rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (06/26/91)
/** fcnl.updates: 10.0 **/
** Topic: hotline for june 21, 1991 **
** Written 4:29 pm Jun 21, 1991 by fcnl in cdp:fcnl.updates **
TELEPHONE TAPE - 6/21/91
This is the Friends Committee on National Legislation, with
updated legislative information. To speak with a staff member,
call (202) 547-6000.
This message was prepared at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 21. It
contains information and action suggestions on the following
subjects: THE CRIME BILL, RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, CIVIL RIGHTS, UN
SANCTIONS ON IRAQ, AND ARMS SALES TO THE MIDDLE EAST.
THE CRIME BILL: The Senate is now considering a comprehensive
package of crime legislation. This package, known as the
Violent Crime Control Act, was introduced by Senator Biden DE
as S. 1241. As the debate continues, a number of controversial
issues will be voted on individually. The Senate voted down one
section, the Racial Justice Act, by 55-41. This provision would
have allowed defendants in death penalty cases to show evidence
of racial bias in the application of the death penalty. On the
other hand, the Alien Terrorist Removal Act, which would have
allowed deportation of any non-citizen merely accused of having
ties to a "terrorist" organization, has also been rejected.
There may also be an attempt to remove a provision in Biden's
bill that allows Indian tribes to decide whether or not the
death penalty can be used for crimes occurring on their lands.
Votes on the crime package will resume on Tuesday. Among the
issues yet to be considered are: Gun control provisions,
expansion of the federal death penalty along with its
application on Indian reservations, and limits to provisions
which allow appeals for persons facing a death sentence.
ACTION: Urge your senators to preserve the gun control
provisions in the bill, and remind them to protect
constitutional rights of appeal. Also, urge that they oppose
efforts to deny Indian tribes the right to chose for themselves
whether to have a death penalty or not. And express
disappointment at the removal of the Racial Justice Act.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: Representative Solarz NY will soon
reintroduce the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. This measure
would restore the legal test which formerly placed firm
restrictions on the ability of "the state" to pass laws which
would infringe on an individual's right to practice his or her
religion. The test, which required state's to show a
compelling interest for such laws, was recently thrown out by
the Supreme Court. Last year the measure gained 99 cosponsors
in the House before Congress adjourned.
ACTION: Please contact your representative and ask him or her to
become an original cosponsor of the Religious Freedom
Restoration Act.
CIVIL RIGHTS: Some members of the Senate are presently
negotiating the civil rights bill. In an attempt to garner
White House approval, essential provisions of the bill may be
scuttled. Events are moving quickly.
ACTION: Call your senators immediately and insist on a bill as
close as possible to the House bill.
UN SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAQ: Iraqi civilians, particularly
children, continue to suffer from the devastating effects of
the Gulf War. Last April, four Quaker Secretaries signed a
joint appeal for the lifting of all economic sanctions on Iraq.
A Harvard medical team which visited Iraq in April estimates
that, by summer's end, 170,000 children will die of dysentery,
typhoid fever, cholera, and malnutrition. Rep. Tim Penny MN
has responded to this crisis by introducing House Concurrent
Resolution 168, cosponsored by Reps. Dorgan ND and Emerson MO.
This resolution would express the sense of Congress that the
U.S. should ask the UN to release through UNICEF a portion of
Iraq's frozen assets to provide immediate medical aid,
especially to children.
ACTION: Contact your representative and urge him or her to
join Reps. Penny, Dorgan and Emerson by cosponsoring H.Con.Res
168. Also, please encourage your senators to introduce similar
legislation in the Senate.
ARM SALES TO THE MIDDLE EAST: Despite the rhetoric of
President Bush and other world leaders, the transfer of
conventional arms to the Middle East continues virtually
unabated. The U.S. administration recently announced its
intent to sell $682 million worth of Apache helicopters and
Hellfire missiles to the United Arab Emirates. Congress can
stop this arms sale by passing a resolution of disapproval by
July 10. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Dante
Fascell, has introduced such a resolution, House Joint
Resolution 270. The full committee must pass this resolution
of disapproval at hearings on Thursday, June 27.
ACTION: If your representative is on the House Foreign Affairs
committee, please contact him or her before June 27. Urge your
representative to stop this arms sale by supporting the
resolution of disapproval, H.J.Res. 270.
This concludes our message. For more information, please write
to the Friends Committee on National Legislation, 245 Second
St., NE, Washington, DC 20002.
** End of text from cdp:fcnl.updates **