Week Ending April 4, 2008 - Washington, DC

Obama: I don't want my daughters punished with a baby / No Mitt for VP / Tax dollars for abortion group / More on Indian Health bill / The Senate and housing / The Romney petition / Syria trip stopped / China house church crack down / More on bombed evangelist's son

NEW END OF MARCH CHAIRMAN'S REPORTS AVAILABLE - The March 29, 2008 Chairman's Report from William J. Murray is now available online in PDF version. The Chairman's Report contains some material not seen in these updates. Click to view!

THE PRESIDENT

OBAMA: PUNISHED WITH A BABY- No one could make this up about Obama. He actually said he did not want his daughters "punished with a baby." Also, his next sentence was, "I don't want them punished with an STD..." implying that babies and sexually transmitted diseases are similar "punishments" for their parents. The video of Obama making this statement is at Youtube.com

NO MITT FOR VP - The political action committee I head placed a "NO MITT FOR VP" ad in the Prescott, Arizona Daily for Saturday, April 5th, the same day Senator John McCain will be campaigning there. The ad has caused a firestorm in the media and was attacked by Romney backers for a full 24 hours before it was scheduled to appear. Click here to view ad.
So many vile comments were left by Romney supporters at the NOMITTVP.COM website that a volunteer had to stand by to erase those that were most offensive.

THE HOUSE

OUR DOLLARS TO ABORTION GROUP - Planned Parenthood Federation of America current Annual Report (2006-2007) indicates more babies killed by the group. Abortions increased from 264,943 in 2005 to 289,650 in 2006. Planned Parenthood received over $336 million in government grants and contracts from the States and from the US government. Please contact your congressman and tell him to STOP funding Planned Parenthood.

INDIAN HEALTH AND ABORTION - As mentioned last week, Congressman Joe Pitts (R-PA) has now offered an amendment to the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (HR 1328) that would codify a longstanding policy against funding of abortions with federal Indian Health Service (IHS) funds A similar amendment offered by Sen. Vitter (R-LA), in the Senate passed by a vote of 52 - 42. Please contact your congressman NOW and ask him to support Congressman Pitts' efforts. NO ABORTION FUNDS IN INDIAN HEALTH!

THE SENATE

HOUSING- Virtually this entire week has been spent on the Housing issue, with Democrats wanting to spend billions of dollars to bail out speculators who bought over priced condos from Donald Trump. The Democrats get more money from millionaires and billionaires than any other source. As a result they attack corporations owned by small investors like you and me while ignoring the billionaire speculators. The latest attack is on the oil companies for high gas prices while ignoring billionaire speculators such as George Soros who are running up the price of crude oil with speculative buys. Soros is a big player in the speculative markets and a lot of the money be makes winds up assisting leftwing causes and the Democrat party. The price of crude according to experts would be $75 to $80 per barrel if speculators who bought oil future contracts for pennies on the dollar were not in the market.

RELIGION AND SOCIETY

THE ROMNEY PETITION - Government Is Not God - PAC set up a petition (key word being petition) against Mitt Romney being Senator McCain's VP pick. Romney's allies immediately directed an orchestrated campaign to SIGN THE PETITION AGAINST HIM in order to make pro-Romney, anti-evangelical statements at the site. Many of the statements were so anti-Christian, using such terms as "fat Baptist women" & "ignorant evangelicals" that the Romney supporters' statements were deleted in mass. Oddly, the Romney supporters do not understand that signing a petition against him, in order to make statements favoring him, is as two-faced as the man they support.

NEW MARCH CHAIRMAN'S REPORTS AVAILABLE - The March 29, 2008 Chairman's Report from William J. Murray is now available online in PDF version. The Chairman's Report contains some material not seen in these updates. Click to view!

INTERNATIONAL

SYRIA TRIP STOPPED - Nationally known best selling author,Ken Timmerman was set to lead a mission to Syria to document the needs of tens of thousands of Iraqi Christian refugees. It was my intention to accompany Ken on this mission next week. Oddly the attempt to bring aid to Iraqis in Syria was blocked by the Syrian government when they refused to issue visas to Ken and his team.

