The Secretive, Taxpayer-Financed Settlement Fund Used by Lawmakers Accused of Sexual Harassment

Staffers who are the targets of unwanted sexual advances on Capitol Hill should not have to endure a lengthy mediation process and pay the legal bills as lawmakers secretly draw on a mysterious slush fund to settle the accusations against them, an advocate for taxpayers argues.

In the event of a monetary settlement of sexual harassment complaints, members of Congress can draw on a taxpayer-funded account set up within the Treasury Department to cover their legal expenses and settle cases.

The account has paid out $17 million in the past 10 years, public records show, although it is not clear how much of that was for cases of sexual harassment.

“Right now, it’s very unclear to the taxpayer where this money is going,” Grace Morgan, director of external affairs for the Washington-based Taxpayers Protection Alliance, told The Daily Signal in a phone interview.

“We don’t know who is getting paid the settlements and why they are getting paid the settlements,” Morgan said Monday. “The $17 million figure does not distinguish between sexual harassment claims and other general workplace claims. There is no information and no transparency.”

The spotlight fell on the question of sexual harassment on Capitol Hill after the scandal that brought down Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein prompted dozens of women, and men, to blow the whistle on the sexually predatory practices of major business, entertainment, and media figures ranging from actor Kevin Spacey to news anchor Charlie Rose.

Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., the longest-serving member of Congress, has been accused of sexual harassment by two former staffers. Several women, although none of them staffers, also accuse Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., of groping them.

When a congressional staffer decides to press ahead with allegations of sexual harassment, he or she must navigate a four-step process administered through an agency called the Office of Compliance. The steps: counseling, mediation,  administrative hearing or civil action, and appeals.

“This turns out to be a 180-day process, and it’s not very fair or just to the victims,” Morgan said.

Nor is the amount paid out as the result of sexual harassment accusations against lawmakers currently public information, she said.

“We also need a full investigation into the $17 million and what has been paid to victims, how much involves sexual harassment claims and how this impacts taxpayers,” Morgan said.

‘Initial Spike’

For starters, the Senate passed a resolution requiring training on sexual harassment for senators and their staff. The House was expected to follow suit Wednesday.

Although an “initial spike” in sexual harassment complaints is likely to occur when new procedures go into effect, congressional employees will benefit over the long term from a healthier workplace, Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., told The Daily Signal in a phone interview Monday.

Comstock, sponsor of a resolution targeting sexual harassment and discrimination that has attracted broad, bipartisan support, said she expects the House to adopt it.

The resolution would require “all House members, officers, employees, including interns, detailees, and fellows” to complete “anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training” during each annual session of Congress.

Comstock said she also will explore a legislative fix aimed at preventing the use of taxpayers’ money to cover settlement expenses when employees accuse lawmakers of sexual harassment.

Meanwhile, the resolution stipulates that lawmakers and employees complete training regarding sexual harassment within 90 days of the start of a one-year session.  New employees must complete the training within 90 days of their hire date.

Where the current, 115th Congress is concerned, individual lawmakers and staffers must complete training no later than 180 days after its second one-year session begins in January.

‘A Changed Culture’

The House vote Wednesday marks a “watershed moment” of bipartisan support for a resolution that will begin a step-by-step process for implementing “fundamental reforms that change how [sexual] harassment is detected and prevented,” Comstock told The Daily Signal.

“We are looking at what can be done by resolution and what needs to be done legislatively,” the Virginia Republican said:

What we want is a zero-tolerance policy for this kind of behavior and a changed culture so that people can be free from this kind of harassment. We would also like to streamline the process for victims to come forward with any complaints so that it is not so long and drawn out. It should be a victim-friendly process.

BuzzFeed first reported that Conyers, the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, reached a settlement in 2015 with a former staffer in a wrongful dismissal complaint. She alleged that she was the victim of unwanted sexual advances from Conyers, now 88.

Conyers “repeatedly made sexual advances to female staff that included requests for sex acts, contacting and transporting other women with whom they believed Conyers was having affairs, caressing their hands sexually, and rubbing their legs and backs in public,” BuzzFeed reported.

Tuesday morning, news broke that another former staff member had leveled accusations against the congressman.

The accuser, Deanna Maher, said Conyers made unwanted sexual advances toward her on three different occasions while she ran his district office in Michigan between 1997 and 2005, according to the Detroit News and other media reports.

