EMERGENCY ALERT!!!
DEMAND HATE BILL HEARINGS!
By Rev. Ted Pike
18 Apr 09
On April 9, 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.
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!
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.
Heavy protest must begin at 9am Monday morning. If you live on the
west coast, plan to get started at 6am.
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.”
2. Go
to the Action Page at 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.
It’s up to you to change history. Support from the religious
right remains spotty and undependable.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
Watch the dynamic 10-minute educational video How to Kill the
Hate Bills at www.truthtellers.org which
explains how the two hate bills, HR256 and HR262, threaten freedom.
Please tell the offices of members of Congress to watch it! Also
at www.truthtellers.org, watch our gripping 82-minute documentary Hate
Laws: Making Criminals of Christians.
Let the Anti-Defamation League teach you how they have saddled 45 states with
hate laws capable of persecuting Christians, and spearhead attempts to pass the
federal hate crimes bill: http://www.adl.org/99hatecrime/intro.asp.
TALK SHOW HOSTS: Interview Rev. Ted Pike on this subject. Call
(503) 631-3808.
National Prayer Network, P.O. Box 828, Clackamas,
OR 97015
