Please forward.

In this edition:

An update of the Christian Coalition of Georgia and "An Evening with Ann Coulter"
Congressional Scorecards for the Georgia Delegation for the current session
Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-11) upcoming legislation

Dear Email Family,

With the November elections just around the corner we are gearing up to educate Christian voters so that you may cast an informed vote for candidates who reflect our values. Your financial support will help us to educate and in turn motivate over 500,000 Christian voters to go to the polls this fall. It is critical that we vote our values in order to continue to affect conservative public policy.

We are now in the process of producing our 2006 Legislative Scorecard and raising funds for our 2006 Voter Guide effort and we need your help. Both of these are expensive projects, and we need your financial support to get the job done.

Please consider sending in a donation of $25, $50, $100 or more so that we can produce our 2006 Legislative Scorecard which informs you on how our elected officials vote on issues important to our families, and for our 2006 Voter Guide effort so that you will be able to cast an informed vote on where the candidates stand on issues important to the family in the November elections. Please send in your check today! Or, you can go to our web site www.gachristiancoalition.org and give through our secure online service PayPal. We are counting on you.

Also, on September 16, 2006 we will be hosting "An Evening With Ann Coulter" at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, GA beginning at 6:00 p.m. Please join us for an exciting evening as we hear from one of the most articulate and conservative voices in America today! Admission price is $65 per person and those who register for this event by August 1, 2006 will receive priority seating. You can either mail a check to Christian Coalition of Georgia, 8975 Roswell Road, Atlanta, GA 30350 or pay online through PayPal. If you mail a check or use PayPal, please be sure to let us know it is for the event.

We will have Ms. Coulter's recent book "Godless: The Church of Liberalism" on sale at the event and will have a book signing immediately following the event. If you already have one of her books that you would like signed, please bring it with you. In "Godless," Ms. Coulter exposes why liberals believe the way they do and how that conflicts with those of us who believe in God. Here is a quote from "Godless" regarding evolution:

"For liberals, evolution is the touchstone that separates the enlightened from the benighted. But I debunk the myth of the 'rational' liberal guided by the ideals of free inquiry and the scientific method and expose the truth about Darwinian evolution that liberals refuse to confront: It is bogus science. In "Godless," you will see how liberals' absolute devotion to Darwinism has nothing to do with evolution's scientific validity and everything to do with their refusal to admit the possibility of God as a guiding force. The tolerant liberal suddenly becomes very intolerant when their official religion is challenged."

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Gary Baur who heads up Campaign for Working Families has a great web site www.cwfpac.com. They have recently posted a Senate and Congressional scorecard for the current session. Here are the ratings for the Georgia Delegation:

U. S. Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson received a 100% rating.

Republican Congressmen Nathan Deal, Phil Gingrey, Charlie Norwood and Lynn Westmoreland received a 100% rating. Republican Congressmen John Linder and Tom Price received a 96% rating -- Republican Congressman Jack Kingston a 95% rating -- Democrat Congressmen Jim Marshall a 83% rating -- John Barrow a 74% rating -- Sanford Bishop a 62% rating -- David Scott a 41% rating -- John Lewis a 0% rating and Democrat Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney a 0% rating.

If you would like to see what issues were used to compile these ratings, go to www.cwfpac.com.

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Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-11) called yesterday to let me know that he is a co-sponsor, along with Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) of a bill to further stem cell research that does not harm human embryos. This bill will "promote the derivation of pluripotent (stem cells that can become any cell in any bodily tissue but would not develop into a separate human being) stem cell lines, including from postnatal soures, without creating human embryos for research purposes or discarding, destroying, or knowingly harming a human embryo or fetus." It is my understanding, from my conversation with the Congressman, that one avenue the bill would provide for is experimentation on animal embryos to determine if there is a way to extract stem cells from an embryo without harm to the embryo.

According to the synopsis of the bill (below), "this legislation does not condone or support any research in which a human embryo is harmed or destroyed through its prohibition of funding pluripotent stem cell research if the cells are obtained from a human embryo."

If you want to read the bill in its entirety go to http://thomas.loc.gov and put in HR 5526. As the bill was just introduced today, it may not be posted on "Thomas" until tomorrow. The Congressman asked me to let you know about this legislation and if you have any questions or comments to please call his office at 202-225-2931 and speak with Jenifer Healy who is his Legislative Aide on this issue.

The Alternative Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapies Enhancement Act is intended to strengthen research into alternative ways of obtaining pluripotent stem cells. Pluripotent, being stem cells which can eventually specialize in any bodily tissue, but cannot themselves develop into a human being. Study of these cells may lead to improved understanding of or treatments for diseases.

Recognizing the ethical issues surrounding embryonic stem cell research and the potential scientific advances that may alleviate these issues, this legislation seeks to promote the derivation of pluripotent stem cell lines from alternative sources that do not require the creation of human embryos for research purposes or discarding, destroying, or knowingly harming a human embryo or fetus. The bill specifically prohibits any funds authorized from being used for techniques or research that derives such cells from a human embryo.

The Alternative Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapies Enhancement Act would amend the Public Health Service Act to require the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct and support basic and applied research to develop techniques for the isolation, derivation, production, or testing of stem cells that have pluripotent or embryonic-like qualities. The bill authorizes funding for this research for fiscal year 2007 through 2009 and requires a yearly report to Congress on the activities being carried out and research being conducted during that fiscal year.

The bill also states that nothing in this bill shall be interpreted to affect any policy, guideline, or regulation regarding embryonic stem cell research, human cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer or any other research not specifically authorized. Therefore, this legislation does not condone or support any research in which a human embryo is harmed or destroyed through its prohibition of funding pluripotent stem cell research if the cells are obtained from a human embryo.

The bill also directs NIH to guide the priorities of this research, taking into account which research has the greatest potential for near-term clinical benefit; determining the extent to which specific techniques may require additional basic or animal research to ensure that any research involving human cells is consistent with the purpose of the bill; and taking into account the techniques outlined by the President’s Council on Bioethics to ensure the spirit of this legislation is upheld in scientific research.