- On April 9, <http://www.house.gov/frank/04-09-09hatecrimes.html>Rep.
Barney Frank said in a press release that Rep. Conyers' very dangerous
hate crimes bill HR 1913 would speed through the House Judiciary next week.
National homosexual leaders, quoted in the Washington Blade, April 9, say
there will be no hearings.
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- Rep. Jackson-Lee's legislative expert told me the Judiciary
always holds hearings on important and controversial legislation. This
can include at least several days in the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Crime.
Even more time is often allotted in the Judiciary Committee itself. He
said fair and adequate hearings would definitely be held for any hate crime
bill. If things were as they should be, Conyers' bill would be delayed
for well over a week. Now, Frank says, this very controversial, freedom-threatening
legislation may be out of Judiciary by Friday!
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- All members of Congress should immediately know about
Conyers' under-handed bypass of due process! If Americans call their two
Senators and House members in protest first thing Monday, it could seriously
weaken the hate bill's chance of passage. Hearings will slow its progress
and educate members of Congress. Of course, most liberal Democrats are
used to such chicanery and would go along with Conyers' subterfuge. Yet
some Democrats, whose votes are critical for passage in the House and Senate,
will be displeased and made suspicious enough to ask, "If the hate
bill is so shaky it can't be discussed openly in hearings, maybe I should
look into it!" When they do, they become prime candidates for hate-bill
disillusionment.
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- Heavy protest must begin at 9am Monday morning. If you
live on the west coast, plan to get started at 6am.
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- 1. First, call your two Senators and House member at
1-877-851-6437 toll free or 1-202-225-3121 toll. (If you don't know their
names, the capitol operator will take your zip code and speed you to their
offices.) Tell them, "Rep. Barney Frank says the House Judiciary is
going to fast-forward Rep. Conyers' very dangerous hate bill through by
the end of next week. This means no hearings. HR 1913 is very dangerous
and controversial legislation. It's unfair and un-American not to allow
input. Please demand that Conyers hold hearings."
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- 2. Come to <http://www.truthtellers.org/cgi-bin/openwebmail/www.truthtellers.org>Truthtellers.org
for the names of the House Judiciary members. Call them-especially Democrats.
If liberal Judiciary members receive enough flak early Monday, they may
pressure Conyers to slow down. He may be convinced of the danger of giving
the impression of disregarding the legislative process. The more of us
call Judiciary and Congress, the more inappropriate and high-handed will
Conyers' subterfuge appear.
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- It's up to you to change history. Support from the religious
right remains spotty and undependable.
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- Last Thursday morning, I called the largest new right
"watchdog" groups to alert them to Barney Frank's prediction.
I sent my alert to Bob Unruh of World Net Daily Wednesday afternoon, asking
that he alert WND readers immediately. No WND article has been posted.
Except for excellent alerts by Traditional Values Coalition, the Christian
Anti-Defamation League, Janet Porter, and the Christian Post, Christian
"watchdogs" have not yet barked a warning that the hate bill
is going through Judiciary next week.
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- Last Monday, I was jubilant that American Family Association
at last sounded strong calls to action against HR 1913. Yet the evangelical
right has ignored the hate bill threat for the past three months and given
every impression that it is a virtual non-issue. It is very difficult for
their constituents to take it seriously and spring into action. Our NPN
poll of House Judiciary Republicans Friday afternoon revealed that they
had been receiving a meager one to four calls a day!
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- Shockingly, one evangelical group is sending disinformation,
claiming that Conyers' bill is not a threat! When I called Pat Robertson's
Christian Coalition last Wednesday, their legislative staffer, who said
she didn't know a hate bill was in Congress, was alarmed and grateful when
I told her of Frank's prediction. She said she would immediately alert
their top authority. Five hours later, CC posted an alert pooh-poohing
the danger of Conyers' bill! It said, "Most political analysts say
that it will not pass on the floor of the House of Representatives!"
Such disinformation from unnamed "political analysts" is typical
of Pat Robertson's manipulations. In 2004, NPN repeatedly attempted to
enlist his help to publicize the outrage of 11 Christians being arrested
for the "hate crime" of witnessing to homosexuals. He was silent
for a full three months. Only after the injustice had been righted and
the defendants freed did CBN send a camera crew to interview Michael Marcavage,
head of the "Philly 11." I don't trust Pat Robertson.
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- I also called Jay Sekulow's American Center for Law and
Justice last Thursday and left a strong message. The ACLJ website remains
empty of any hate bill warnings. Like Robertson, Sekulow always resisted
our entreaties to publicize the Philly 11 outrage. He told one of my supporters
that he didn't see it as a civil rights violation. He had no problem with
11 Christians spending 21 hours in jail, arrested under seven charges,
facing 47 years prison and $90,000 fines each? I trust Sekulow even less
than Robertson.
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- Why do Christian groups still delay? Do they lack time
to create effective articles? Last Wednesday I read Frank's prediction
of the hate bill and then needed just 45 minutes to put an alert on our
website and send it to subscribers. Surely organizations soliciting millions
annually should have writers and analysts as competent as I. Their sluggish
response could well be too late to slow the hate bill in Judiciary.
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- But it's not too late for you and me. We are like the
Minutemen and women of 1776 who instantly seized canteens and flintlocks
and went to fight an irregular yet effective guerilla war. Like them, we
recognize that NOW is the moment for one great effort to stop Conyers'
hate bill in Judiciary. Let's all get up early Monday morning and aim at
the encroaching forces of despotism arrayed and advancing on the present
fields on battle--
- Congress and the House Judiciary!
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