Senate Majority Leader McConnell Attacks Religious Tests for Judicial Nominees

Following are excerpts of remarks delivered by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) December 5, 2019 on the Senate floor regarding nominations and religious freedom:

I want to take a moment to help clarify why I and millions of other Americans care so much about having federal judges who believe in the radical notion that words matter and that a judge’s job is to follow the law and the Constitution.

Take, for one example, the subject of religious freedom.

The liberty of conscience and the freedom to live out our faiths has been a foundational principle from the Republic’s earliest days. Many of the first Europeans who arrived in the New World came here fleeing religious persecution.

  

In the last several years, some of our Democratic colleagues have tried literally to impose religious tests on nominees for federal office. Just take the No Religious Test Clause and the First Amendment and throw them right out the window.

Judge Brian Buescher, now a district judge in Nebraska, was attacked by two Democrats on the Judiciary Committee for being a faithful Catholic and a member of the mainstream, worldwide Catholic group, the Knights of Columbus. In written questions, one senator called standard Catholic teachings “extreme positions” and asked if he’d dial down his personal faith practice if confirmed. As our colleague Senator Sasse observed at the time, Democrats were transparently implying that “Brian’s religious beliefs, and his affiliation with this Catholic, religious, fraternal organization, might make him unfit for service… [it’s] plainly unconstitutional.”

Judge Amy Coney Barrett, now a circuit judge on the Seventh Circuit, was likewise subjected to a religious test during a confirmation hearing. One Democrat senator literally asked: “Do you consider yourself an orthodox Catholic?” Another offered this bizarre and ominous remark: “The dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s a concern.”

So, look— these warning signs on religious freedom are popping up everywhere the modern political left rears its head.

Religious freedom in America has never meant, and will never mean, solely the freedom to worship privately. It has never meant, and will never mean, the ability to practice only a subset of faiths acceptable to some subset of politicians. It means the right to live your life according to the dictates of your faith and conscience – free from government coercion.   

If those statements strike anybody in this chamber as remotely controversial, that is exactly why President Trump, Senate Republicans, and millions of Americans are focused on confirming federal judges who will apply our Constitution as it was originally understood.

Time for tougher penalties for those who violate the law.

A statement from U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan 

Two years ago today, 32-year-old Kate Steinle was shot and killed in San Fransisco by an illegal immigrant with a stolen gun and a rough criminal record of seven felonies. He should not have been here, and she should not have died. Sadly, Kate is just one of many victims of a crime like this that was so preventable.

This cannot stand.

That is why on Thursday, the House passed two very important initiatives to keep Americans safe. The first is called Kate's Law, and it toughens penalties for illegal immigrants who repeatedly re-enter the country. The second cracks down on so-called 'sanctuary cities' that flagrantly disregard the rule of law. If a city does not cooperate with federal law enforcement, they should no longer receive federal grant money. End of story.

We are a nation of laws, and now, we must enforce the law. 

USA NEITHER FEARED NOR RESPECTED UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA

       
President Obama started his Presidency with an apology tour that included bowing to the Saudi Arabian King.  He is ending it by being forced to come out of the back of the Presidential plane in China and having his aides yelled at by Chinese bureaucrats.  The United States is no longer feared nor respected thanks to Obama's and his Administration's lacking of leadership and seriousness when it comes to America's national security.  Between Obama and John Kerry, American foreign policy does not exist.

Bad actors are coming to the fore around the world. Obama and Kerry want to lecture us and the world about climate change while ignoring the the serious challenges our nation and the world faces.

• In North Korea, yet another nuclear weapons test has been completed.  Numerous firing of missiles  toward Japan have taken place.  The Obama Administration's reaction is to condemn yet again the North Korean leadership and to go to the United Nations.  Kim Jong-un and his cronies are not exactly afraid of Obama's words.

•  China is not only embarrassing the President by not allowing him to come out the front door of his plane but is relentlessly taking control of the South China Sea and the vital trade routes there..  It's also expanding its naval presence to the Indian Ocean and even to the Americas.At home, the Chinese Communists are persecuting Christians and other and putting a strangle hold on Hong Kong though they signed agreements on Hong Kong that require the opposite.  The plane incident shows that the Chinese have no respect for Obama and are very willing to show that lack of respect to the world. 

• Iran gets ransom from the United States for grabbing American sailors. Forces those sailors to kneel.  Takes photos and video and sends it around the world.  Secretary of State John Kerry thanked Iran for its supposedly good conduct.  Obama signs a nuclear deal with Iran.  Iran immediately import weapons that it is forbidden to do under other agreement.  And then it violates the nuclear deal.  Obama and Kerry turn a blind eye and ignore the provocations. And Iran continues to harass American planes and ships in the area.

• Russia's Putin restricts human rights at home, has his military buzz American Air Force planes, helps murderous regimes like Syria, invades Ukraine, and more.  Obama's reaction:  Putin (the former KGB official) should live up to civilized norms.  Obama refuses to send even defensive weaponry to Ukraine so it can defend itself.

• Radical Islamic terrorism runs amok throughout the world: Europe, Asia, United States, and Africa.  Millions become refugees.  And Obama says climate chnage is the number one problem facing the world.  Tell that to the millions who no longer have homes or have lost loved ones. 

