[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 131 (Wednesday, September 7, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H5941]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP OF VETERANS

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, recently I met with the Veterans of 
Foreign Wars in Houston, Texas, who shared some disturbing news:
  The First Amendment rights of veterans have come under attack by the 
Federal Government. The director of the Houston Veterans Administration 
Cemetery has led an authoritarian quest to remove Christianity and 
religion from funerals. She has banned the words ``God'' and ``Jesus 
Christ'' in the burial ceremonies of deceased veterans. She censors the 
prayers. She shut down the chapel, took out the cross, took out the 
Bible, and locked the doors.
  Government censorship of funeral services for those who have fought 
and died for our country is unacceptable, unconstitutional, and un-
American. The policy of the director is anti-Christian, antireligion, 
and antiveteran.
  Today I filed the Veterans Religious Freedom Act. This bill will 
protect the constitutional right to freedom of religion and prohibit 
the Veterans Administration from censoring free speech and censoring 
religion. It will require the veteran cemetery directors to be 
veterans.
  The First Amendment is sacred. Funerals are sacred. And when our 
veterans are buried, that soil becomes sacred. It is the constitutional 
duty of the Federal Government to protect speech and religion, not 
censor it.
  And that's just the way it is.

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