c. 1996 Religion News Service
WASHINGTON _ It all seems strangely familiar. From the White House, President Bill Clinton battles a Republican-dominated Congress over a balanced budget, abortion and welfare reform. Members of the religious right try to capitalize on political clout gained by helping to elect conservative Republicans, while religious moderates and liberals try to mobilize their own grassroots constituencies. Both sides attempt to seize the high ground on”moral issues.” This is not a recap of the last congressional session, but rather a prediction of what is expected in national politics over the next two years. As the 105th Congress convenes Jan. 7, many political analysts say the scene will be deja vu all over again, as lawmakers and activists take up issues and battles left unfinished by the 104th Congress.
Religious groups from across the political spectrum will be prominently involved in many of the debates, from the balanced budget to social issues to church-state concerns.
Economic issues are expected to be addressed early in the session, and religious activists have a variety of concerns. A broad-based coalition of mainline Protestants, Roman Catholics, Jews and progressive evangelicals will be working to protect government programs to help the poor. “It is morally wrong and politically unjust to balance the budget on the backs of America’s poorest families,”said the Rev. Fred Kammer, president of Catholic Charities USA, in a theme repeated frequently across religious lines.
But many in this coalition acknowledge that given the mood of the country and the composition of the new Congress, theirs will be an uphill struggle. “We don’t see evidence of a strong commitment in this Congress to being sensitive and developing positive policy for the vulnerable,”said the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, general secretary of the National Council of Churches (NCC), a group of 33 Protestant and Orthodox denominations, including many historically black churches.
Religious conservatives, on the other hand, will be pushing Congress to balance the budget as a way to help economically burdened working families. Groups including the Christian Coalition, founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, and the Washington-based Family Research Council will be backing a $500-per-child tax credit. Such a credit was included in one budget package that was passed by Congress last term but ultimately vetoed by Clinton.
Many of the expected debates on the social issues front also have a familiar ring.
Despite an unsuccessful effort last year, abortion foes say they will try again to push through a ban on the controversial, late-term abortion technique known by abortion opponents as”partial-birth”abortion. But anti-abortion activists acknowledge they probably did not pick up enough votes in the Senate to override a presidential veto. Abortion funding is expected to be a contentious issue again this year, as conservative groups try to repeat their victories restricting money for federally financed abortions and for the promotion of abortion in international family planning programs.
After a close vote last year on a measure to extend anti-bias laws to homosexuals, a similar proposal will be introduced again this term. Religious groups have been active on both sides of the issue.
Debate over church-state issues may deeply divide religious organizations as well.
Last year, strategy disagreements among Christian conservatives stalled action on bills designed to allow more religious expression _ including prayer _ in public schools. The measures, which included a proposed constitutional amendment, were opposed by Jewish and mainline Protestant groups.”Protecting the First Amendment is our highest priority,”said Mark J. Pelavin, associate director of the Washington, D.C.-based Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
Other hot issues in this arena are bills to allow tax-financed tuition vouchers at private schools and proposals in the 1996 welfare reform law that would allow religiously oriented charities to use government grants for social service work.
But as divided as religious groups are, there could be more alliances struck this term on such issues as bills to outlaw physician-assisted suicide and to reform the present system of campaign finance.
A number of groups, including the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and the NCC, have designated campaign finance reform as an issue of moral concern. They may get some help from conservatives thanks to the efforts of Rep. Linda Smith, R-Wash., an Assemblies of God laywoman who has been at the forefront of the issue.
Despite his own ethical troubles, returning House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., has promised a new focus on”morals”and”values”this session.
Speaking to House Republicans in late November, Gingrich asserted that the 105th Congress must confront not only economic issues, but also what he called the”moral deficit”facing the nation.”We have an obligation to re-assert … that this nation comes from God, that it is in fact only successful when it is submissive to God’s will,”Gingrich said.
Gingrich emphasized he was not suggesting”in any way”a state religion or a theocracy.
However, he added:”This country will never again be healthy if we don’t have the courage to confront the spiritual and cultural and moral deficit that is an even greater threat to our future than the economic deficit.” Such talk pleases Christian conservatives, who blamed Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole’s failure in the November elections on his reluctance to take up moral issues.”In some bizarre role reversal, the party most associated with the permissiveness of the last 30 years constantly talked about values, while the (Republican) party … that counts on the votes of millions of Americans worried about our virtue deficit, instead seemed obsessed with our wallets,”said Family Research Council President Gary Bauer.”If the (Republican) party cannot soon find a way without shame or embarrassment to speak for the values of these people, then it will be … a disaster for all of us,”Bauer added.
But others are troubled by Gingrich’s remarks.”It really does suggest that in spite of his denials, he wants a country run along religious rules, not secular legislation. It’s very dangerous to have someone with the power of the speaker suggesting that,”said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
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It remains to be seen exactly how much influence various religious coalitions will exert on the 105th Congress.
The religious right is still expected to be a major player, although analysts noted that the 1996 elections had”mixed results”for conservative Christian activists. “It was not a very fortuitous year for them, but on the other hand, even in light of that, they were active and probably saved some of the freshmen members of Congress,”said Allen Hertzke, assistant director of the Carl Albert Congressional Research Center at the University of Oklahoma.
Hertzke and others predict that many internal discussions will take place where conservative activists re-examine their political strategies.”Among Christian activists, there will be quite a debate over whether it is really such a good idea to become so identified with the Republican Party. … On the other hand, there will be voices arguing that this movement wasn’t pragmatic enough,”agreed John C. Green, director of the Ray Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron.”I think that debate could be quite fierce,”Green added.
Pelavin said he is hopeful that moderates will be able to wield more political clout, at least in the House, where the GOP margin has narrowed by several votes. “There is going to be a powerful realization that the Republican Party will have to hang together and not venture out into the social issues,”he said.
Religious moderates and liberals will be seeking to broaden and extend their own advocacy base, in part to compete with the extensive grassroots reach of the Religious Right.”We hope to mobilize people in the pew to identify networks that already exist and to develop a strategy to coordinate those networks,”said the NCC’s Campbell.
But conservatives promise their own new mobilization.”Pro-family Americans have been too passive _ not too active _ in their approach to public life,”Bauer said.
MJP END LAWTON