Four women have come forward to accuse Franken, 66, of sexual harassment, beginning with Leeann Tweeden, a radio talk show host who described his behavior during a USO tour in 2006, two years before he was elected senator. Another woman, Lindsay Menz, said Franken groped her while having his photo taken with her at the 2010 Minnesota State Fair.

Legislation Possible 

Co-sponsors of Comstock’s resolution include fellow members of the House Administration Committee: Chairman Gregg Harper, R-Miss.; ranking member Robert Brady, D-Pa.; and Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif.

Looking ahead, Comstock said she would like to see additional steps taken to ensure taxpayers would not be on the hook to cover legal settlements following allegations of sexual harassment.

“For that, we would need new legislation,” she said.

The House Administration Committee scheduled a hearing for Dec. 7 to review possible actions under the Congressional Accountability Act, the 1995 law specifying that certain civil rights, labor, workplace, and health care laws must apply to Congress.

That law also created an independent agency, the Office of Compliance, which is led by a five-member, nonpartisan board of directors and four executive staff members appointed by the board.

The Office of Compliance is charged with advising members of Congress, congressional staff, and visiting members of the public on their rights and their responsibilities in the workplace setting.

The office also offers advice on potential changes to the Congressional Accountability Act. Its general counsel has independent investigatory and enforcement authority for certain violations of the law.

‘Needs to Be Reformed’

After receiving multiple media inquiries about taxpayers’ money being used to cover the costs of settling sexual harassment allegations against lawmakers or legislative branch employees, Susan Tsui Grundmann, executive director of the Office of Compliance, released figures showing more than $17 million has been spent since 1997 to cover the settlements.

Not all of the complaints covered by the $17 million involved sexual harassment. Some were allegations made under the Americans with Disabilities Act, while others involved potential civil rights infractions.

Neither Grundmann nor other officials have made public a detailed breakdown of how and why the $17 million was spent.

The idea behind the Congressional Accountability Act was to apply the same set of anti-discrimination and civil rights laws governing other Americans to members of Congress and their staffs. But the 1995 law created a taxpayer-financed “Awards and Settlements” account in the Treasury Department to cover the cost of legal settlements.

The Taxpayers Protection Alliance, which is nonpartisan, focuses on educating the public about the effects of excessive taxation and spending at all levels of government.

Morgan, the organization’s director of external affairs, said the settlements fund appears to be used to insulate Congress from much-needed accountability and transparency.

“I would like to see a system where members of Congress themselves have to pay the settlement, or they have to go through the dispute process,” Morgan said in the interview, adding:

As it stands now, the victim has to pay for her own legal fees,  where the member of Congress gets the federal funding for their lawyer. It’s a very long, drawn-out process that needs to be reformed.

The Office of Compliance would be responsible for administering the training created by the House resolution.

Aggressive Action

Comstock said she anticipates more complaints will be filed against members of both the House and Senate as employees become more familiar with what sexual harassment is.

“We might see an initial spike in the number of complaints as people develop a better understanding of what constitutes harassment,” the Virginia Republican said. “But the end result will be a more positive, healthy work environment.”

Congress could learn from how corporate America and the military moved to address questions of sexual harassment, she said. Both institutions have wrestled with similar issues for many years and their procedural changes could be instructive, she said.

“They have addressed this problem very aggressively,” Comstock said, and she believes in-person training is more effective than online sessions.

In a change long familiar to many other workplaces, the House resolution would require every lawmaker’s office to post “a statement of the rights and protections provided to employees of the House of Representatives under the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995.”

What happens next, assuming the House adopts the resolution Wednesday, will become more clear after the Administration Committee’s Dec. 7 hearing.

While it may be challenging for Americans inside and outside Congress to come to terms with misconduct that involves public officials who agree with their political views, Comstock said, the safety and well-being of employees should be paramount.

“I think it’s best to stay out of the team politics and instead focus on the right policies,” she said.

Ken McIntyre contributed to this report.

Portrait of Kevin Mooney

Kevin Mooney

Kevin Mooney is an investigative reporter for The Daily Signal. Send an email to Kevin. Twitter: @KevinMooneyDC.

A Note for our Readers:

Trust in the mainstream media is at a historic low—and rightfully so given the behavior of many journalists in Washington, D.C.

Ever since Donald Trump was elected president, it is painfully clear that the mainstream media covers liberals glowingly and conservatives critically.

Now journalists spread false, negative rumors about President Trump before any evidence is even produced.

