[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 17245-17248]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            FREE SPEECH FOR AMERICA'S RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2001, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I will not take the full 
hour, but as we are talking about our men and women in uniform, and I 
want to join with the gentlewoman from Texas, that we are very 
fortunate to have the men and women who serve this Nation, and God 
bless them, and also the families of those who serve this Nation, the 
men that serve this Nation and the women, that we do appreciate them. 
That is really one of the reasons I am on the floor today, because I do 
appreciate and I cherish the First Amendment right of the Constitution 
of the United States of America, and I know that many men and women 
have died for that right and other rights that we enjoy based on our 
Constitution.
  But the reason I am here, Mr. Speaker, is because our churches and 
synagogues are denied the First Amendment rights to talk about issues 
such as political issues. Well, some people might not know the history, 
and the history is this, that from day one of the beginning of this 
Nation, the preachers and priests have had the freedom to talk about 
political issues and actually had that freedom until 1954. If this was 
1953, Mr. Speaker, I would not even be on the floor, because there 
would be no problem. The churches had freedom of speech until 1954.
  In 1954, Lyndon Baines Johnson, United States Senator and majority 
leader, a very strong position that he held in the United States 
Senate, had the H.L. Hunt family back in Texas opposed to his 
reelection because they were saying that Johnson was soft on communism. 
So the H.L. Hunt family had established 2501(c)(3) think tanks, 
obviously not churches, but think tanks. So Johnson, being the man that 
he was, put an amendment on a revenue bill going through the Senate in 
1954 that was never even debated; they never debated the amendment. 
Basically what he said was if you are a 501(c)(3), you may not have 
political speech.
  Well, Mr. Speaker, I am one who believes sincerely that the strength 
of this Nation depends on our spiritual leaders having the right of 
free speech, whether it be a political issue that they think is 
important or whether it should be a moral issue that is somewhat 
political. What Mr. Johnson did was to give the authority to the 
Internal Revenue Service to be able to say what can be said and not 
said as it relates to political issues of the day.
  I must say, Mr. Speaker, that I believe sincerely that the moral 
future of this country depends on our religious leaders having the 
freedom to talk about issues, should they choose.
  Let me give an example. A priest in my district, the third district 
of North Carolina, was asked by a parishioner who is a friend of mine, 
his name is Jerry Shield, Jerry Shield asked the priest in October of 
2000 during the presidential election, he asked his priest, Father Rudy 
at St. Paul's in New Bern, North Carolina, he said, Father, please just 
make the statement at the end of the mass that George Bush is pro-life.
  Mr. Speaker, that is not an endorsement. It is a statement, it is an 
educational statement for those parishioners that attended that church.

                              {time}  1645

  The priest said to Jerry Shield, I cannot do that, Jerry, because it 
will violate the 501(c)(3) status of this church.

[[Page 17246]]

