Letter to Congressional Sponsors of Constitutionally Suspect Earmarks
TOTAL LETTERS DELIVERED - 107
House of Representatives - 73
Senate - 34
April 2, 2008
The Honorable _______________________
United States Congress
Washington, DC
Re: Earmarks to Religious and Religiously-affiliated Organizations
Dear ______________
The Secular Coalition for America examined earmarks in the FY2008 appropriations and found over 140 constitutionally suspect earmarks, including at least one from your office. We would be happy to provide you with our research.
Constitutionally prohibited earmarks include those directing taxpayer dollars towards religious organizations that provide earmark-supported services only to people who share their religious beliefs or that limit employment opportunities funded by the earmark to fellow believers. Also, the federal funds, or equipment and facilities purchased with federal funds, must not be used for inherently religious activities such as worship, religious instruction or proselytization. Government funding of any of these activities advances the religious mission of the organization; this is a violation of the Establishment Clause and therefore unconstitutional.
In addition to unconstitutionally burdening taxpayers by using federal funds to advance specific religious missions, these earmarks could create legal problems for the religious organizations receiving them. We have provided our list of FY2008 suspect earmarks to our coalition members that engage in litigation: the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the American Humanist Association, to review for possible legal action.
As you prepare your FY2009 earmark requests, we ask that you carefully review the projects and recipients to ensure that your earmarks are constitutionally sound.
If you have any questions, please contact me by phone at 202-299-1091 or by e-mail.
Sincerely,
Lori Lipman Brown
Director