religious-liberty issue in this Congress will not be legislative.
___"If you look at the long-run impact on religious liberty, maybe the No. 1 issue will be judicial nominations," Mincberg said. The Senate must confirm or deny President Bush's picks for important federal judgeships, and Bush already nominated several controversial judges with records that opponents say are radical on issues of church-state separation.
___Many observers believe it is highly likely that at least one--and perhaps two--of the Supreme Court's justices will retire this year, meaning Bush's nominees to those spots will be in the hands of a Republican-controlled Senate. With the court split 5-4 on many church-state questions in recent years--and with "swing-vote" Justice Sandra Day O'Connor being one of the potential retirees--those with an eye on religious liberty issues may see the best of times or the worst of times.

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