Americans need an alternative to the mainstream media. That’s why The Daily Signal exists.

The Daily Signal’s mission is to give Americans the real, unvarnished truth about what is happening in Washington and what must be done to save our country.

Our dedicated team of more than 100 journalists and policy experts rely on the financial support of patriots like you.

Your donation helps us fight for access to our nation’s leaders and report the facts.

You deserve the truth about what’s going on in Washington.

Please make a gift to support The Daily Signal.

SUPPORT THE DAILY SIGNAL

Planned Parenthood Is in Deep Trouble With the Law. This Could Be a Turning Point.

We are living through a remarkable time in history. Almost daily, those in influential positions who once appeared untouchable are falling out of popular favor as their abuses are exposed.

Earlier this month, one particularly corrupt institution was dealt back-to-back blows: Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion business.

On Nov. 13, The Hill reported that the FBI may be investigating Planned Parenthood and its associates for the sale of aborted babies’ body parts for profit. It’s the latest development yet in a scandal that began in 2015 with the release of explosive undercover videos.

Those videos showed abortion industry executives haggling over the price of hearts, livers, brains, and kidneys and describing, in chilling detail, their techniques for crushing late-term babies to get the freshest organs.

The Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives spent almost one-and-a-half years conducting a national investigation, reviewing 30,000 pages of documents, and hearing hours of testimony.

They found enough evidence to refer several Planned Parenthood affiliates and tissue procurement companies for potential prosecution. Attorney General Jeff Sessions suggested that if the FBI concurs, charges might be filed.

Then came the second punch.

Just as news of the FBI inquiry broke, the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals declined to revisit its ruling that the state of Arkansas can redirect Medicaid funds away from abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood, which the state is completely justified in doing considering the ongoing baby parts scandal.

These two major breakthroughs would have been inconceivable under the Obama administration, which repeatedly abused federal power to prop up the abortion industry.

President Barack Obama’s aggressively pro-abortion administration put the “bully” in “bully pulpit.” Under Obama, the Justice Department became a tool to harass and intimidate pro-life advocates, labeling them domestic terrorists alongside groups like the Ku Klux Klan.

Instead of investigating Planned Parenthood for the shocking, potentially illegal practices exposed in the videos, pro-abortion Attorney General Loretta Lynch decided to investigate the whistleblowers.

The Obama administration also actively interfered with state efforts to defund Planned Parenthood. KansasTennesseeIndianaTexasNew HampshireNew Jersey, North Carolina—all these states tried to get taxpayers out of the abortion industry, only to have the federal government bypass local officials to directly award lucrative contracts to Planned Parenthood or threaten to withhold federal Medicaid funds unless they kept tax dollars flowing.

As one last parting gift, during Obama’s final weeks in office, his administration issued an order banning states from defunding Planned Parenthood under Title X, which took effect two days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Through it all, Obama’s court appointees have generally been reliable backers of abortion. One Obama appointee even compared an abortion to a tonsillectomy in a recent case that would have created new “rights” to abortion on demand for illegal immigrants.

But there’s a new sheriff in Washington now, and a palpable sense of terror is gripping Planned Parenthood and its camp. Without their defender-in-chief or the courts to bail them out, they are finally being held accountable.

Trump has busily set about undoing his predecessor’s destructive pro-abortion legacy. He has filled his Cabinet with pro-life officials, and has filled court vacancies with outstanding judges like Neil Gorsuch who faithfully interpret the Constitution.

Right away, Trump signed legislation (H.J. Res. 43) rolling back Obama’s parting gift to the abortion industry—something that, on a personal note, I was proud to witness in the Oval Office.

Trump’s strong commitment to pro-life policies has helped embolden state governors and legislatures. Texas has now applied to reclaim the federal funding it was denied under the last administration. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster in August successfully defunded Planned Parenthood and requested a waiver from the Trump administration so that the state can do the same with Medicaid, which is where the abortion business gets most of its taxpayer funding.

The next step is for the Trump administration to issue new guidance to the states restoring their freedom to prioritize Medicaid funds the way they believe will best serve their citizens. The administration must be prepared to defend that policy vigorously should the case go to the Supreme Court.

The pro-life majorities in both houses of Congress should also fulfill their promise to redirect half a billion dollars in annual taxpayer funding away from Planned Parenthood using budget reconciliation, where they have the best chance of succeeding.