  Mr. Speaker, I have introduced a bill, H.R. 2357, the Houses of 
Worship Free Speech Protection Act. I am pleased to tell the Members 
that the support that we have from leaders around this Nation is really 
quite humbling, to be honest; people like Richard Land of the Southern 
Baptist Convention; James Dobson, president of Focus on the Family; 
David Barton, director of the Wallbuilders; James Martin, the 60 Plus 
Association; Tim and Beverly LaHaye, and we all know their fine work; 
and Concerned Women for America; also, the Family Research Council; the 
Religious Freedom Coalition, they support this legislation; also, David 
Keene, who is chairman of the American Conservative Union.
  Dr. D. James Kennedy, one of the finest men I have ever met, from the 
Coral Ridge Ministries, is a strong supporter of this legislation.
  Another man that I have great respect for, along with all the others 
that I have named, is Ray Flynn. Ray Flynn is the former ambassador to 
the Vatican and former Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Flynn 
supports this legislation; also, a man that I have really gotten to 
know by telephone who I have a tremendous respect for, Rabbi Daniel 
Lapin. He is a wonderful man of God, and he supports this legislation; 
and James Bopp, the constitutional lawyer for the James Madison Center 
for Free Speech. He is a strong supporter of this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, the reason I have this enlargement of a letter that I 
received, it is from a fine man who was a Member of Congress my first 
year, 1995. Floyd Flake was a Member of the Congress. He is an ordained 
minister, as well. I talked to him about 4 or 5 months ago. I told Dr. 
Flake what I was trying to do: I was just trying to get the support to 
return the freedom of speech to our churches and synagogues. We chatted 
for a while, and he said, Congressman, I would be glad to write a 
letter of support.
  I just want to read two paragraphs from this letter:
  ``I praise God for the stand that you have taken to defend the first 
amendment right of houses of worship. It is unjust that churches and 
clergymen and women are unfairly targeted when they exercise their 
right as an American citizen. I am pleased to offer my wholehearted 
support with sincere prayer for passage of this important and 
liberating legislation.''
  I am very honored and pleased to have Dr. Flake support this and 
certainly to have his letter of support for what we are trying to do.
  Mr. Speaker, it so happened that on May 15, the oversight committee, 
chaired by the gentleman from New York (Chairman Houghton), held a 
hearing on this issue, freedom of speech in our churches and 
synagogues. That day, D. James Kennedy came up from Florida, flew up 
from Florida to testify on behalf of this legislation.
  In addition to Dr. Kennedy, also Pastor Walter Fauntroy came, who is 
a pastor here in Washington, D.C. at the New Bethel Baptist Church. I 
am pleased to tell the Members that actually he was a Member of 
Congress and also the vice mayor of Washington, D.C., at one time.
  Let me share a couple of comments that they made when they testified 
before the oversight committee on May 14. I want to read these two 
paragraphs, Mr. Speaker. This is from Pastor Walter Fauntroy. I am just 
going to read his 5-minute presentation that he made before the 
oversight committee, just two paragraphs for the Record:
  ``What I have learned as a pastor, civil rights activist, and Member 
of Congress over these years has led me to appear before you today in 
support of H.R. 2357, the Houses of Worship Political Speech Protection 
Act. In the 5 minutes allowed me, I want to share with you two 
definitions of `politics' upon which I have acted over these years as a 
pastor, as a civil rights activist and a politician that inform my 
decision to support this legislation,'' H.R. 2357.
  In addition, he closed this way, Mr. Speaker. I cannot read the 
entire testimony. I will at a later time, not today, ask that I might 
be able to submit this for the Record.
  He closed his testimony, and again, this is Pastor Walter Fauntroy, 
pastor of the New Bethel Baptist Church here in Washington, D.C. Many 
of my colleagues on both sides of the political aisle know him well, as 
they do Reverend Floyd Flake from New York. This is how Pastor Fauntroy 
closed:
  ``So, Mr. Chairman, I know that it is not in my interest or that of 
the people whom I serve that certain people who are self-centered 
hypocrites when it comes to the basic tenets of their religions 
exercise their right to be wrong. But like Voltaire, I may disagree 
with them vehemently, but I will defend to the death their right to be 
wrong and their right to participate in an orderly effort to `translate 
what they believe into public policy and practice.' I must not be 
selfish and therefore sinful; I must not demand for myself what I would 
deny others.''
  Mr. Speaker, he also closed with a Bible verse. Again, this is Pastor 
Walter Fauntroy, who is testifying on behalf of H.R. 2357 to return 
freedom of speech to our churches and synagogues, should those pastors 
decide that they want to talk about the issues of the day. Many times 
there are political issues of the day.
  He closed this way by saying: ``. . . save his life, shall lose it, 
and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.'' That is Matthew 
10:39. I wish I could read the entire testimony of Pastor Fauntroy. 
Obviously, Members would better understand the last paragraph if I had 
had the time to do that.
  In addition, I want to read just a couple of statements from the 
testimony of Dr. D. James Kennedy. He and Pastor Fauntroy, along with 
Kobe May, and Kobe May is an attorney for the American Center for Law 
and Justice, they testified that day on behalf of freedom of speech in 
our churches and synagogues.
  This is one of the paragraphs that Dr. Kennedy said during his 
testimony that I want to read:
  ``This legislation is a vitally important step in reversing a long-
standing injustice whereby free speech seems to be protected everywhere 
except in the pulpit of our churches and other houses of worship. It 
will restore to churches a freedom and role that dates to the American 
infancy.
  Nineteenth century historian John Wingate Thornton said, ``In a very 
great degree, to the pulpit, the Puritan pulpit, we owe the moral 
forces which won our independence.''
  Mr. Speaker, that is so true. If we think about the history of this 
Nation, there was never any restriction of speech in our churches and 
synagogues, none whatsoever. Only Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1954, with 
an amendment that was never debated, put the IRS in the churches and 
the synagogues and the mosques of America.
  Mr. Speaker, let me continue for just a few more minutes. I would 
like to say that also at that hearing was the Internal Revenue Service, 
and I want to read just a couple of comments made by the agents that 
testified. This is what one agent said when he was asked the question 
by the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis), and this was the question 
from the Congressman: ``As a rule, do you monitor the activities of 
churches during the political season?'' Mr. Miller, who represented the 
Internal Revenue Services, his answer to the gentleman from Georgia 
(Mr. Lewis) was this: ``We do monitor churches. We are limited in how 
we do that by reason of section 7611 and because of the lack of 
information in the area because there is no annual filing.''
  Mr. Speaker, this is the point I really want to make because this is 
Mr. Miller's answer: ``So our monitoring is mostly reciprocal of 
information from third parties who are looking in.'' Mr. Speaker, that 
kind of reminds me of what I think Nazi Germany might have been in the 
late '30's where there are snitches that are willing to turn in 
somebody for what they said in a free nation. Mr. Speaker, America is 
better than that. America is greater than that. Our church leaders do 
not need to be muzzled by the Federal Government, and in this case the 
Federal Government is the Internal Revenue Service.
  Let me give you another practical example that the gentleman from 
Illinois

