rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (06/15/91)
FCNL TELEPHONE TAPE - 6/14/91 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 14. It contains information and action suggestions on the following subjects: CRIME LEGISLATION, ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS IN OCCUPIED TERRITORIES, and ARMS MORATORIUM TO MIDDLE EAST. CRIME LEGISLATION. The Senate is expected to vote on a comprehensive crime package this week, starting June 17. This package has been introduced by Senator Biden DE as S. 1241. Parts of the Bush administration's bill will also be offered as amendments to S. 1241. Both of these bills include proposals to expand the federal death penalty, impose lengthy sentences, and restrict the rights of people accused of crimes. It is likely that S. 1241 will easily pass. But your messages could make a difference in three specific areas: -- The Racial Justice Act (RJA): This is a provision in the death penalty portion of the crime package. It would make it unlawful to execute someone whose death sentence can be shown to be, in part, the result of racial discrimination. The Racial Justice Act is an essential protection of civil rights in the justice system. The RJA has also been introduced as a freestanding bill by Senator Kennedy MA as S. 1249. ACTION: Urge your senators to oppose the expansions of the death penalty included in the bill. No matter what their position on the death penalty is, they should vote against any bill which does not include the Racial Justice Act provisions. Please urge them to cosponsor S. 1249, the Racial Justice Act of 1991. -- Gun Control: S. 1241 includes the so-called Brady Bill, which would require a seven-day waiting period with a check of criminal records prior to the purchase of a hand gun. This is receiving strong support from the Democratic leadership and could be included in the final bill if there is strong constituent support. ACTION: Urge your senators to save lives by including the Brady bill in the crime package. Pennsylvania residents please note: Senators Wofford and Specter have indicated that they will vote for the bill if they get a substantial number of phone calls favoring that position. -- Alien Terrorist Removal Act: It is possible that an amendment will be offered from the President's crime bill. It would allow any non-citizen who is merely accused of having ties to a "terrorist" organization to be deported or "removed" from the country without knowing the charges brought against him or her, without seeing the evidence, and without knowing the source of the accusations. ACTION: Urge your senators to strongly OPPOSE the alien terrorist provision if it is offered as an amendment to the crime bill. ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS IN OCCUPIED TERRITORIES. Rep. John Bryant TX has introduced an amendment to the Foreign Aid Authorization bill (H.R. 2508). The amendment may be voted on in the House this Tuesday, June 18. Its purpose is to discourage the rapidly expanding growth of new Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories. Secretary of State Baker and many other policy analysts have said this growth is one of the greatest obstacles to peacemaking between Israelis and Arabs. Rep. Bryant's amendment, if passed, would withhold from the U.S. aid allocated to Israel an amount equal to what the Israeli government is spending on settlements in the territories. This money would be placed in escrow, and released when the President certifies that Israel is NOT EXPANDING its settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. ACTION: Please call your representative before Tuesday afternoon. Urge him or her to vote FOR the Bryant amendment to the foreign aid authorization bill, concerning settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories. ARMS TRANSFERS TO THE MIDDLE EAST. Modest actions to discourage or limit arms transfers to the Middle East took place in both the House and Senate this week. The full House adopted, as part of the Foreign Aid Authorization bill, provisions for a moratorium on arms transfers. This moratorium would continue unless and until the President certifies that another major arms supplier nation has agreed (as of May 21 or later) to transfer any major military equipment to the Mideast or Persian Gulf region. Meanwhile, two Senate committees have expressed the "sense of Congress" that arms supplier nations should establish and rigorously enforce a prohibition against introducing advanced conventional arms into the region, and that the U.S. should comply with an international moratorium. These provisions have been made part of the Foreign Aid and State Department authorization bills. ACTION: This legislation is all but complete in the House. The full Senate will probably vote on the Foreign Aid and State Department Authorization bills late this month or in July. Although these bills are not as strong as FCNL would like, they are worth supporting. Please write your Senators and ask them to support proposals for an international moratorium on arms to the Middle East, and to seize any opportunity that may be offered to strengthen these provisions. 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 **