PRE-OLYMPIC CRACKDOWN ON THE CHURCH - The China Aid Association reports that thirteen house church leaders were detained at Qu county, Sichuan province. Eyewitnesses there said that around 3pm March 29th, Saturday afternoon, a house church service was attacked during their praise and worship service. The church is in Qu county, Dazhou city which is a 6 hour drive from Chengdu City, Sichuan Province. Read more information from CAA on this attack.

HOUSE CHURCH BOMBING IN ISRAEL - Please continue to pray for David and Leah Ortiz and their son Ami. Ami's injuries from a bomb attack on the Ortiz apartment in Ariel, Samaria are serious and he has had fingers and toes amputated. He is still in the hospital after more than two weeks of surgeries. While a Muslim group took credit for the bombing, the police are still investigating. The Religious Freedom Coalition has supported David's evangelistic ministry to Palestinians for many years and I have stayed in his apartment numerous times. A report written by my wife Nancy on one of our trips to visit David and Leah Ortiz has photos of them. Click here to read.

SUPPORT THE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM COALITION

CHRISTIAN INTERNET STORE - There are literally tens of thousands of Christian theme items available at our affiliate store including jewelry from the Holy Land. It is a great place to shop for gifts. The store is located at www.rfcstore.com. Please help us with our various projects on Capitol Hill and in the Holy Land by shopping at our affiliate Christian Superstore . Contributions to the work of the Religious Freedom Coalition can be made at www.rfcnet.org.

email: support@rfcnet.org phone: 202.742.8990 web: http://www.rfcnet.org

William J. Murray, Chairman Religious Freedom Coalition, PO Box 77511, Washington, DC 20013 - (202) 742.8990 This publication is a service of the Religious Freedom Coalition (RFC). Links to political and other sites are for informational purposes and do not constitute endorsement. No statement is intended to assist or defeat any candidate running for public office. Religious Freedom Coalition * Copyright - 2007

Week Ending January 25, 2008 - Washington, DC

The President and the pro-life rally / The Florida primary / Republican Study Committee's pro-life message / Pro-life amendment to Indian Health? / Pledge petitions delivered to Senator / Roads Not Rebates / Afghan student gets death for paper.

THE PRESIDENT

THE PRESIDENT'S PRO-LIFE MESSAGE- On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the President spoke to the tens of thousands of right to life marchers who had come from all over the nation to protest the murder of more than 50 million unborn babies. The President said: "Thirty-five years ago today the United States Supreme Court declared and decided that under the law an unborn child is not considered a person. But we know many things about the unborn. Biology confirms that from the start each unborn child is a separate individual with his or her own genetic code. Babies can now survive outside the mother's womb at younger and younger ages. And the fingers and toes and beating hearts that we can see on an unborn child's ultrasound come with something that we cannot see: a soul.

THE FLORIDA PRIMARY - I am currently in Florida where a presidential primary will be held on Tuesday the 29th. On Saturday the 26th, several pro-life leaders will present an award to Governor Mike Huckabee at a ceremony in Orlando. Most "big name" evangelical leaders have endorsed Mitt Romney, who was pro-abortion until he announced his run for president. A voter guide issued by one a group affiliated with Dr. James Dobson was so pro-Romney that it had to be changed because of complaints. I am not backing a man in this race; I am backing a message. Many major evangelical leaders are backing the most likely man to win, to obtain favor in a future Administration. The only favor I desire is from my God.

PRESIDENTIAL VOTER GUIDE - Wall-Builders has just released a really good guide to the presidential candidates that is short and concise. Unlike some published by major evangelical organizations, it is not biased toward Gov. Mitt Romney. Click here to view the WallBuilders voter guide in PDF format.

THE HOUSE

REPUBLICAN STUDY COMMITTEE - The pro-life members of the House who are members of the Republican Study Committee booked time on the House floor on the evening of the anniversary of Roe v. Wade to make impassioned pleas for the lives of the unborn. The session was moderated by Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) who is currently one of the great pro-life champions in the 108th Congress.

