Thanks to all who prayed for my family during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  My Mississippi family had severe damage to their home.  It may possibly be a total loss.  Fortunately, my daughter-in-law, Debbie and my three grandchildren – Rebekah, Daniel, and Caleb were able to get to Atlanta – to me – and were here for a couple of weeks.  My son, Marty, stayed in Laurel, MS to see about their house, and to help with the clean-up of damage to his neighbors and church family homes.

As many of you know, Marty is a pastor in Laurel, and his church has a missionary house where they are now staying.  It is much smaller than their home was, but they are thankful to have a place to stay where they can all be together while decisions are being made about their home.

I know from all the emails I have received that many of you have been working with relief efforts in the Atlanta area and across the state.  That’s the Christian spirit at its best—people helping people.

With yet another hurricane looming on the horizon, let’s pray that areas that are trying to recover from Hurricane Katrina will not be hit again – and that other areas will not be affected.

*****

“HATE CRIMES” LEGISLATION ATTACHED TO THE CHILDREN’S SAFETY ACT (H.R. 3132) PASSES HOUSE BY A VOTEOF 223-199

Last week the House of Representatives rushed through a “hate crimes” amendment without any notice to constituents.

The amendment, sponsored by Michigan Democrat Rep. John Conyers, would add “sexual orientation” to federal criminal law, and thus would give more protection to homosexuals than other citizens.

It would also set the stage for suppressing speech critical of homosexuality.  According to Concerned Women for America, in Pennsylvania, a similar state law led directly to the arrests of 11 Christians in a Philadelphia public park at a “gay pride” event.

Voting against the amendment were Georgia Congressmen Phil Gingrey, Nathan Deal, Jack Kingston, John Linder, Tom Price, Charlie Norwood and Lynn Westmoreland.

Voting for the amendment were Congressmen John Barrow, Sanford Bishop, John Lewis, Jim Marshall, David Scott and Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.

The bill now goes to the Senate for a vote.  I have been in touch with Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson’s office and have been told they will both vote against the amendment.

*****

Conservative Petitions.com Alert: In the aftermath of the terrible tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, common sense dictates that Congress must use its head as well as its heart to help keep America strong. Obviously, the folks in Washington should do everything necessary (and Constitutional) to attend to the immediate needs of those who have tragically lost their homes and their livelihoods.

But, as Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) has noted, Congress must also use its head. At this critical time, we need to exercise sound fiscal judgment and ensure that we do not end up bankrupting our children and grandchildren.

"When so many lives have been shattered and relief is so critical, Congress cannot continue to fund projects like the $800,000 outhouse, $1.2 million for Panda research, or the $1 million indoor rainforest in Iowa," said Hensarling. "The fundamental question is who should tighten their belt to pay for this damage, American families or the federal government?"

He's exactly right. There are only three ways to pay for the emergency supplemental appropriation passed by Congress to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina: raise taxes, increase the national debt or tighten the belt of the federal government. By refusing to offset this spending, Congress is simply taking the most politically expedient path by adding to our already staggering debt and passing the buck to future generations. At a time when Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are growing out of control, refusing to offset even one penny of this bill with lower priority spending is unacceptable.

Hensarling introduced an amendment to the Katrina bill which would have forced Congress to cut back a lot of pork to pay for the emergency assistance. His amendment would have offset nearly $52 billion in hurricane emergency spending with funding from lower priority programs (such as in the $25 million highway bill) over five years. This commonsense offset would reduce government spending across the board, but would exempt entitlement spending, defense, homeland security and veterans funding. The amendment would not deny one penny of relief to the Gulf Coast, nor would it delay relief in any way.  Hensarling's amendment was voted down.

TAKE ACTION: The Wall Street Journal has asked in an editorial, "Why not cancel all of the special-project pork in the highway bill and dedicate the $25 billion in savings to emergency relief on the Gulf Coast? Is it asking too much for Richmond, Indiana, to give up $3 million for its hiking trail, or Newark, New Jersey, to put a hold on its $2 million bike path?"