Obama's world is a much unsafer world than we have seen in decades. Leading from behind is not leading at all.  Just look at what it has reaped.

You Won't Believe What Obama Just Did!

Come hell or high water, Obama will close Guantanamo Bay.  It was announced that five more terrorists held at Guantanamo are going to be released to Kazakhstan.  This reduces the total inmates to 127.

In 2010, a Democrat controlled Senate passed a bill barring the president from spending any monies to transfer inmates to the U.S. or to close Guantanamo Bay.  But Obama still has his pen and phone so he continues to reduce the prisoners there by sending them to other countries.  This year alone, he has transferred almost 30 inmates out of the facility.  And this results in too many of them going back into terrorism.

As Jennifer Griffin of Fox News reported, "As many as 20 to 30 former Guantanamo Bay detainees -- some of whom were released within the last three years -- are suspected by intelligence and Defense officials of having joined forces with the Islamic State and other militant groups inside Syria."

The Obama administration hopes to have the total number of inmates down to below 100.  The goal of this program is to eventually put enough pressure on Republicans in Congress to allow Guantanamo inmates to be transferred into the U.S. and close Guantanamo.

The new Congress must find ways to stop this dangerous transfer of terrorists.

Obama Trying End Run with United Nations

President Obama's continuing efforts to reduce American sovereignty had taken yet another giant step forward.  The Obama Administration is in negotiations at the United Nations to come up with another global warming scheme that will hurt the U.S.while making no difference to the climate. 

Some Democrat Senators are urging Obama not to come to any agreement until after the November elections.  That way their own reelections will not be hurt by this.

The Obama Administration is saying they they are not sure that any agreement will be needed to be passed by the Senate.  Obama continues to attempt to give himself more power --  no matter if it abides by the American Constitution or not.

Obama Administration’s Answer to High Gas Prices? New Regulations That Will Drive Prices Even Higher at the Pump. From the House Energy and Commerce Committee

March 29, 2013

     

Committee Leaders Pledge to Review EPA’s Proposed New Tier 3 Gasoline Regulation Which Could Increase Cost of Gas by Six to Nine Cents Per Gallon

 

WASHINGTON, DC – Despite stubbornly high gas prices, the Obama administration today announced it is moving forward with a new regulation for gasoline that is expected to drive prices at the pump even higher. The Environmental Protection Agency unveiled its new Tier 3 rule requiring ultra-low sulfur gasoline as well as new tailpipe emissions standards for cars and light trucks. The agency has stated the proposal would cost no more than one cent per gallon of gasoline, while one industry study estimates the new regulation will add 6 to 9 cents per gallon.

“Increases in gas prices disproportionately hurt the nation’s most vulnerable individuals and families - with $4 dollar a gallon gas the norm in many parts of the country, we cannot afford policies that knowingly raises gas prices,” said Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI).

“Instead of raising gas prices, the Obama administration should focus on bringing stability and greater supplies to our energy markets by green-lighting projects like the Keystone XL pipeline, which will carry approximately one million barrels per day of oil from a close ally to the United States.”

“The Obama administration cannot be more out of touch. With hard-pressed families already struggling to afford each fill-up, Congress needs to take a hard look at any new EPA regulation that may raise the price at the pump. We will review this new proposal to make sure that it delivers air quality benefits at the least cost to the driving public while preserving auto and refining industry jobs. This is just another example of an overzealous EPA,” added Ed Whitfield (R-KY), Chairman of the Energy and Power Subcommittee.

Last year, the House passed H.R. 4480, the Domestic Energy and Jobs Act, which would have deferred the finalization of Tier 3 pending an inter-agency analysis of its impact, along with other pending regulations, on energy prices, jobs, and American competitiveness.

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To read more visit http://energycommerce.house.gov/press-release/obama-administration%E2%80%99s-answer-high-gas-prices-new-regulations-will-drive-prices-even

UN Arms Treaty Will Rid Nation of 2nd Amendment

As you read this, the United Nations (U.N.) is convening from March 18-28, to work on the final text for its “Arms Trade Treaty.”  Thankfully, the conference couldn’t come to an agreement last year on the text of the treaty, but that doesn’t mean they won’t this time.  The proposed goal of this treaty, which already has the support of over 100 nations, is to limit the black market deals that go on by illegal arms dealers.  Even if this is the true intention behind the proposed treaty, the language within the treaty allows the U.N. to erase our 2nd Amendment and erodes American Sovereignty. If you do not know already, when the Senate ratifies a treaty, it becomes the law of the land.

The language of the treaty is particularly and purposefully ambiguous.  This especially true in Article 2 Section 1 of the treaty where it applies at a minimum to certain weapons and machines used solely for the purposes of conducting war such as battle tanks and warships.  The very last aspect of Article 1 Section 2 identifies “small arms and light weapons” as applicable to this treaty.  This would, in every backdoor way possible, push the 2nd Amendment into the trash bin of history and further intrude on American Sovereignty.

Read the text of the treaty at:
http://www.un.org/disarmament/ATT/docs/Presidents_Non_Paper_of_20%20March_2013_%28ATT_Final_Conference%29.pdf