“Throughout my Senate career, I’ve spent a lot of time to defending the First Amendment.
“Most of it I’ve spent defending one particular clause of that amendment, the one relating to the right of free speech. But recent events have shown, quite unexpectedly, the urgent need to defend another clause in the First Amendment. I’m referring, of course, to the right of the free exercise of religion.
“We continue to listen to the concerns of the American people and as a result our focus continues to be on getting our economy moving again and creating jobs. As you all know, the House has passed 30 jobs bills, 27 of them remain in the United States Senate. In the coming weeks, we’ll pass the [American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act] - reform the way we deal with energy issues on federal lands, and reform the way we deal with infrastructure. Both of the sections of this bill will help create more American jobs.
Good afternoon. Thank you very much. Thank you, Caroline [Fredrickson], for that warm introduction. And thank you to the American Constitution Society for having me here today. My thanks also to the State Bar of Georgia for hosting this incredible and incredibly timely symposium. And let me express my appreciation to Kara Stein for all her help to ensure today's success.
There are so many VIPs in the room--judges, attorneys, professors, members of the Georgia General Assembly--I'd quickly get into trouble if I tried to start naming names, so I won't. But please know how honored we are by your presence and how grateful we are for your service to the bench, the bar, this state and our nation.
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The Clare Booth Luce Institute is conferring its Woman of the Year Award upon former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin because she chose to put her family ahead of running for the Presidency, Michelle Easton, President of the Institute said during an interview with Stephen K. Bannon on his February 5, Victory Sessions Show.
Easton said,
The Clare Booth Luce
Institute exists to prepare and
promote women conservative leaders,
and each year, we honor one
extraordinary woman who like our
organization’s namesake Clare Booth
Luce shows leadership, and
grace, and dedication to advancing
conservative principles.
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, President Obama signed an Executive Order (E.O.) that takes a number of actions in furtherance of the Administration’s Iran sanctions program, including measures to implement section 1245 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Among other things, the E.O. freezes all property of the Central Bank of Iran and all other Iranian financial institutions, as well as all property of the Government of Iran, further tightening the already broad-based and stringent U.S. sanctions on Iran.
These actions underscore the
Administration’s resolve
to hold the Iranian regime accountable for its
failure to meet its
international obligations. Iran now
faces an unprecedented level of
pressure due to intensified sanctions
applied by the United States
and complementary actions by many others
around the world.
A Monthly Dispatch From Citizens Against Government Waste
State and Local Government Defined Benefit
Plans Are “Inherently Flawed”
By Erica Gordon
On
January 10, 2012, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) released a report on
state and local government defined benefit pension plans in which he
detailed the risks associated with the nation’s $4.4 trillion public
pension debt, calling the defined benefit pensions structure
“inherently
flawed in the state and local government setting”
…
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Thursday, U.S. Senators Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced the Energy Freedom & Economic Prosperity Act (EFEPA) to repeal all energy specific tax credits. The legislation is revenue neutral as it also requires a corresponding reduction in the corporate tax rate. U.S. Congressman Mike Pompeo (R-Kansas) has previously introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Senator DeMint said, “Our tax code is riddled with loopholes for special interests and it’s time to end this corporate welfare that is hurting our economy. When Washington picks winners and losers in the energy market, those with the highest paid lobbyists win while the small businesses and taxpayers lose.
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Taliban terrorists in the midst of battle on the Afghan-Pakistani border. Credits: Defenselink/ISAF
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As part of “Taliban reconciliation efforts,” the terrorists would be transferred to Qatar, a Middle Eastern Arab state where the militant Islamic group will soon open an office. The Obama Administration is selling "the preposterous deal to Congress by saying that the prisoners won’t actually be released but rather transferred to the custody of the Qatari government and they will remain in jail," claims Judicial Watch.
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Just when everyone in the media had all but crowned Mitt Romney as the GOP presumptive nominee, Santorum - the self-proclaimed "Anti-Obama" not "Anti-Romney" candidate - came out Tuesday night with three overwhelming victories. In Minnesota, Santorum got 45% of the vote, with Paul at 27%, Romney in 3rd at 17% and Gingrich at 11%. In Missouri, with 99.6 percent of the precincts reporting, Santorum received 55 percent of the vote, followed by Romney with 25 percent and Ron Paul with 12 percent. Gingrich wasn't on the ballet. In Colorado, he came in with 40% of the vote to Romney's 35%, Gingrich's 13% and Paul's 12%. When Mitt Romney ran in 2008, he won both Colorado and Minnesota.
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Washington, DC— Amid the controversy over the Obama Administration’s mandate that employers provide health insurance covering contraception and birth control at no cost to employees, a new national survey finds that nearly six-in-ten (58%) Catholic Americans generally support this requirement. A majority (55%) of all Americans also support the requirement.
The new PRRI Religion and Politics Tracking Survey, conducted by Public Religion Research Institute, finds that a slim majority (52%) of Catholics also believe that religiously affiliated colleges and hospitals should have to provide their employees with health care plans that cover contraception or birth control at no cost. Among Catholic voters, however, only 45% support this requirement, while 52% oppose it.
WASHINGTON, DC – USDA Under Secretary Kevin Concannon today announced first quarter results for fiscal year 2012 in the effort to identify and eliminate fraudulent retailers from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). From October 1 through December 31, 2011, USDA staff took final actions to:
Sanction, through fines or temporary disqualifications, more than 225 stores found violating program rules; and
Permanently disqualify over 350 stores for trafficking in SNAP benefits (i.e. exchanging SNAP benefits for cash).
WASHINGTON — An immigration judge in Batavia, N.Y., earlier today ordered removed from the United States the former leader of the Liberian Peace Council (LPC) for his role in human rights abuses committed during the Liberian civil war in the 1990s. This is the first time in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) history that an individual has been charged under the Immigration and Nationality Act's recruitment and use of child soldiers ground of inadmissibility.
George Saigbe Boley, 62, of Hilton,
N.Y., the leader of LPC
during the Liberian civil war, was found by an
immigration judge to
be removable from the United States. Boley's case
represents the
first removal order obtained by ICE under the authorities
of the
Child Soldiers Accountability Act of 2008, which added the
recruitment and use of child soldiers as a ground of inadmissibility
to
and deportability from the United States.
Discretionary Funds Support State-of-Good-Repair, Sustainability Objectives for Transit
WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced the availability of $826.5 million in Fiscal Year 2012 discretionary funds to modernize and repair transit vehicles and facilities around the country and promote the widespread use of sustainable clean fuel. The funding commitment highlights President Obama’s call for investing in an America that’s built to last.
“An American economy that’s built to last must
be built on a solid
foundation, and when we have buses, transit
facilities, and other
equipment that’s in disrepair, we simply
cannot afford to ignore them,”
Secretary LaHood said.
BENTONVILLE, Ark. Walmart announced last week that its facilities in California and Texas have secured positions among the top three companies, on four separate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Green Power Partnership lists.
As a result of significant work in 2011 to continue our commitment to renewable energy through on-site energy, such as solar and wind, and green power purchases, Walmart’s California and Texas facilities secured a spot among the top three on numerous EPA Green Power Partnership lists, including:
