'Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act'

[RPankn]

Press Release Wednesday, March 2, 2005

President Roberta Combs
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For further information contact: Michele Combs 202-549-6257 or 202-479-6900

Christian Coalition Offers Support as Congressman Walter Jones Introduces His 'Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act', H.R. 235 at Press Conference


Washington D.C. -- Christian Coalition of America wholeheartedly supports the effort by Congressman Walter Jones, (R-NC), to pass his “Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act”, H. R. 235, during the 109th Congress. Christian Coalition was represented at Congressman Jones’ press conference today on Capitol Hill when he introduced his bill. Speakers included Senators Sam Brownback, (R-KS) and Tom Coburn, (R-OK), Congressman Joe Pitts, (R-PA), Chairman of the House Values Action Team and Congressman Mike Pence, (R-IN), Chairman of the House Republican Study Committee and a number of minority pastors who also support this commonsense bill.


The Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act of 2005 amends the Internal Revenue Code to protect churches from losing their tax-exempt status because of the content, preparation, or presentation of any homily, sermon, teaching, dialectic, or other presentation made during religious services or gatherings. Congressman Jones’ bill will permit church leaders to express personal views on political matters or elections during regular religious services without violating campaign finance laws, as long as such views are not disseminated beyond the members and guests assembled at such services.

The President of Christian Coalition of America, Roberta Combs said, "It is long past due for Congress to pass a law giving clergy the freedom to educate their congregations on the issues such as protecting traditional marriage and to inform them as to how their elected officials vote on such issues. Christian Coalition commends Congressman Walter Jones for his determination to pass this critically-needed legislation.”<br>
The Christian Coalition of America is America’s largest Christian grassroots organization with more than 2 million supporters. The organization’s website may be referenced at: www.cc.org


www.cc.org/content.cfm?id=186

[RPankn]

Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act of 2005 (Introduced in House)

HR 235 IH


109th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 235
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to protect the religious free exercise and free speech rights of churches and other houses of worship.


IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

January 4, 2005
Mr. JONES of North Carolina introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means



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A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to protect the religious free exercise and free speech rights of churches and other houses of worship.


Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act of 2005'.

SEC. 2. HOUSES OF WORSHIP PERMITTED TO ENGAGE IN RELIGIOUS FREE EXERCISE AND FREE SPEECH ACTIVITIES, ETC.

(a) In General- Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating subsection (q) as subsection (r) and by inserting after subsection (p) the following new subsection:

`(q) An organization described in section 170(b)(1)(a)(1) or section 508(c)(1)(A) shall not fail to be treated as organized and operated exclusively for a religious purpose, nor shall it be deemed to have participated in, or intervened in any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office, for purposes of subsection (c)(3) or section 170(c)(2), 2055, 2106, 2522, or 4955 because of the content, preparation, or presentation of any homily, sermon, teaching, dialectic, or other presentation made during religious services or gatherings.'.

(b) Effective Date- The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply to taxable years ending after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS UNAFFECTED.

No member or leader of an organization described in section 501(q) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by section 2) shall be prohibited from expressing personal views on political matters or elections for public office during regular religious services, so long as these views are not disseminated beyond the members and guests assembled together at the service. For purposes of the preceding sentence, dissemination beyond the members and guests assembled together at a service includes a mailing that results in more than an incremental cost to the organization and any electioneering communication under section 304(f) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(f)). Nothing in the amendment made by section 2 shall be construed to permit any disbursements for electioneering communications or political expenditures prohibited by the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.

[Moses]

I think that the opposite is true-- it is time to rescind the tax exempt status of religious organizations. They have proven-- the major ones-- that they are not religious organizations, but political front organizations. It is time to end their tax exempt status. Then they can say what they want to -- this should please them.

[Moses]

Pulpit tax issue is seen as way to marriage bill

By Bob Cusack

Social conservatives, frustrated by the lack of movement on a marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution, are shifting their focus to passing legislation this year that would allow religious leaders to endorse political candidates from the pulpit.

Proponents of legislation sponsored by Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) say it is a step on the long journey to collecting enough support to pass a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.


Photo courtesy of Congressman Walter B. Jones
Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) speaks out in support of Rep. Walter Jones’s (R-N.C.) legislation in October 2004.

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Jim Backlin, vice president of legislative affairs for the Christian Coalition, said passing the Jones bill would enable religious leaders to endorse candidates who support a federal marriage amendment. Down the line, Backlin said, more candidates who support a constitutional amendment would be elected to Congress. Backlin will meet House and Senate Republican leaders this month and plans to stress the importance of the Jones bill.
Meanwhile, Gary Cass of the Center for Reclaiming America has written a new book about the bill, H.R. 235, called Gag Order that urges readers to press Congress to pass it.

Some Republicans say the push for the Jones legislation will help the GOP’s push to attract more support among African-Americans in 2006 and 2008. [Because ministers who want to line their pockets w/ political patronage will be able to deliver voting blocks Tamany Hall-style]

Many Democrats and some Republicans say that the Jones bill is a thinly veiled attempt to bolster the Republican base of power in Washington.

The Rev. Barry Lynn of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State said the effort to pass a constitutional amendment on marriage and H.R. 235 are linked. The Jones bill would give new clout to conservative churches, which would use that authority to elect candidates who back a marriage amendment, he said.

“Walter Jones’s purpose of his bill is very partisan,” Lynn said.
Jones argued that Republican as well as Democratic preachers would have the freedom to endorse political candidates. He has maintained that Lynn’s 2004 formal complaints to the IRS that black churches violated the law by endorsing candidates will shore up support for his bill.