Sometimes justice is a long time coming, but as two of our nation’s greatest thinkers—Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King, Jr.—pointed out, it “cannot sleep forever” and “the arc of the moral universe … bends toward justice.”

There are good reasons to hope that for America’s abortion giant, justice is right around the corner.

COMMENTARY BY

Portrait of Marjorie Dannenfelser

Marjorie Dannenfelser is president of the national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List. Twitter: 

A Note for our Readers:

Trust in the mainstream media is at a historic low—and rightfully so given the behavior of many journalists in Washington, D.C.

Ever since Donald Trump was elected president, it is painfully clear that the mainstream media covers liberals glowingly and conservatives critically.

Now journalists spread false, negative rumors about President Trump before any evidence is even produced.

Americans need an alternative to the mainstream media. That’s why The Daily Signal exists.

The Daily Signal’s mission is to give Americans the real, unvarnished truth about what is happening in Washington and what must be done to save our country.

Our dedicated team of more than 100 journalists and policy experts rely on the financial support of patriots like you.

Your donation helps us fight for access to our nation’s leaders and report the facts.

You deserve the truth about what’s going on in Washington.

Please make a gift to support The Daily Signal.

Florida E-Verify Constitutional Amendment Needs Public Support

On Tuesday, November 28th the Florida Constitution Revision Commission will hold a hearing on proposed state constitutional amendments, including one that would require employers to use E-Verify to check the workplace eligibility of new hires proposals. You can see the amendment at the Floridians for E-Verify website.

The group Floridians for E-Verify Now is seeking people to attend the hearing and, if possible, testify in support of their E-Verify amendment. If you cannot attend but want to help, please see instructions further below for emailing commission members.

Regarding testimony, the group is seeking, in particular:

  • Business owners or their staff who use E-Verify;
  • American workers adversely affected by illegal workers; and
  • Farmers who use the H-2A visa program as an alternative to hiring illegal aliens.

If you want to testify, or can attend but do not wish to testify, please contact Jack Oliver at jack@floridiansforeverifynow.org or 772-215-8424. Those not wanting to testify can waive their right to speak and assign it to others.

What: Florida Constitution Revision Commission hearing

When: Tuesday, November 28 — 1-6 pm

Where: The Capital, Room 401 S

400 Monroe St., Tallahassee, Fl. 32399

Emailing Commission Members

First “copy and paste” the comments just below to the body of your email. Then type in the subject line: Please Support Floridians for E-Verify Now’s E-Verify Amendment. Now place your name in the “To” field and copy the email addresses further below and paste in your “Bcc” field.

Dear Commission Member,

Please vote to move the E-Verify Amendment forward favorably without amendments. Floridians should have a right to vote on this issue next November. Thank you.

Jacqui.lippish@flcrc.govEmery.Gainey@flcrc.govBrecht.Heuchan@flcrc.govFred.karlinsky@flcrc.govGary.Lester@flcrc.govJeanette.Nunez@flcrc.govsherry.plymale@flcrc.gov

BREAKING: Ex-Cop making Roy Moore Harassment Claim is Leftist, Anti-Moore Opponent

Few witnesses could be more damning against a purported sexual abuser of four decades ago than an ex-cop from that era. That is, unless the ex-cop has a hidden agenda. Like the former Gadsden, Alabama cop who claims police were told in the 1970s to ensure that now-GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore stayed away from teen cheerleaders — and who actually turns out to be a left-wing Moore opponent.

Faye Gary

Faye Gary created quite a stir last week with her comments, though she confessed to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell that the claims about Judge Moore were “just rumors” and that “we never got a complaint on it.”

What didn’t come out during her media interview — in which she appeared sober and non-partisan — is that she has an ideological ax to grind with the judge.

After confirming with the City of Gadsden Personnel Office that Gary actually had served as a police officer, I contacted her via a Facebook message. The passion and anger quickly emerged, with Gary making clear she objected to Moore’s stances on homosexuality, Islam and the display of the Ten Commandments.

In fact, the venom leapt from the page. Gary insisted that Moore will, as she put it, “pay for his stance on gays, Muslims and most of all for hiding behind the Ten Commandments for his political gain.” She seemed to be implying that he’ll suffer some kind of divine retribution.

Gary also became vulgar. After I told her the Gadsden Mall’s ex-manager contradicted her claim that Moore was suspended from the facility and that this is what happens when you listen to the “rumor mill” (her term), she wrote, “Thanks for your opinion but they r just like a[**] h[***]s we all have one.”

