Yesterday the House of Representatives passed HR 2123, which has an amendment, created by Rep. John Boehner of Ohio. His name definitely fits the nature of this repulsive piece of legislation. This amendment, put in the Head Start bill, allows Head Start centers, who DO receive public money, to discriminate against teachers, based on their religious beliefs. If they can't get school prayer, I guess they'll make it legal to hire those who'll get those kids to pray.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050922/ap_on_go_co/head_start_2
This is unbelievable. How can any self respecting congressperson vote for this clear violation of the Establishment Clause? Technically, since public school teachers are paid by government money, this amounts to a religious test, which is clearly forbidden, according to Article VI of the Constitution:
no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
The amendment, which detailed the religious-based hiring practices, passed with 10 Democratic votes. The final bill passed, 231-184, with 23 Democratic votes. Hopefully, 45 Democrats (+ Jeffords) and some GOP Senators with a conscience can take care of this and protect religious freedom for all teachers. However, while we are on the topic of the 23 Democrats who voted to violate the Establishment Clause, as well as Article VI of the Constitution, we should all know who they are, and contact them to let them know that their vote will do nothing but harm the students of Head Start, who need high-quality teachers, no matter what religion. This amendment should have made this bill something that any congressperson, let alone Democrats, should denounce as a violation to our inalienable rights.
We need more teachers, and barriers to hiring the best educator do nothing but harm the children.
The Theocratic 23 (even Tancredo voted against it!!!)
John Barrow (GA)
Harold Ford (TN)
Melissa Bean (IL)
Bart Gordon (TN)
Dan Boren (OK)
Stephanie Herseth (SD)
Dennis Cardoza (CA)
Tim Holden (PA)
Ed Case (HA)
Jim Marshall (GA)
Ben Chandler (KY)
Allan Mollohan (WV)
Jim Costa (CA)
Ike Skelton (MO)
Robert "Bud" Cramer (AL)
Gene Taylor (MS)
Henry Cuellar (TX)
Mark Udall (CO)
Lincoln Davis (TN)
David Wu (OR)
Chet Edwards (TX)
Mike McIntyre (NC)
Anna Eshoo (CA)