Or how about these other examples, as compiled by Citizens Against Government Waste:

* $230 million for the infamous "Bridge To Nowhere" in Alaska which will service an island town of just 50 people
* $4 million for bike paths and park space in Calexico, California
* $4 million for sidewalk improvements in Clarkson, Georgia
* $3 million for a river path in Springfield, Oregon
* $2.8 million for a bike/pedestrian path in Madison, Wisconsin
* $2.7 million for renovation of the Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio
* $2.48 million for bike/pedestrian paths in Chicago, Illinois
* $2.3 million for landscaping enhancements along the Ronald Reagan Freeway in California
* $2 million to construct an "intermodal center" at the Philadelphia Zoo in Pennsylvania
* $2 million for a parking garage in San Antonio, Texas
* $1.8 million to construct a visitor interpretive center at the Gray Fossil Site in Tennessee
* $1.2 million to install lighting/steps at the Blue Ridge Music Center in Virginia
* $640,000 to extend a bicycle trail in Aberdeen, South Dakota
* $320,000 for a new bicycle/pedestrian trail in Shelbyville, Tennessee
* $33,440 for a trolley barn in Harrison, Arkansas

Congress should repeal the 6,000-plus "pork" projects in the highway bill and redirect that money to the hurricane victims who really need it. But a spokesman for Rep. Don Young (R-AK), Chairman of the House Transportation Committee, called the pork-for-relief swap proposal "moronic," and the Washington Times reports that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay says there simply isn't any "fat" left in the budget to be cut.

Let's make our voices heard loud and clear on this issue. First, make two quick phone calls to Reps. Young and DeLay, and just let them know: "Repeal the 'pork' projects in the highway bill, and spend it on Katrina relief efforts!" Here's the numbers:

Rep. Don Young: 202-225-5765
Rep. Tom DeLay: 202-225-5951

You can click below to send a message to your Congressman and Senators, asking them not to raise taxes or increase the national debt, but to repeal the highway bill's "pork" projects and redirect that money to the victims of Katrina:

http://capwiz.com/sicminc/issues/alert/?alertid=8042021&type=CO

RightMarch.com

[Editor’s note: Georgia Congressman Lynn Westmoreland voted against the $62 billion relief package due to the fact there was no plan presented to cut spending to offset the expenditure and due to his concern about the increasing the size of the deficit.  The following is the statement he made on the floor of the House:

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 3673, the Second Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act to Meet Immediate Needs Arising From the Consequences of Hurricane Katrina, 2005.

Along with the other members of the House, I have been shocked and saddened to watch the devastation that has been caused by the Hurricane in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. I have also been encouraged by the heroic efforts both of private individuals and our military in saving the lives of many people, and evacuating those who simply could not get out of the affected areas.

This has also been a time for Americans to draw together—donations to private relief agencies are more than $500 million in just the first week after the tragedy, and organizations like the Red Cross and Salvation Army have been right at the forefront in providing relief to the people affected.

I strongly supported the efforts of Congress in allocating the initial $10 billion in immediate relief to keep the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Army Corps of Engineers functioning to assist in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane and flooding. However, I rise in opposition to this $51.8 billion relief package. I do not oppose all funding for the emergency, but one of my major concerns with the government response to disasters in general is the tendency to throw money at problems with very little accountability on how that money is being spent.

The $51.8 billion we are about to spend is nearly three times the entire annual state budget of my home state of Georgia, the ninth-largest state in the country with a population of 8.8 million people, and will be spent in about five weeks from what we are being told. According to the Office of Management and Budget, we are spending money at a rate of $2 billion a day, and yet we in the Congress do not have many details at all on how that money is being spent.

I strongly support continued government funding of relief work in the affected areas, but the legislation we are considering is sorely lacking in effective accountability. The legislation allocates funds to federal agencies with barely any explanation, except for one thing we know — that not a dime of the $51.8 billion will be spent on reconstruction in the affected areas. The funding is only for immediate response over and above the $10 billion we are already spending. This legislation holds no one responsible, and I cannot in good conscience allow such a tremendous amount of taxpayer’s money to be spent without holding someone accountable for its disbursement. The legislation does provide for the inspector general to oversee the funding, but even that is after-the-fact as the money is being spent.

The more than $60 billion Congress will have allocated after this legislation passes is enough to give every family of four affected by the hurricane a cash payment of $120,000, and yet none of that $60 billion will be spent to actually rebuild anything in New Orleans, Mississippi, or Alabama.

We need time to absorb information about what is happening. We know more today than we did yesterday, and we will know more tomorrow than what we know today. We do not need more knee-jerk reactions of spending money to fix problems. There are only three ways to pay for hurricane relief — raising taxes, which will stifle the economy; cutting federal spending to offset the money; and passing the cost along to our children and grandchildren by increasing the deficit.  We need to carefully consider this spending, and work diligently to ensure that the funds are being spent wisely.

I have personally donated to the Red Cross and Salvation Army, as has my staff, and I will continue to support relief efforts. I would prefer that the votes in Congress on spending these disaster dollars take place in $10 billion installments, where we can see how effectively the money is being used. This is an extremely difficult time, and I applaud the leadership both of our President and other government agencies, along with the military, who have acted so decisively and effectively to alleviate suffering.

Thank you for Keeping The Faith.
Sadie Fields