Legislative/Policy Update For Week Of June 11-18, 2005

June 16, 2005 – Liberal Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and liberal Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) have each introduced companion bills, the “Responsible Education About Life” in the Senate and House. This bill asks for additional funding for contraceptive-based sex education programs. Pro-condom and birth control sex education already receives millions from Title X Family Planning funds. For every $12 spent on contraceptive education, only $1 is spent on abstinence education. This legislation would take money from abstinence education and give it to contraceptive education programs. For more on this bad bill, access the Abstinence Clearinghouse web site: Abstinence.net.-- Last Thursday (June 9), three of President Bush’s judicial nominees were confirmed to the federal bench after being stonewalled by liberal Senators. The judges confirmed were: former Alabama Attorney General William H. Pryor for the 11 th Circuit Court; Judge Richard A. Griffin and Judge David McKeague were confirmed to serve on the 6 th Circuit Court.

The battle over President Bush’s judicial nominees continues, however. Liberals have reserved the “right” to filibuster any nominee if they deem the situation to be an “extraordinary circumstance.” It is likely that Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist will resign before the end of the summer and the real battle will begin to see who fills his post.

We must have a fair process for all judicial nominees. They all deserve a fair up or down vote in the Senate.

-- The Department of Commerce may soon approve an xxx. domain for the pornography industry. This will give legitimacy to the porn industry and will do nothing to stop the spread of legally obscene pornography and child pornography from the Internet. The porn industry should not be given this kind of legitimacy by the government.

TAKE ACTION: Citizens concerned about the proliferation of pornography should call the Department of Commerce and urge the DOC to refuse to approve the .xxx domain. The person to contact at the Office of Public Affairs is Christine Gunderson at (202) 482-4883. E-mails can be sent to Sec. Carlos M. Gutierrez at: CGutierrez@doc.gov.

-- The National Law Center for Children and Families has issued a report on pornography and the sexual exploitation of children. Download the report here: Child-Pornography Possessors Arrested in Internet-Related Crimes: Findings From the National Juvenile Online Victimization Study.

-- The State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report is now available online, too: State Department Releases 2005 Trafficking In Persons Report - US Department of State.

-- June 14 was Flag Day! It was on June 14, 1777 that the Second Continental Congress chose the Flag of the United States. And, in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation making June 14 th Flag Day. More on the history of Flag Day is available here: The History Of Flag Day.

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