Week Ending February 29, 2008 - Washington, DC

Is oil up or is the dollar down? / Protect America Act still stuck in House - Security of our nation at risk / Global Aids bill (PEPFAR) deal reached / Pelosi says no to protecting America / Victories in the Senate: Indian Health bill goes pro-life / Ultrasound becomes a federal issue / One in four Americans changed their faith / Professor to be jailed and whipped for having coffee with student

TWO NEW CHAIRMAN'S REPORTS AVAILABLE - The January 25, 2008 and February 13, 2008 issues of the Religious Freedom Coalition Chairman's Report is now available online. These new issues contain information on Pledge petition deliveries to the Senate and details of the Democrat party drive to turn the Global AIDS fund into a honey pot for abortion groups. Includes more stories about "freedom" in Saudi Arabia. Both new reports are in PDF format.

THE PRESIDENT

PROTECT AMERICA - This morning I participated in a White House conference call on the Protect America Act which Speaker Nancy Pelosi has allowed to expire. White House spokesman are making it very clear to anyone who will listen that our national security is at risk. There are now reports separate from the White House that indicate our intelligence services cannot obtain information on possible terrorist activity because of the refusal of the House to extend this bill. See the House section for more details.

OIL IS NOT UP, THE DOLLAR IS DOWN - In January of 2001 as George W. Bush was being sworn in the US dollar was worth more than a Euro. A Euro could be bought for just 93 cents. As of today it takes $1.47 to buy one Euro. The price of a oil in Europe has been virtually unchanged for the last 12 months at about 65 Euros a barrel. If the value of the dollar were the same as it was in January, 2001 oil would cost less than $60 a barrel and gasoline would be under $2.00 a gallon. The Bush Administration, Wall Street and the Federal Reserve have deliberately allowed the dollar to fall to "help exports." Someone needs to explain to me how $3.00 plus a gallon gas helps drive exports.

THE HOUSE

GLOBAL AIDS BILL STAYS PRO-LIFE - With the death of committee chairman Tom Lantos the controversy of the Global AIDS Bill (known as PEPFAR) has ended. Democrat and Republican leaders have written a compromise bill that restored pro-life previsions that were so acceptable a voice vote was used to approve it in the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The Lantos version would have eliminated all pro-life language and made the bill a honey pot for abortion groups. Click here for summary of compromise bill. NOTE: PEPFAR is great as is, however, there is no guarantee that radical speaker Nancy Pelosi will not try to turn it back into a fund to abort little black babies in Africa.

PROTECT AMERICA? PELOSI SAYS NO - Despite intense pressure from the White House and the bipartisan passage by an overwhelming majority in the Senate radical Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi refuses to allow a vote on the Protect America Act. This is not about policy, it is about cash. Trial lawyers give huge amounts of money to democrat congressmen. The Protect America Act prohibits trial lawyers from suing telephone companies that give data on terrorists to our government. Pelosi wants the trial lawyers to be able to sue the phone companies on behalf of those suspected of terror ties.

THE SENATE

INDIAN HEALTH ACT VICTORY - This week the U.S. Senate passed Senator David Vitter's amendment to S.1200, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, prohibiting the use of federal Indian Health Service (IHS) funds for abortions, except to save the life of the mother, or in cases of rape or incest of a minor. On winning Senator Vitter said, "This is truly an important victory for the pro-life movement and for the unborn. We now need to work to make sure that this provision remains in the final bill as it continues to House-Senate legislative conference."

PRO-HEALTH OR PRO-ABORTION? - The Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy Act (S-1042) which is sponsored by Senator Ted Kennedy and Republican leader McConnell may actually help abortion clinics get more clients. The bill would add numerous restrictions on the use of ultrasound that could force crisis pregnancy clinics to stop the service. The use of ultrasound machines to show women their unborn babies saves countless lives each year. Our office is working for clarification on various aspects of this "bipartisan" bill and will keep you informed.

RELIGION AND CULTURE

ONE IN FOUR AMERICANS CHANGED THEIR FAITH?- About one in four Americans have left the faith in which they were raised in favor of another religion. If changes from one Protestant denomination to another are included in the figures then almost one out of two have changed their faith or denomination. While atheists represent only a few percent, the number of non-churched is staggering. The PEW survey found that those unaffiliated with a particular faith is over 16% and in the ages 18-29, that number jumps to about 25%. Click here for full survey details.

