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The 2nd Session of the 109th Congress: A report from the staff of the Secular Coalition for America

Feb. 15, 2006

Confirmation of Samuel Alito

This session began with the disappointing confirmation of Samuel Alito to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. A filibuster was initiated, but only 25 Senators supported the effort. If one or both of your Senators are included in the list below, please thank your Senator(s) for taking a stand against this nomination. The supporters of the filibuster were Bayh (D-IN), Biden (D-DE), Boxer (D-CA), Clinton (D-NY), Dayton (D-MN), Dodd (D-CT), Durbin (D-IL), Feingold (D-WI), Feinstein (D-CA), Jeffords (I-VT), Kennedy (D-MA), Kerry (D-MA), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Leahy (D-VT), Levin (D-MI), Menendez (D-NJ), Mikulski (D-MD), Murray (D-WA), Obama (D-IL), Reed (D-RI), Reid (D-NV), Sarbanes (D-MD), Schumer (D-NY), Stabenow (D-MI), and Wyden (D-OR).

Alito's presence on the nation's highest court puts at risk important precedents regarding the Establishment Clause and the separation of religion and government. The final vote to confirm Alito was 54 to 42. If the 17 additional Senators who voted against Alito had joined the 25 Senators in the filibuster, Alito would not be on the Supreme Court today. These 17 symbolic votes came from Akaka (D-HI), Baucus (D-MT), Bingaman (D-NM), Cantwell (D-WA), Carper (D-DE), Chafee (R-RI), Dorgan (D-ND), Harkin (D-IA), Inouye (D-HI), Kohl (D-WI), Landrieu (D-LA), Lieberman (D-CT), Lincoln (D-AR), Nelson (D-FL), Pryor (D-AR), Rockefeller (D-WV), and Salazar (D-CO).

Bush's Budget Request for 2007

The President's 2007 budget request includes funds for a host of activities that aid religious organizations and create opportunities for state sponsored religious proselytizing. For example, the President proposes increasing funding to abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. These unproven and factually inaccurate programs blur the line between science and religion by indoctrinating students with specific religious beliefs posing as scientific facts. [See Committee on Government Reform - Minority Staff Report December 2004.] The Secular Coalition for America will work with our coalition partners to eliminate, or at least reduce, the funding for these and other programs that violate the separation of church and state.

Chaplains Reign Again at U.S. Air Force Academy

As an additional indication of this Administration's disregard for Establishment Clause protections, the U.S. Air Force issued revised guidelines in early February on religious rights. The guidelines, called "Revised Interim Guidelines Concerning Free Exercise Of Religion In The Air Force," significantly backtrack from similar guidelines issued last year following an investigation into allegations of official preference toward evangelical Christianity and the resulting heavy-handed forms of proselytizing at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The new guidelines focus on protecting the rights of chaplains to freely expound their faith while ignoring the rights of minority religions and nontheists. The new guidelines also counter prior Air Force statements that public prayer would not be a part of official gatherings, such as sporting events or staff meetings, providing captive audiences for these now unfettered chaplains. Representative Walter Jones (R-NC) was active in lobbying the Administration to give chaplains more freedom to engage in evangelical activities. In October of 2005 Jones sent a letter to the White House supporting the actions of evangelical Christian chaplains in the Air Force, which was signed and/or supported by over 70 other members of Congress.

Vote Expected on Federal Marriage Amendment

The religious right is gearing up its grassroots activities to force a vote on the Federal Marriage Amendment. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) promised a June 5 floor vote in a February 10 speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference. The amendment (S.J. Res 1) sponsored by Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO) is pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The proposal calls for a 28th amendment to the Constitution defining marriage as the union between a man and woman. If approved, this amendment will impose a religious standard on the civil marriage contract. Many proponents of changing the U.S. Constitution to exclude same-sex marriage explain that "God didn't make Adam and Steve; He made Adam and Eve." They cite biblical support for their version of who shall be eligible for civil marriage contracts. If such an amendment passes, it will be the first time in our nation's history that the Constitution would limit citizens' civil rights based on a theological definition. The Secular Coalition for America opposes the use of religious doctrine to specifically define civil marriage.

Government Funded Religious Discrimination

Carrying over from the last session, we will see continuing efforts in the Head Start and Workforce Investment Act (WIA) reauthorizations to allow religious organizations operating federally funded Head Start and WIA programs to practice religious discrimination in the employment of publicly funded personnel. In November of 2005 the House of Representative passed an amendment in the Head Start re-authorization allowing this discrimination, a clear violation of our civil rights protections. The amendment was sponsored by Rep. John A. Boehner (R-OH) who was recently elected as the House majority leader, the powerful position formerly held by Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX).

Congress and President Endorse Discrimination of Atheists

At the close of the 1st Session of the 109th Congress, our elected representatives quietly snuck in unique protections for the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to discriminate against gays and nontheists as part of the defense authorization bill.

In January, President Bush signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 (H.R.1815), which was passed by Congress in the final hours before its Christmas recess. Before the final passage of this bill, however, the so-called "Support Our Scouts Act of 2005" was slipped in to the authorization bill (Section 1073). This legislation requires the Department of Defense to provide at least the same level of support for BSA's national or world Jamborees as in past years. According to Scouting for All, an organization which combats the BSA's discriminatory policies, this is a direct affront to the Federal Court injunction currently in place enjoining such support as an unconstitutional establishment of religion in violation of the First Amendment (see www.scoutingforall.org). This amendment also requires any state or local government entity that receives Community Development Block Grant money from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to allow BSA to have meetings in their facilities or on their property. This would override any of these entities' own anti-discrimination laws or regulations that forbid access to a discriminatory group, such as the BSA.