[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 29, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H552-H553]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        ON BOB JONES UNIVERSITY AND HOUSE CHAPLAIN CONTROVERSIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Toomey). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 6, 1999, the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Ganske) is 
recognized for 60 minutes.
  Mr. GANSKE. Mr. Speaker, as an Iowa Republican Congressman who is 
Catholic and has been supported by Christian conservatives as well as 
moderates, I feel compelled to comment on the Bob Jones University and 
the House Chaplain controversies.
  Mr. Speaker, I went to Catholic grade school in the 1950s and early 
1960s. I remember what a big deal it was when JFK was elected 
President. In those days, there were still discriminations against 
Catholics and terrible stories told about my faith. To be fair, Mr. 
Speaker, Catholics were not always tolerant, either.
  My mother came from an Irish-Catholic Democrat family. Older 
Catholics today still have vivid memories of anti-Catholicism. Our 
country's anti-Catholicism history goes way back before the virulent 
``Know-Nothings'' just before the Civil War. In the early days of my 
party, the GOP did not do much to reassure Catholics that the 
Republican Party was a place where they could be comfortable.
  But times change. Along came the Ecumenical Council, Christians of 
all creeds became more tolerant, and now even Garrison Keillor can make 
jokes about the foibles of Catholics and Lutherans in Lake Wobegone.
  I certainly believe that my Lutheran mother-in-law and father-in-law 
have every bit as good a chance to go to heaven as my Catholic 
relatives do, maybe better in light of all their good works, but do not 
let us get into good works versus faith.
  So when Governor Bush spoke at Bob Jones University and its anti-
Catholicism was publicized, Catholics were reminded of past 
discrimination and were really disappointed that he did not immediately 
label these views bigoted in no uncertain terms when he found out about 
those views.
  Bob Jones University President is Bob Jones, III, and this is how he 
describes the one billion-member Roman Catholic Church: ``A cult which 
calls itself Christian.''
  This is on the official Bob Jones University Web site: ``The Roman 
church is not another Christian denomination. It is a satanic 
counterfeit, an ecclesiastic tyranny over the souls of men, not to 
bring them to salvation, but to hold them bound in sin and hurl them 
into eternal damnation. It is the old harlot in the Book of Revelation, 
the mother of harlots.''
  Calling Pope John Paul the ``antichrist,'' saying that the Eucharist 
is ``cannibalism,'' calling my church a ``harlot,'' is deeply hurtful 
and mean and insulting. I must say I find Bob Jones' racism equally 
offensive. Governor Bush has been rightly criticized for not calling a 
bigot a bigot. In the spirit of bipartisanship critique, I hasten to 
add that Al Gore and Bill Bradley should be roundly criticized for not 
condemning Al Sharpton for his anti-Jewish bigotry as well.

                              {time}  2045

  All this brings us to the current ``holy war'' in this House of the 
people over the replacement of the House chaplain.
  Reverend Ford, the well-liked Lutheran current House chaplain, is 
retiring. A bipartisan House committee, nine Republicans and nine 
Democrats, recommended three candidates for chaplain to Speaker 
Hastert, Majority

[[Page H553]]

 Leader Armey and Minority Leader Gephardt.
  It is well-known that a priest had received the most votes by the 
bipartisan committee, only three of which on the committee were 
Catholic. It should be noted that there has never been a Catholic House 
chaplain in the 211 years there has been a House chaplain, and, for 
that matter, there has never been a rabbi or a woman chaplain.
  The Speaker and Majority Leader rejected the priest and went further 
down the list and chose Reverend Wright, who is a good man. Now, I want 
to be very clear about my thoughts on this. I know Denny Hastert and 
Dick Armey personally, and they are not anti-Catholic, but there is no 
question that this is a mess. Coupled with the Bob Jones University 
fiasco, Catholics in my district and around the country are shaking 
their heads in dismay.
  So, Mr. Speaker, here is my unsolicited advice for ending this ``holy 
war'' that belongs in a long-ago past:
  First, Reverend Wright should see that to become chaplain under these 
circumstances would impair his ministry. He should voluntarily remove 
himself from consideration.
  Then, Mr. Speaker, we can do one of two things: We could abolish the 
position and simply have a rotating voluntary ministry, or we could 
keep the position but start over completely.
  We should start over with an entirely new committee, look at an 
entirely new slate of candidates, and make the committee decision 
final. That way, if a Catholic is chosen, no one can say that the 
Speaker has pandered to the Catholics; if a Catholic is not chosen, no 
one can say that he is anti-Catholic. But the Speaker should not, I 
repeat, should not ask for a party line vote.
  As for myself, if Reverend Wright comes up for a vote, I will vote 
``present,'' not against Reverend Wright per se, but in disgust with 
the whole way this has been handled on both sides of the aisle.
  Before I close, I want to say this: It is not fair to paint 
evangelicals and Christian conservatives with the broad brush of Bob 
Jones. My wife and I and our children have worshipped many times at 
evangelical churches and have been made welcome. The evangelical 
ministers that I know, like Pastor John Palmer in Des Moines, do not 
have a racist or bigoted bone in their bodies. To the contrary, they 
have reached out to minority churches, reached out to Jews and to 
Catholics in Des Moines.
  During the Iowa caucuses I got to know and respect Gary Bauer. What 
he wrote today in the New York Times is true. I quote Mr. Bauer. He 
says, ``The so-called religious right is not a mindless mob that 
marches in lockstep at the command of this or that organizational 
leader. Though some may conjure up imaginary conservative conspiracies 
in order to frighten voters or divert attention from presidential 
scandals, social and culturally conservative voters, not all of whom 
happen to be evangelicals or necessarily even religious, are a diverse, 
independent-minded bunch.''
  Mr. Speaker, the Republican Party I belong to is tolerant, respecting 
all people and all religions. I am proud to be a Republican. We are the 
party of Ronald Reagan and Teddy Roosevelt. We are the party of Abraham 
Lincoln, and we are not the party of Bob Jones.

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