OUR OTHER INTERNET SITES -have you visited my other sites? Read about and watch a video about my 2007 fact finding mission on Iraqi Christian refugees at: www.christianrefugees.blogspot.com

Which is better to stimulate the economy, tax rebates or fixing the nations roads? Check www.roadsnotrebates.com.

Would you like to make comments on these updates? They can be read and commented on at www.murrayonthehill.com.

My Political action committee site can be viewed at www.gingpac.org.

TWO NEW CHAIRMAN'S REPORTS AVAILABLE - The January 25, 2008 and February 13, 2008 issues of the Religious Freedom Coalition Chairman's Report is now available online. These new issues contain information on Pledge petition deliveries to the Senate and details of the Democrat party drive to turn the Global AIDS fund into a honey pot for abortion groups. Includes more stories about "freedom" in Saudi Arabia. Both new reports are in PDF format.

INTERNATIONAL

ISRAEL TO INVADE GAZA - New Iranian rockets smuggled into the Gaza Strip are raining down even deeper into Israel killing and maiming Israeli women and children. The response of the Western media is to show photos of a dead Palestinian child they claim was killed by Israel return fire. After nearly two years and thousands of rocket attacks Israel may finally have had enough. An invasion of the Gaza Strip that would include the arrest of HAMAS leaders and a "change in regime" could come within the next week. Click here for more.

SAUDI PROFESSOR TO BE WHIPPED - A university professor in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to 180 lashes and eight months in jail for having coffee with a female student. His lawyer says the well-respected Saudi teacher of psychology at Umm al-Qra University in Mecca, was framed by the religious police. Dr Abu Ruzaiz, a married man in his late 50s did not know the student would be alone when he arrived at the coffee shop, he said. Earlier this month I reported on a 37-year-old American businesswoman who was thrown in jail for sitting with a male colleague at a Starbucks coffee shop. When we allow Sharia law in the United States the same arrests will occur here. Click here for UK story.

DEATH FOR INTERNET ARTICLE PART V - We are headed to month three since an Afghan student, Sayed Parwiz Kambakhsh, was sentenced to death for copying a paper from the Internet that the courts there deemed "blasphemous" to Islam. Advocates of religious freedom should contact their congressman and ask them for information on what is being done to save this man's life.

Visit this site: http://thereligionofpeace.com/

JUST IN - ARCHBISHOP KIDNAPPED - Gunmen have kidnapped the archbishop of the Chaldean Catholic Church in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and killed three of his aides, his church says. See BBC story.

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.

Week Ending February 22, 2008 - Washington, DC

Are your prescription drugs made in China? / The President's Africa tour / House and Senate in recess / Illegal kills four kids in Minnesota / Four months in jail and 30 lashes with a whip for walking a dog in public / Saudi kingdom justifies arrest of American woman for drinking coffee with man in public / Student still on death row in Afghanistan for Internet download

TWO NEW CHAIRMAN'S REPORTS AVAILABLE - The January 25, 2008 and February 13, 2008 issues of the Religious Freedom Coalition Chairman's Report is now available online. These new issues contain information on Pledge petition deliveries to the Senate and details of the Democrat party drive to turn the Global AIDS fund into a honey pot for abortion groups. Includes more stories about "freedom" in Saudi Arabia. Both new reports are in PDF format.

THE PRESIDENT

PRESIDENT'S AFRICA TOUR - The presidential primaries and the front page battle between Senators Clinton and Obama have placed the Bush presidency in a shadow. Little reporting was done about President George W. Bush's Africa tour in which he received praise from leaders and people alike for the help that continent has received from his Administration. Click here to read more about President Bush and his Africa tour.

HUCKABEE MAY WIN TEXAS - While the front page of virtually every newspaper in the nation talks of Senator John McCain as the winner of the GOP nomination there is a groundswell of support of Governor Mike Huckabee in Texas for the March 4th primary there. A Huckabee win would be a huge upset even if McCain wins Ohio and secures the delegates required for the nomination. The victory would almost certainly assure Mike Huckabee a place on the ticket.

OBAMA MANIA - It is becoming evident that Senator Barack Obama cannot be stopped and will defeat the Clinton machine to be the Democrat nominee for the President. He will bring perhaps 30 million new voters to the polls in November and McCain has almost no hope of victory without recruiting virtually all of the conservative Catholic and evangelical vote. Although he needs a young man on the ticket, word has it that he is actually looking at a list that contains men (and at least one woman) who are in their late sixties and seventies. If the GOP ticket is weak the party could lose 30 or more seats in the House and half a dozen Senate seats.