Note that none of this means Gary’s claims are or aren’t true. But it hints at her motivation for coming forward and certainly makes her something less than an unimpeachable source.

Unsurprisingly, Gary’s Facebook page reflects her political passions. Scrolling down, you find pictures of Barack Obama along with some harsh condemnation of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, who had at the time raised Gary’s ire by criticizing Michelle Obama.

Casting further doubt on Gary’s claims is that her story doesn’t add up. She stated that “we were also told to watch him [Moore] at the ball games and make sure that he didn’t hang around the cheerleaders.” But when Andrea Mitchell asked if “this was just rumor” or if she was actually given instructions from superiors, Gary replied “It was just rumors.”

Of course, there’s no law stating you “can’t hang around cheerleaders,” anyway, so this wouldn’t be the police’s official domain. Nor did Gary say she ever saw Moore hanging around cheerleaders. And if cops had approached him and said “Judge, you must observe an exclusion zone around those cheerleaders,” it would be quite the story.

So the real story here may be that Gary would like to be a cheerleader for Moore’s far-left opponent, Doug Jones. Once again, Gary cited a rumor that the judge was banned from the Gadsden Mall even after Barnes Boyle, the facility’s former manager, said that to the best of his knowledge Moore was not banned (video below). Gary states she was told to watch Moore around cheerleaders, yet indicates that this “instruction” was actually a rumor. She says she “worked juvenile, so if any complaint [about Moore] had come in, it would have come to us. … But we never got a complaint on it.” What she doesn’t say is that, with all her watching, she ever observed Moore behaving inappropriately around any teen girls. So is there anything here but rumor?

In addition, the story of Moore’s most damning accuser, Beverly Young Nelson, has already unraveled. Meanwhile, rumor is helping obscure reality. This is precisely the goal, too. As Huffpo’s Amanda Terkel put it Friday, the best chance to defeat Moore is “for the Democratic Party to lie low.” Why? Because their positions are damning in Dixie.

Consider how Terkel also wrote that “Doug Jones is trying to distinguish himself from the national party….”

Well, he’s not trying very hard.

He’s pro-prenatal infanticide, apparently even up to the moment of birth. He’s pro-“transgender” agenda, which includes support for “transgenders” in the military and having confused (or clever) boys use girls’ locker rooms. He’s also pro-amnesty, pro-CO2 regulation, pro-ObamaCare and is a tax-and-spend politician. This is the real scandal in the Senate special-election campaign: that Doug Jones wants to bring New York values to Alabama.

And maybe this is why Democrats have to bring a Hollywood scandal to Roy Moore.

Contact Selwyn Duke, follow him on Twitter or log on to SelwynDuke.com

RELATED ARTICLE: John Conyers Steps Down from House Judiciary Committee.

‘Skewed Statistics, Fuzzy Facts, and Dodgy Data’

You’ve heard of “fake news,” but what about fake science? That’s been around even longer, thanks to liberals. Desperate to prop up their unpopular or unnatural agendas, the Left resorts to all kinds of statistical manipulation to persuade people that their arguments are legitimate. They insist the science is “settled” on hot-button topics like abortion, the environment, homosexuality, or same-sex marriage. And they’re right. It is settled — but not on their side!

From when life begins to what your gender is, conservatives are fed up with the lies the Left is using to shut them up. The Center for Family and Human Rights’s Austin Ruse was so frustrated with this coordinated effort that he wrote a book to expose it: Fake Science: Exposing the Left’s Skewed Statistics, Fuzzy Facts, and Dodgy Data. Yesterday, he stopped by “Washington Watch” and explained why liberals feel like they need to twist the truth. (Check out the full segment here.)

“What’s behind it is an ideology that, in our scientific age, needs scientific facts to back them up — when in fact, they don’t exist. The language of our age… is science, and if you don’t come to a political argument with a study in hand — or two or three — then you’re in trouble. People automatically want to know what the science says and what the social science says. And what’s driving it is a Leftist political agenda in search of arguments that will convince the public. And therefore they go out and either create these studies or commission studies that tend to be phony… Either the sample sizes are too small or the sample sizes are drawn from sympathetic audiences — there’s a whole lot of ways to game these studies, mostly in social science… A lot of the things they’re trying to prove are not really provable, and so they have to rely on fake science.”