Lynn and other critics of the bill say the legislation is unconstitutional because it gives preferential tax treatment to religious entities but is silent on secular ones.

Like the marriage amendment, Jones’s bill needs more support among Democrats to pass in the 109th Congress. To that end, Jones has courted Democrats — specifically black ministers — who believe they should be allowed to discuss political matters without jeopardizing the tax-exempt status of their churches.

Jones will appear with black ministers at a press conference today to rally support for his bill. The Rev. Walter Fauntroy, a former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, is scheduled to speak out for the Jones measure. The Rev. Anthony Muse, a Democrat and senior pastor of the Ark of Safety Christian Church in Maryland, will also praise the bill today. They are expected to invoke the words of Martin Luther King Jr. to make their case for passing the Jones measure.

The briefing will be held in the Longworth Building, — the same building where the House Ways and Means Committee is located. Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Calif.), who chairs the committee, thwarted the Jones bill last year.

Jones attempted to downplay his rift with Thomas: “This issue is bigger than me and bigger than Chairman Thomas.”<br>
Many powerful Republicans, including House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie support the Jones legislation.

Gillespie discussed the Jones bill with Thomas last year and urged him to move it through the Ways and Means Committee, according to a June 10, 2004, handwritten note from Gillespie to Thomas that was provided to The Hill.

For DeLay, the issue is somewhat personal. Last year, DeLay delivered a videotaped message on the marriage amendment that was replayed in many churches. But DeLay’s remarks were not played in a church in his district because it feared the Internal Revenue Service would take away its tax-exempt status.

An irked DeLay described this story to Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), who now heads the conservative Republican Study Committee. Pence recently said the Jones bill is a top priority for the group.
Coincidentally, Jones’s new bill would not give DeLay’s church more confidence that it could show lawmakers’ remarks on touchy political issues. The legislation’s scope was narrowed to attract more support and not run contrary to the expected push this year to rein in so-called 527 groups. The 2005 version of the Jones legislation would not allow religious leaders to endorse political candidates through electronic means, e.g. on television.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C), who is taking the lead on H.R. 235 in the Senate, urged Jones to change his bill after consulting with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a leading 527 critic.

In 2002, Jones exchanged his vote on another bill for a floor vote on H.R. 235. Thomas was one of 46 Republicans to reject the bill, which failed 178-239. Ten Democrats voted for the Jones measure; 192 opposed it.

Politics and lobbying have appeared to play a role on this issue. Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.), who co-sponsored the Jones bill, voted against it. Reps. John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Jim Nussle (R-Iowa) voted against the legislation and then signed on as co-sponsors of the bill months later.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said there is growing support for the Jones measure. He noted that the Arlington Group, a powerful coalition of conservative groups that support a federal marriage amendment, is now pushing hard for the Jones bill.

Asked how the measure will overcome opposition from Thomas, Perkins said, “I respect the [legislative] process, but there’s more than one way to skin a cat and it’s time to skin this cat.”<br>
Thomas has felt political pressure in his Bakersfield district to move the bill. Michael Schwartz, formerly of Concerned Women for America, last year lambasted Thomas on radio programs broadcast in Bakersfield for his inaction on the Jones bill. Schwartz is now chief of staff for Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who will appear with Jones today.

The Rev. Dave Champness, the teaching pastor at the River Lakes Community Church, which is in Thomas’s district, has personally urged the Ways and Means chairman to move the Jones bill.

Champness said, “It’s obviously bottlenecked at his desk.”<br>A Ways and Means spokeswoman said the committee is focused on passing President Bush’s top domestic priorities, such as Social Security reform and tax reform.

Other lawmakers expected to attend today’s briefing include Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), Pence and House Chief Deputy Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.), a Ways and Means member.

Cantor spoke out in favor of Jones’s bill at an Oct. 7, 2004, press conference. Sources said a Ways and Means Committee staffer was sent to “monitor” that briefing.

[Moses]

Note that "Concerned Women of America" is associated w/ a Secret Society that also illegally receives a tax exemption, and is an influential organization in Foreign Policy, that is especially associated w/ Israeli interests.

[POA]

Moses said:

I think that the opposite is true-- it is time to rescind the tax exempt status of religious organizations. They have proven-- the major ones-- that they are not religious organizations, but political front organizations. It is time to end their tax exempt status. Then they can say what they want to -- this should please them.

I enthusiastically encourage this idea. They are about as politically neutral as the Russian Orthodox Church was during the era of Russian tsarist absolutism.

Do you have any ideas how to start this, though?

[Moses]

The article mentioned that Rev. Barry Lynn of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State had filed suit against churches that crossed the line. It would probably be good to join his org, but in addition, I think investigation and reporting of the huge real estate holdings and other holdings of these churches and the detrimental effects and unfairness and uses of their wealth should be exposed.

In the black community, for example, a young person whose family includes a Baptist minister found it to be distressing that the poor women of the black community scraped together money for their church hats and money for the church (don't know if they tithe) while the minister preached against gays and other malarkey. When anyone tried to speak w/ him re: his views he would clap his hands over his ears and spout some verse about "Satan" speaking. And when you see politically involved "reverends" like Walter Foantroy and "Hel'" Clinton's pal using their influence to get on the political patronage gravy train (thus increasing their political power and their financial gain) then I think that this whole issue should be investigated and reported.

[Moses]

This investigation and reporting should also include synagogues and mosques. Synagogues have become nothing but money-changing vehicles for Israel (a foreign country) and political influence. And they are extremely wealthy. The issue w/ Mosques and the suspicion that they are engaged in political activity is well-pubicized, but not the same for so-called "Christian" "religious" organizations or "Jewish" "religious" organizations.