THE HOUSE

HOUSE IN RECESS - The House was in recess this week and will return late in the day on Monday, February 25, 2008.

MEANWHILE: have you visited my other sites? Read about and watch a video about my 2007 fact finding mission on Iraqi Christian refugees at: www.christianrefugees.blogspot.com

Which is better to stimulate the economy, tax rebates or fixing the nations roads? Check www.roadsnotrebates.com.

Would you like to make comments on these updates? They can be read and commented on at http://murrayonthehill.blogspot.com/

My Political action committee site can be viewed at www.gingpac.org.

THE SENATE

SENATE IN RECESS - The Senate was in recess this week and will reconvene at 5:30 PM on Monday, February 25, 2008.

RELIGION AND CULTURE

ILLEGAL KILLS FOR KIDS- The story of four kids killed in a school bus, including two brothers, was national news last week for about a day. Then all the liberal networks and national press stopped reporting the story at all. Why? The driver of the van that ran a stop light and hit the bus is a non-English speaking illegal alien. Since the media views all illegals as honest folks trying to make a living, their crimes are rarely reported. Read more.

YOUR PRESCRIPTION IS PROBABLY FROM CHINA - Upwards of 80% of prescription drugs from companies like Baxter and Johnson & Johnson are not made in the United States and there are no labeling laws requiring them to tell you that fact. Upwards of 80% of prescription drugs are manufactured overseas, most in China, in plants that are not inspected and often filthy. The drug Heparin is a blood thinner used by many people, including those on dialysis. Recently, some Heparin made in China has killed at least four people and caused allergic reactions in hundreds. (See UK story). The Wall Street Journal reported on the filthy conditions at a pig intestine processing plant that produces the raw materials for Heparin. The factory also makes sausage casings out of the same pig entrails. We deserve to know where our drugs are made. Please contact your congressman on this issue.

TWO NEW CHAIRMAN'S REPORTS AVAILABLE - The January 25, 2008 and February 13, 2008 issues of the Religious Freedom Coalition Chairman's Report is now available online. These new issues contain information on Pledge petition deliveries to the Senate and details of the Democrat party drive to turn the Global AIDS fund into a honey pot for abortion groups. Includes more stories about "freedom" in Saudi Arabia. Both new reports are in PDF format.

INTERNATIONAL

JAIL SENTENCE FOR WALKING DOG - A 70-year-old Iranian man was arrested and sentenced to four months in jail and 30 lashes for walking his dog. The jail time is probably meaningless, because the 30 lashes will probably kill the old man. Islam rates pets just someplace between pigs and Christians. Read more.

SAUDI SAYS ARREST OF AMERICAN JUSTIFIED - In a previous issue I wrote about the American businesswoman who once told the brother of President George W. Bush there was great freedom in Saudi Arabia. This same woman was arrested for drinking coffee with an "unrelated male" at Starbucks. After much unfavorable publicity for the Kingdom, authorities this week justified the arrest and conviction saying: "It's not allowed for any woman to travel alone and sit with a strange man and talk and laugh and drink coffee together like they are married." Yes, you read it right "drink coffee like they are married." If Islam were not flat out insane and Muslims didn't murder innocent women and children, this would be funny. Read more

DEATH FOR INTERNET ARTICLE PART IV - More than a month has passed since an Afghan student, Sayed Parwiz Kambakhsh, was sentenced to death for copying a paper from the Internet that the courts there deemed "blasphemous" to Islam. Advocates of religious freedom continue to pressure President Bush and Secretary Rice to help this man but there has been no resolution as yet.

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.

Week Ending February 15, 2008 - Washington, DC

Nancy Pelosi takes away ability of President Bush to spy on terrorists / Global Aids stalls in House / 29 GOP congressmen call it quits / Two incumbent congressmen lose seats in Maryland primary / Indian Health Act and abortion / Senate to recess / Sacrifice for Freedom memorials / What is Coltan? / Death for Internet article still possible

THE PRESIDENT

PRESIDENT LOSES ABILITY TO FIGHT TERROR- In a stunning move, San Francisco radical Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has blocked passage of the bill that gives authority to the President to fight terror. At midnight Saturday all intelligence gathering by the Administration against terrorists all over the world will be curtailed because Pelosi refused to bring the Protect America Act to a vote. Oddly Pelosi had time to issue contempt citations against two former Bush staffers, to try to arrest them because they will not testify before one of her committees.

