Senator Paul Coverdell (R-GA) discussed the bombing at the Atlanta Olympics, saying it provided "a glimpse of spontaneous heroism." He cited in particular the "heroes" who put their bodies between the bomb and other people, the rescue workers who came in without knowing if more bombs would go off and the fans who got up the next day and attended Olympic events. Contact Senator Coverdell via Carl Parks at 202/224-3643.
Institute has released its third annual fiscal report card on the nation's governors. He announced that three governors had received A's (Governor Pataki of New York, Governor Merrill of New Hampshire, and Governor Symington of Arizona) and four had received F's (Governor Voinovich of Ohio, who received the worst grade of any governor, Governor Chiles of Florida, Governor Carper of Delaware, and Governor Caperton of West Virginia). The governors of Illinois, Washington, Michigan, Montana, Maryland, Hawaii and Rhode Island got D's, he said. Moore distributed a July 24, 1996 op/ed written by himself and Dean Stansel of CATO on the report card for the Wall Street Journal. Contact Steve Moore at 202/842-0200.
Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy discussed the Chemical Weapons Treaty, which President Clinton supports and which may soon be voted on in the Senate. "This is a treaty that has for the first time taken the incredible leap... to allow foreign persons access to U.S. corporation's proprietary information, processes, and data," said Gaffney. Gaffney noted that it is simply impossible to verify any chemical weapons treaties, and he noted that the Japanese terrorists who killed on the subway system with Savrin gas produced the Savrin in one single room. He distributed additional information. Contact Frank Gaffney at 202/466-0515.
Brian Lopina of the Christian Coalition discussed the lawsuit filed by the Federal Election Commission against the Christian Coalition, saying "We are part of a very large club of right-of-center groups the FEC gone after. In every case, the groups have won. The definition of victory for the FEC is not winning the lawsuit, but forcing groups to spend money on it." Lopina said the Christian Coalition intends to win the lawsuit. Contact Brian Lopina at 202/547-3600.
Jim Sheehan of the Competitive Enterprise Institute discussed "Sustainable Development: A New Consensus," a government document which discusses how the United States can "promote the population control ethic in the United States, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute's alternative plan "Principles for Economic Freedom and Environmental Quality," which CEI is distributing internationally. Sheehan also distributed CEI publications "Population, Food and Income: Global Trends for the Twentieth Century" and "True State of the Planet." The various CEI publications, Sheehan said, show that advocacy of low population growth is an ideology unsupported by economic need. Contact Jim Sheehan at 202/331-1010.
Shepherd Smith of Americans for a Sound AIDS/HIV Policy discussed legislation enacted and introduced in this Congress on AIDS/HIV, including the Ryan White Care Act (passed), Baby AIDS, and the HIV Prevention Act recently introduced by Rep. Tom Coburn (R-OK). The latter bill would permit victims of rape to know the HIV status of their attacker. It contains other provisions. Most of the AIDS community opposes the HIV Prevention Act, Smith said, but his group supports it: "This is an epidemic that should be stopped; can be stopped." Contact Shepherd Smith at 703/471-7350 or Roland Foster in Rep. Coburn's office at 202/225-2701.
Steve Lilienthal of the Free Congress Foundation discussed the upcoming Religious Freedom Week, which was established by presidential proclamation in 1988 for September of every year. Lilienthal is chairing an ongoing meeting to help publicize this event, which participants hope will get people to focus more on 1) the Founding Fathers' views on religious freedom, and 2) the persecution of religious believers in more than 50 countries worldwide. Contact Steve Lilienthal at 202/546-3000.
Chris Israel of Rep. Todd Tiahrt's (R-KS) office reviewed H.R. 3947, the Parental Freedom of Information Act. The bill permits parents to know basic information about the curriculum in the public schools their children are attending. He described the bill in more detail and requested that people who have an opinion about the bill contact the House Economic and Educational Opportunities Committee. Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) is considering a companion bill in the Senate, he said. He distributed a handout containing more details about the bill's provisions. Contact Chris Israel at 202/225-6216.
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