For years, the far Left has tried to pin the anti-science label on conservatives, but the irony, Austin points out, is that “not only is the other side making things up, but science generally confirms the things we believe — like natural law… In the work that you and I do, we run across this all the time. On homosexuality, for instance, [they tell us] it’s inborn, and if you don’t believe it’s inborn and immutable, then you’re a hater. But science doesn’t show it’s inborn or that it’s immutable…”

The Left claims to be the party of science, but some won’t even acknowledge basic biology! In the battle over gender identity, they can’t accept that our sex is determined by our chromosomes at birth. They think it’s defined by feelings! And unfortunately, Austin explains, fake science is even more dangerous than fake news because scientific statistics — no matter their dubious origins — tend to lodge in our brains and stay there. Fake news, on the other hand, is just superseded by the next news cycle.

In other words, conservatives have to fight even harder to be heard! Consider partnering with FRC as we speak truth into a culture — and Capitol — that desperately needs it. Our work depends on people like you.


Tony Perkins’ Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC senior writers.


Also in the November 17 Washington Update:

A Tax Bill Tanks Giving

The B-I-B-L-E, Yes, That’s the Museum for Me

VIDEO: Sanctuary Cities and Judicial Madness

Judge blocks Trump’s effort to end sanctuary cities — the day after a border patrol agent is bludgeoned to death.

On Sunday, November 19, 2017 two United States Border Patrol agents were attacked and one of the agents, identified as 36 year-old Rogelio Martinez, died of massive injuries to his head and body, possibly caused by rocks.  His partner, who has not yet been identified, was grievously injured but is expected to survive.

On November 20th CBS News and the Associated Press jointly reported on the attack which reportedly occurred about 110 miles southeast of El Paso Texas and 30 miles from the U.S. / Mexican border.

El Paso is directly across the U.S./Mexican border from Ciudad Juarez, one of the most violent cities in Mexico and has become synonymous with the deadly drug trade.

Meanwhile even as news reports about the deadly attack on members of the United States Border Patrol were being made public, on November 20, 2017 San Diego-Union Tribune reported, “Judge permanently blocks Trump order that cut funding to sanctuary cities.”

That disheartening and infuriating report began with this excerpt:

A federal judge has permanently blocked President Donald Trump‘s executive order to cut funding from cities that limit cooperation with U.S. immigration authorities.

U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick issued the ruling on Monday in lawsuits brought by two California counties, San Francisco and Santa Clara. Orrick said Trump cannot set new conditions on spending approved by Congress.

There is a clear nexus to these two events that has not been covered in the news.

Border Patrol Agent Rogelio Martinez was killed because he and his seriously injured partner were performing their sworn duties, protecting America and America by securing our dangerous border.

The individuals who attacked those valiant agents escaped and, for all we know, are presently hiding out in a city in the United States.  It is likely that they would feel most secure in a Sanctuary City that will happily ignore that they are illegally present in the United States.

If, indeed the this the case, that city is harboring dangerous fugitives who have already demonstrated depraved contempt for human life and the laws of our nation.

Providing fugitives with sanctuary is a violation of law and constitutes a contradiction in terms, logic and morality and places others in that community at risk.

Our immigration laws deem harboring and shielding illegal aliens from detection and related crimes to be felonies.  The statute of relevance to these crimes is Title 8, U.S.C. 1324(a) Offenses.

Consider this excerpt from that statute:

Harboring — Subsection 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii) makes it an offense for any person who — knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation.

Encouraging/Inducing — Subsection 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv) makes it an offense for any person who — encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law.

Conspiracy/Aiding or Abetting — Subsection 1324(a)(1)(A)(v) expressly makes it an offense to engage in a conspiracy to commit or aid or abet the commission of the foregoing offenses.

Illegal entry of aliens into the United States poses a direct threat to national security and public safety.  The preface of the official report,  “9/11 and Terrorist Travel – Staff Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States” begins with the following paragraph:

It is perhaps obvious to state that terrorists cannot plan and carry out attacks in the United States if they are unable to enter the country. Yet prior to September 11, while there were efforts to enhance border security, no agency of the U.S. government thought of border security as a tool in the counterterrorism arsenal.

Indeed, even after 19 hijackers demonstrated the relative ease of obtaining a U.S. visa and gaining admission into the United States, border security still is not considered a cornerstone of national security policy. We believe, for reasons we discuss in the following pages, that it must be made one.

Immigration anarchists have come to use deceptive language to obfuscate the truth about America’s borders and immigration laws.