THE HOUSE

AIDS BILL STALLS? - The President's Emergency Program For Aids Relief (PEPFAR) was scheduled for a vote in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, but the hearings have been put off due to the death of its chairman, Congressman Lantos (D-CA). Democrats are insisting that funds to fight AIDS in Africa be used for abortions and President Bush has indicated he will veto the bill if that is the case. Click here to read the Administration's position on PEPFAR funding.

29 GOP CONGRESSMEN OUT - There are now 29 Republican congressmen who have either outright resigned or announced that they will not run for reelection this year. (This includes Bobby Jindal who resigned to become governor of Louisiana.) With that many incumbent Republicans leaving, we need as many good conservatives as we can find to fill the slots. A good friend of mine, Woody Jenkins, a true social conservative who fights for the Christian values this nation was founded on has announced that he will run for the seat vacated in Louisiana by Congressman Jindal. He is one of many seeking seats of departing GOP congressmen.

TWO CONGRESSMEN LOSE IN MARYLAND - In the middle of the presidential primary, people forget that there are other candidates on the ballot. In Maryland there were both Democrat and Republican primaries for Congress as well. And two incumbents lost their seats. Both were defeated because they had run afoul of the party's activist base.

Reps. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) and Albert Wynn (D-MD) are from different parties. Neither had been involved in a scandal, and there had not been recent redistricting. Both lost because they were not ideologically in sync with their party's base.

Congressman Gilchrest, the Republican, voted with Democrats more often than with his own party, and his constituents had enough. Groups such as the Club for Growth spent nearly $1 million to dump him. He did not vote with social conservatives and I am glad to see him go. Wynn, the Democrat, had the opposite problem, having sided with business more often than with his left-wing constituency.

THE SENATE

INDIAN HEALTH ACT - As I have previously noted, social conservative Senators led by Senator Vitter (R-LA) have offered an amendment to prohibit the use of funds in the Indian Health Act for abortion. In response the Democrats have offered the following language: "Nothing in this Act shall be construed to effect or otherwise modify provisions of current Federal law with respect to the funding of abortion" as a side-by-side to Vitter's pro-life amendment. If passed, that language would essentially gut Senator Vitter's amendment. Please contact your Senator and ask him to support Senator Vitter's Amendment and reject the Democrats' pro-abortion amendment.

SENATE TO RECESS - The Senate went into recess Thursday night without a vote on the Indian Health Act and will remain in recess all of next week in honor of President's Day. The Senate will reconvene at 5:30 PM on Monday, February 25th.

RELIGION AND CULTURE

SACRIFICE FOR FREEDOM - A new group, Sacrifice for Freedom, is working to honor those who have fallen in the current conflict while giving their families a daily visible reminder of the nation's gratitude toward them. Sacrifice for Freedom is delivering to families a beautiful three dimensional memorial for their homes. The cost of the memorials are $250 each and so far they have been delivered to over 400 families who have lost loved ones to the cause of freedom in the current conflict. You can designate a family to receive a memorial if you contribute sufficient funds to deliver it to them. For information click here or on the image of the memorial.

ALL NEW CHAIRMAN'S REPORT - The January 4, 2008 issue of the Chairman's Report is now available online. This new issue contains details of "under God" in the Pledge petition deliveries to the Senate and first hand accounts of the huge Right to Life march in Washington. Read about adding a pro-life amendment to Indian Health Services. There is also Information on the church bombings in Iraq. Click here to read in PDF format

INTERNATIONAL

WHAT IS COLTAN? - Coltan' is the African colloquialism for columbite-tantalite, a metallic ore that is used in the manufacture of your cell phones and other devices to keep them cool. About 80% of this material comes from Africa, primarily the Democratic Republic of the Congo where a bitter war has been waged for a decade killing as many as five million people. The war has gone on unnoticed by the world and financed for the most part by "conflict coltan." Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) has expressed an interest in legislation to stop the sale of coltan as a means of stopping the continued slaughter in that nation.

DEATH FOR INTERNET ARTICLE PART III - It has now been nearly a month since an Afghan student, Sayed Parwiz Kambakhsh, was sentenced to death for copying a paper from the Internet that the courts there deemed "blasphemous" to Islam. I and others continue to push the Department of State and the White House for information on his fate but as of now we have no answers.

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.