[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 26 (Thursday, February 16, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H815]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             RELIGIOUS LIBERTY: THE CONSTITUTION DEMANDS IT

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, religious liberty is under attack by 
the administration.
  The right of religious liberty is guaranteed in the First Amendment 
of the Constitution because it is a foundation for other rights. Yet 
the administration is forcing religious organizations to violate their 
conscience by indirectly providing their employees with services that 
trample on those religious beliefs.
  The administration's so-called ``promise of accommodation'' changes 
nothing. It is just political word games.
  The issue is not about contraception. This is an issue about 
religious liberty. It affects not just Catholics, but many religions 
and individuals of faith.
  Regardless of where Americans stand on the issue of contraception, 
sterilization or the morning-after pill, it should be alarming to all 
who believe the government should not persecute religion or substitute 
a government secular doctrine and impose it on citizens.
  The Constitution does not accommodate for religious liberty, it 
demands it, whether this administration likes it or not.
  And that's just the way it is.

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