It is in this the latest episode of ‘The Gasbag
Chronicles, starring Steny Hoyer” that we once again catch up with the lead
character in what has become our continuing saga behaving badly. This time we catch him in the middle of
saying that while “freedom of religion is a constitutional guarantee,” he would
not vote to overturn a D.C. law that forces Christian organizations to employ
people who advocate abortion.
Now what it was that prompted old Steny to even
comment on the issue was the fact that the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops (USCCB) recently co-signed a letter to members of Congress asking them
to disapprove a D.C. law, titled the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act
of 2014. Their feeling is that this law
is, and very clearly so, a violation of employers' First Amendment rights.
And, of course, Hoyer declined to say whether he
supported the D.C. law when asked about it at his weekly press briefing on
Capitol Hill Tuesday. However, later
that same day a Hoyer aide said in an email that Hoyer would vote to uphold the
District law, saying, “Mr. Hoyer supports D.C. autonomy and home rule, and
consistent with that support, he defers to the City Council and Mayor in enacting
legislation.”
Hoyer’s office was provided a copy of the letter
sent to Congress by the USCCB and 14 other organizations with offices in the
District of Columbia, which stated: “The
law requires our organizations to hire or retain individuals whose speech or
public conduct contradicts the organizations’ missions, and could be read to
require our organizations to subsidize elective abortions through their
employee health plans.”
And the letter went on to say, "The law plainly
violates the First Amendment, the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act of
1993 (RFRA), and possibly other federal laws and clearly contradicts the
Supreme Court’s recent, unanimous ruling in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Church
and School v. EEOC.” And the Bishops
were quite right in what they saying despite the fact that it was falling on
deaf ears.
The letter went on to point out that the D.C. law
“prevents religious institutions, other faith-based employers, and pro-life
advocacy organizations from making employment decisions consistent with their
sincerely held religious beliefs, or their moral and ethical views about the
sanctity of human life.” And therefore
the Bishops were more than justified in their request that Congress ‘disapprove’
the law.
Since all D.C. laws are subject to congressional
review, the letter urged Congress to “disapprove” the Reproductive Health
Non-Discrimination Act as well as the Human Rights Amendment of 2014, which it
said “requires religiously affiliated educational institutions to endorse,
sponsor, and provide school resources to persons or groups that oppose the
institutions’ religious teachings regarding human sexuality.”
First Hoyer was asked, "The U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops is asking Congress to disapprove the D.C. Reproductive Health
and Non-Discrimination Act because it would force religious organizations to
hire people who advocate for abortion. Can the government force religious
organizations to hire people who advocate for abortion?" Now you would
think that a very reasonable, and relatively simple, question to ask.
But Hoyer chose a bullshit response, saying,
"Well, look, I don’t know specifically what you’re referring to. We’ve
been through this with the ACA [Affordable Care Act]. I believe that clearly
the ability of people to speak freely is a constitutional guarantee, but I also
think freedom of religion is a constitutional guarantee and they need to be
balanced, and that’s always a tough thing to do. I’ll leave it at that."
Hoyer was asked if he thought Congress should
disapprove the law? And then in doing
his best to ‘play’ dumb, he asked if the law being referred to was the ACA. The answer was no, and that what was being
talked about was D.C.’s Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act. Hoyer then responded by saying, "I need
to look at D.C., I don’t really know enough about it to comment directly.” Somehow I doubt it!
You see, legislation becomes law in the District of
Columbia after passage by the city council, except in the event Congress passes
a joint resolution of disapproval, which must then be signed by the president.
It has happened just three times in the last 40 years. Congress is also presently considering
whether to overturn a recent referendum legalizing marijuana in D.C. It’s doubtful that either will be overturned.
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