Week Ending March 21, 2008 - Washington, DC

Easter, 2008 - McCain backs Jerusalem as capital / House and Senate - Easter recess of "Spring break" / Will Senate pass Ten Commandments resolution / Christians in Peril video suspended

HE IS RISEN - 5 The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you." (Matt 28:5-7) NIV

THE PRESIDENT

MC CAIN BACKS JERUSALEM - Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain visited Israel this week and said that he supports Jerusalem as the capital of that nation. The United States is virtually the only Western nation that has not moved its embassy to Jerusalem. President George W. Bush, a supporter of Israel, has refused to move the embassy there despite a law passed by Congress. McCain also visited the Western Wall and slipped a prayer note into the Wall as have millions before him, including me. Full story.

THE HOUSE

IN RECESS - The House is in "Spring District Work Break" until March 28, 2008 according to the Majority Whip's office. When the House was controlled by Republicans this was called "Easter recess."

THE SENATE

TEN COMMANDMENTS RESOLUTION - This week Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) introduced the Ten Commandments Weekend Resolution, which would designate the first weekend of May 2008 as Ten Commandments Weekend. "It is important for Americans to remember the importance the Ten Commandments have in our nation," said Senator Brownback. "The Ten Commandments are the cornerstone to the faith of millions of Americans of many faith traditions, and are a cornerstone to a fair and just society. We as a nation should take a weekend to reflect on the impact the Ten Commandments have had on the foundation of America's national life." A similar resolution has been entered in the House by Congressman Todd Akin (R-MO). The resolutions have been promoted by the Ten Commandments Commission.

SENATE SOMEWHAT IN RECESS - The Senate will not take an official recess for Easter. Every few days there will be a "pro-forma" session of the Senate with only one Senator present. The purpose of these sessions is to stop President George W. Bush from making emergency appointments to the hundreds of judicial and other agency vacancies.

RELIGION AND SOCIETY

NEW MARCH CHAIRMAN'S REPORTS AVAILABLE - The March 5, 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. Read here!

INTERNATIONAL

OUR VIDEO SUSPENDED - The Iraqi Christians in Peril video which has streamed out from our site for two months was suspended by our Internet provider because of excess usage of bandwidth because of the number of times it has been viewed. We used up our total alloted 500GB of broadcast in the first two weeks of March. We have secured additional bandwidth and hope to have it back up soon.

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.