[[Page 17247]]

(Mr. Weller) asked of Mr. Miller. The question is: ``Can the minister 
say the following from the pulpit and not be in violation of the tax 
status,'' and this is what the preacher would be saying, ``that 
candidate X is pro-life or candidate Y is pro-choice?''
  The answer from the IRS is: ``That becomes more problematic, 
Congressman. The pastor, the minister, the rabbi can speak to the 
issues of the day, but to the extent that they start tying it into a 
particular candidate and to a particular election, it begins to look 
more and more like either opposition to a particular candidate or 
favoring a particular candidate.'' So because I have a bill in, H.R. 
2357, and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Crane) has a bill in that 
speaks to the same issue, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller) then 
asks Mr. Miller: ``And would the Crane and the Jones legislation 
clarify the law to allow for that type of statement?'' The answer from 
Mr. Miller is ``I believe so.''
  Then let me go further. Really this in itself is another point I want 
to make. The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller) further asks: ``Just 
to follow up on that, say you have a candidate who was a guest speaker, 
was in a church speaking from the pulpit, concluding his or her 
remarks, and the minister walks up, puts his or her arm around that 
particular candidate and says, `This is the right candidate, I urge you 
to support this candidate.' Is that allowable under law?''
  Mr. Hawkins, another IRS person that attended and spoke at the 
hearing on May 14, responds, ``No, that would not be allowed under the 
law. That would clearly be political campaign activity. It would be 
protected, however, under the two bills that have been introduced by 
Mr. Crane and Mr. Jones.''
  Mr. Speaker, that is the reason that I have for the last year and a 
half taken this on, because I sincerely believe that for America to 
remain morally strong, our preachers and our priests and our rabbis 
must not be politically handicapped by the speech patrol, in this case, 
the IRS, because, again, Mr. Speaker, this country is too great and too 
many people have given of their lives to protect the freedoms that we 
should be able to enjoy.
  Mr. Speaker, let me also say that something that came to my attention 
as I started researching this issue is that the IRS has what they call 
code words, code words that they think could be used to endorse a 
candidate, and let me tell you what these code words are. Liberal, 
prolife, prochoice, antichoice, Republican, or Democrat.
  Let me give you a practical example, and this is the information that 
they give to the people of America about what they can and cannot do 
and what candidates can and cannot do, and this issue that I am talking 
about is on Page 315 of the information that is provided by the 
Internal Revenue Service. It is called the ``Election Year Issues.'' 
Let me read and give you the example of what they give in this 
documentation. This is not even a church, by the way. ``If a nonprofit 
in Vermont runs an ad regarding a local `liberal' candidate, the 
Vermont voters would know which specific candidate the nonprofit was 
discussing,'' in this case, a liberal candidate. This is a code ``and 
in violation of Internal Revenue Service Code 501(c)(3) because 
oftentimes candidates are unofficially given labels that become 
commonly known.''
  Mr. Speaker, the more I got into this issue, I can honestly say that 
it is absolutely ridiculous, and in my opinion it is unconstitutional 
that Mr. Johnson was able to get his amendment passed without any 
debate, and if there had been debate, quite frankly, I still think it 
is unconstitutional that this Federal Government through the Internal 
Revenue Service would try to stifle free speech in our churches and 
synagogues. So that is the reason I wanted to be on the floor today. I 
will make a few more comments and then I will close.
  We have numerous letters from religious leaders throughout this 
country that believe that this legislation is right, that this 
legislation is needed. I will give the example again, Dr. Flake had Al 
Gore in his church in the year 2000, and Mr. Flake is a Democrat, he is 
a good man, and he blessed his party and I respect that and appreciate 
that. So when Mr. Gore finished speaking in his church, Dr. Flake 
walked up in front of approximately 10,000 people, a big church in New 
York and he is a great minister and draws big crowds, and he said, ``I 
believe that Al Gore is the right man for this Nation.'' That is all he 
said. He got a letter of reprimand from the Internal Revenue Service. 
If our preachers and ministers and priests and rabbis feel that they 
have a spiritual calling to help educate people in that congregation 
then please, please, let us not have the Federal Government determine 
what they can and cannot say because their role for this Nation's 
future is too important.
  So again I have got the letter from Dr. Flake here that I read 
earlier, the two paragraphs, in support of this legislation. Mr. 
Speaker, we have 130 co-sponsors on this legislation, and I am a 
Republican and I am reaching out across the aisle, and I am pleased to 
say that we have about six or seven Democrats that have joined us. I 
have got three appointments next week with three members of the 
Democratic Party to go to their offices and sit down and talk to them 
about joining us in this effort to return to freedom of speech.

