[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13338]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 RESTORING FREEDOM OF SPEECH REGARDING MORAL AND POLITICAL ISSUES FOR 
                           RELIGIOUS LEADERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I am back on the floor 
tonight, because when I think about the sacrifice of our many men and 
women in uniform from the beginning of America through and including 
today, I think about the fact that many have fought and died and been 
injured for freedom. Yet in America today, our churches do not have the 
freedom to speak about the moral and political issues of the day.
  I share that because for the last 4 years, I, along with many others, 
have been working to try to return that first amendment right that was 
taken away in 1954. Prior to 1954, any minister, priest, or rabbi or 
cleric in this great Nation could speak on the policies and the 
political issues of the day. Many times when they are speaking, it is 
based on the teachings of their religion; and, therefore, they are very 
important to maintaining the Judeo-Christian values that have made 
America the great Nation that it is.
  I want to share with my colleagues that 2 or 3 weeks ago, the Bishop 
of Colorado Springs, Bishop Sheridan, issued what is called a pastoral 
letter to every member of his diocese in that region of Colorado. In 
his letter, let me just share this with my colleagues, Mr. Speaker. It 
goes on to assert, the letter says, ``Dear friends in Christ: I exhort 
you with all my heart to take courage and claim the gospel of life to 
those who will stand for elected office this fall. It is by your 
prayers and by your vote that politicians who are unconditionally pro-
life and pro-family will serve our country. Conversely, if our voices 
remain silent, or if, God forbid, we vote contrary to our informed 
conscience, we will see our country led down a short path to ruin.''
  Now, let me make this clear. This is the teachings of the Catholic 
Church. I happen to be a Catholic, and I know for a fact that our 
church for years and centuries has stood for protecting the unborn and 
their life.
  What really upsets me, Mr. Speaker, is the fact that Bishop Sheridan 
wrote a pastoral letter reminding the parishioners of the teachings of 
the church and what the church stands for. Because of that pastoral 
letter, a letter was written to the Internal Revenue Service by Barry 
Lynn to complain that the bishop violated the Johnson amendment, which 
I am trying and would love to have more support to change so that our 
ministers can speak as they did in 1953 without any restriction. He 
filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service and said that he 
violated the Johnson amendment.
  Now, let me make it clear. He did not violate the Johnson amendment. 
What he did was, in the rulemaking authority of the Internal Revenue 
Service, there is a section, not because of the Congress, not because 
of the Johnson amendment, but they took it upon themselves in the early 
1990s to expand the Johnson amendment; and any time a minister might 
say pro-life or pro-choice, liberal or conservative, Republican or 
Democrat, then the IRS is saying that they have violated the Johnson 
amendment.
  I think it is so sad. There is a young man who is here tonight that I 
cannot mention who has returned from Iraq. He lost a limb for this 
great Nation. Yet last night I was with the Prime Minister of the 
Ukraine, and I asked him the question, I said, in the Ukraine, can your 
ministers stand up and talk about the people running for office in your 
country? He said, yes, sir. They can say anything that they want to 
say. And I said, Mr. Prime Minister, they could here in this great 
Nation until 1954. They could say anything and everything that they 
thought should be shared with their congregation.
  I want to share, if I might, as I begin to close, Mr. Speaker, that 
Rabbi Daniel Lapin, who is one of the finest men in this great Nation, 
is a strong supporter of this legislation. I cannot find right now the 
statement that he sent to me, but Rabbi Lapin understands that 
America's strength is the fact that we continue to support Judeo-
Christian principles.
  I would like to say that I believe that every minister in this 
country, every priest, every rabbi, every cleric that would like to 
speak on the issues of the day should be allowed to do so without the 
Federal Government intervening in their sermon or their dialectic or 
whatever it might be, that they should be set free to talk about these 
issues.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I close this way because of our men and women in 
uniform. America's greatness is dependent on the fact that we remain a 
country of morality, that we remain a country that remembers the Judeo-
Christian foundation of America. So I ask God to please bless our men 
and women in uniform, to please bless their families, and I ask God to 
please, please, save America. We are in trouble.

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