[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 1141]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




ASSAULT ON OUR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, THE FIRST AMENDMENT, AND OUR FREEDOM 
                             OF CONSCIENCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Cravaack) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CRAVAACK. Mr. Speaker, I will be brief because my message is 
clear and concise.
  I rise today out of grave concern for this most recent assault on our 
religious freedom, the First Amendment, and our freedom of conscience.
  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' order requiring 
every Catholic institution larger than a single church--and even in 
some cases a single church--to pay for contraceptives, sterilization, 
and morning-after abortifacients for its employees is directly contrary 
to the principles of the Catholic faith.
  Let us ensure we do not confuse the issue here.
  This is a direct attack against religious liberty for all religions--
but forcing Catholic schools, hospitals, Catholic charities to comply 
with a Federal mandate that violates the core moral commitment of 
protecting the lives of the unborn is unconscionable. This act 
threatens to sabotage the very foundations of our First Amendment 
rights and our religious liberties.
  Continually chipping away at our basic constitutional freedoms that 
set the foundation of this great country sends us down a very slippery 
slope to further government overreach and intrusion into our individual 
lives.
  This must stop, and we as Americans must stop it.

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