                              {time}  1700

  What I have found, I do not know how many radio shows across this 
Nation that I have had the opportunity to be on. I was on a show today 
in Iowa, and I was on a show two days ago in Kentucky and I am finding 
people of faith that really just did not know what the law was. And 
when they hear the history of it, again, that Lyndon Johnson, just a 
man of arrogance, in my opinion, that just wanted to show an opponent 
that he could stifle his speech, and when I tell them the history of 
this thing and they know the history of America and the fact that we 
have such freedom that our ministers and priests have never been 
bridled in speech until this became the law in 1954.
  They are joining me in this effort. I believe the leadership will 
give us a chance to debate this issue on the floor of the House 
sometime before we leave for the elections.
  Mr. Speaker, I will always remember that this country has been 
blessed by God; and the freedoms that we enjoy, in my opinion, Mr. 
Speaker, are blessed by God also; and I want to return that freedom. I 
want to make it clear that should they have this freedom in the 
churches, not every minister is going to make a decision that he wants 
to talk about this issue or that issue that might be of a political 
nature. But should he not have the freedom to do so, should he or she 
choose to do so? I think so. And I am pleased that 130 of my colleagues 
think so.
  We receive faxes and e-mails just about every day from a minister 
from across this Nation. We got one yesterday from a minister in 
Missouri who said in the e-mail, ``Thank you for what you are trying to 
do. I am going to encourage the members from our State to join you in 
this effort.''
  I was on the Jerry Falwell Show last Friday in Lynchburg, Virginia, 
and he is in 50 States, and we talked about this issue. Mr. Speaker, 
part of the problem is that the IRS says they cannot enforce this law, 
anyway. They acknowledged in the testimony on May 14 that they know 
there are some churches that do not abide by the law. And yet Barry 
Lynn, who is a man that is on the extreme left, and the reason I will 
say that is because he applauded the Ninth Circuit Court's decision 
when they said to remove ``under God'' from the Pledge of Allegiance, 
so to me he is an extreme liberal; and he is opposed to this 
legislation. In fact, in the year 2000 he sent to 285,000 churches a 
letter that coerced and intimidated the preachers to have any 
discussion of the politics of September and October of the year 2000.
  So I am very hopeful that we can continue to garner support for this 
legislation so that the men and women who serve our Lord as preachers 
and priests and rabbis and clerics can have the freedom, should they 
choose to talk about these issues.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to close if I can with a letter, and this will be 
towards

[[Page 17248]]

the end, from Richard Lynn. Richard Lynn again is the Southern Baptist 
Convention Ethics and Religion Commission. He is head of that 
commission for the Southern Baptists. And he says in his letter, ``Dear 
Congressman Jones: H.R. 2357 is consistent with the constitutional 
principle that the church should be separated from the State. The 
government should not have the power to define what the church believes 
or practices in principle or in effect. With the unbridled discretion 
given to the Internal Revenue Service to selectively target those it 
wishes to silence or threaten, this principle is not currently being 
protected.''
  So, again, what Dr. Lynn is asking is that there not be any 
restriction of speech in the churches and synagogues throughout this 
great Nation that we all love and respect.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I am now going to close the way I close every time I 
speak publicly. I was on the floor this week and will be a couple of 
times next week. This country appreciates the men and women in uniform. 
And as some of my colleagues from the other side were talking about the 
possibility of war in Iraq, which none of us know for sure what will 
happen, but I have three military bases in my district. I have Camp 
Lejeune Marine Base. I have Cherry Point Marine Air Station. I have 
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. And I have gotten to know a lot of 
those men and women in uniform, from the privates up to the base 
commanders. And I tell you the truth, I love and respect all of them.
  So I close my comments today, Mr. Speaker, by saying, most sincerely, 
God, please bless our men and women in uniform. God, please bless the 
families of our men and women in uniform. I have asked God to please 
bless the President of the United States, that the President might make 
the best decisions and the right decisions for the future of America. I 
ask God to bless my colleagues here in the House and the Senators 
across the aisle so that they might do what is right in the eyes of our 
Lord and Savior.
  Mr. Speaker, I close this way because I say it three times because I 
mean it from the bottom of my heart. Please, God, please, God, please, 
God, continue to bless America.

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