The Republican Study Committee currently has 100 members. Keep in mind that after resignations and deaths, the GOP currently has 200 seats in the House. That means that only half of the Republicans in Congress have a desire to join this conservative body that consists of social conservatives who are also economic conservatives.

THE SENATE

UNDER GOD PETITIONS TO SENATOR - On January 23rd I personally handed to Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) a disc containing the names and addresses of every Oklahoman who had signed a petition to protect "Under God" in the Pledge. We are seeking a godly Senator to introduce the Pledge Protection Act in the Senate. Senator Inhofe was chosen as the first senator to receive our petitions because he is a member of the Republican Senate leadership. Each week he is part of a steering committee meeting that determines what legislation the Republican members of the Senate will push. Senator Inhofe is the leader of a Senate Bible study that is attended by numerous Senators, and each summer he visits African leaders to share the Gospel.

PRO-LIFE INDIAN HEALTH CARE - On the anniversary of Roe v Wade, Senator Vitter (R-LA) filed a pro-life amendment to the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (S-1200) that would codify a long-standing policy against funding of abortions with federal Indian Health Service (IHS) funds. This amendment to the bill would mean that funds cannot be used for abortions (except life of mother, rape, and incest) no matter what happens with the annual appropriations language. (This same pro-life goal was accomplished in the Department of Defense by enactment of a permanent Hyde Amendment as part of the Defense Authorization Bill in 1996.)

The Vitter amendment to S. 1200 would accomplish this pro-life goal with respect to the Indian Health Care program. The amendment language is based on the Hyde Amendment which is contained in the Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill.

RELIGION AND CULTURE

ROADS NOT REBATES - The small rebates proposed by President Bush and the Democrat Congress wouldn't even pay for the gas lost in traffic each year for the average American family. Using the billions he and the Democrats propose to spend to "stimulate" the economy by sending us all small checks would be better used to fix our roads with American steel, American cement and American labor. The rebates would probably be used by most Americans to buy cheap consumer goods made in China.

A recent Heritage Foundation report agreed, showing that the 2001 tax rebates had virtually no economic effect. We need to say no to tax rebates and demand that our broken roads and bridges be fixed. I have personally set up an Internet site at www.roadsnotrebtates.com to get this point across. If you agree, please go to that site and vote for roads instead of rebates.

NEW 2008 CHAIRMAN'S REPORT - The January 4, 2008 issue of the Chairman's Report is now available online. This issue contains the latest information on atheist Michael Newdow's "under God" lawsuit. Read about conservative victories in the Congress and the Huckabee and Obama campaigns. Click here to read in PDF format

INTERNATIONAL

AFGHAN STUDENT GETS DEATH - The United State and our NATO allies invaded Afghanistan to rid it of the Taliban who harbored terrorists and persecuted the people with a violently rigid version of Islam. To justify the invasion our nation pointed to executions of people innocent of any crime but free speech.

Now the government we installed after the invasion plans to execute a student for "offending" Islam.

An Afghan court sentenced a student to death for blasphemy, for distributing an article from the Internet considered to be an insult to the Prophet Muhammad. The student, Sayed Parwiz Kambakhsh, 23, also works for a local newspaper. There has been no comment from the White House or NATO commanders in Afghanistan. See New York Times article.

WATCH THE VIDEO ON IRAQI CHRISTIANS- Thousands of people have viewed the new video on the persecution of Iraqi Christians that is streaming from the Religious Freedom Coalition Internet site. Please send the link to others to view! Click here to view the 20 minute video prepared by the Chaldean Church. More information is available at www.christianrefugees.blogspot.com

VISIT OUR INTERNET STORE

OUR INTERNET STORE - We have lots of great Christian themed products at our Internet store. Not only are there books and CD's, but everything from candy to jewelry. Unlike Amazon and other major Internet stores we do not sell porn and satanic materials right beside Christian books. Please take a look. The store is located at www.rfcstore.com.
Contributions to the work of the Religious Freedom Coalition can be made at www.rfcnet.org.