Aliens who evade the inspection process conducted at ports of entry conducted by CBP (Customs and Border Protection) Inspectors are not vetted and their very presence in the United States is unknown to the DHS.

Such unlawful entries are properly described as Entry Without Inspection (EWI).  However, in a turn of language that could have been produced by the fictional “Ministry of Truth” of George Orwell’s “1984,” immigration anarchists refer to such violations of our borders as “entering undocumented.”

This example of semantic artifice is as outrageous as it would be to describe a bank robber making an “undocumented withdrawal” of money from the bank that he robbed.

The terms “Sanctuary City” or “Sanctuary  State” provide an additional example of manipulation of language to achieve political objectives.

Dictionaries define a “sanctuary” as a place of refuge or safety.

Sanctuary Cities should be referred to as “Magnets for criminals, fugitives and terrorists.”

America’s immigration laws were enacted to provide refuge and safety for all who live in the United States by preventing the entry of aliens who suffer from dangerous communicable diseases, suffer extreme mental illness are criminals, terrorists, spies, fugitives, members of violent gangs or otherwise pose a threat to national security and/or public safety.

Finally, our immigration laws were enacted to protect American workers from unfair competition foreign workers.

Title 8, United States Code, Section 1182 enumerates the categories of aliens who are to be excluded and serve as the guide for CBP Inspectors at ports of entry.  A review of that statute, which is comprehended within the Immigration and Nationality Act, will verify the foregoing.

Aliens who are lawfully admitted, either as immigrants or non-immigrants need no protection from immigration law enforcement authorities.  Indeed, annually immigration officers admit approximately one million lawful immigrants and admit tens of millions of non-immigrants (temporary visitors).  Our immigration officials naturalize hundreds of thousands of immigrants each year bestowing upon them the highest honor a nation may provide to an alien, citizenship.

America’s immigration laws are utterly and totally blind as to the superficial issues of race, religion and/or ethnicity.

Furthermore, illegal entry is considered a continuing offense.  Generally when an individual commits a crime, the venue where the crime must be prosecuted is determined by the jurisdiction where the crime was committed.  This is the case for violations of laws on the local, state or federal level.  When a bank robber flees from the jurisdiction where the bank he/she robbed is located, that individual must be returned to the jurisdiction in which the robbery took place.

However, where illegal entry into the United States is concerned, the venue for prosecuting the crime is “where found.”  This is because this violation of law is a continuing offense.  An alien who runs our nation’s borders does not somehow gain lawful status by getting further from the border.

As I noted in a recent article, Sanctuary Cities Betray America, Americans and Immigrants, there is no “inverse square law” where this crime is concerned.

Immigration anarchists frequently (falsely claim) running the border is not a crime.  In fact, aliens who have been convicted of committing serious crimes and have been previously deported may face up to 20 years in prison for unlawful reentry as established in Title 8 U.S.C. 1326.

Finally, one of the key issues identified in the 9/11 Commission Report and the report 9/11 and Terrorist Travel from which I quoted earlier, was the need for effective immigration law enforcement from within the interior of the United States.

Consider this unambiguous quote from 9/11 and Terrorist Travel:

Thus, abuse of the immigration system and a lack of interior immigration enforcement were unwittingly working together to support terrorist activity. It would remain largely unknown, since no agency of the United States government analyzed terrorist travel patterns until after 9/11. This lack of attention meant that critical opportunities to disrupt terrorist travel and, therefore, deadly terrorist operations were missed.

Judge Orrick needs to read the 9/11 Commission Report and the United States Constitution, especially Article IV, Section 4 which states:

The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.

Invasion has been defined in part as:

            An incursion by a large number of people or things into a place or sphere of activity:

An unwelcome intrusion into another’s domain

The oath of office taken by law enforcement officers, judges and other officials make it clear that our Constitution and our laws must all be enforced.  Our laws are not a menu from which those who take an oath of office can pick or choose as one might when ordering food in a restaurant.

RELATED ARTICLES: 

ICE Director: Suspected Wine Country Arsonist Is Illegal Alien Mexican National – Breitbart

California Judge Blocks Trump’s Sanctuary City Order

Poughkeepsie LOUDLY said no to refugees!

Australian detention center riot ended with PNG police clearing the facility

Minnesotan challenges MN CAIR director to public debate

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in FrontPage Magazine.

Why George Washington Thought the Practice of Gratitude Was Essential for the American Character

Our two greatest presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, respectively thought Thanksgiving sufficiently important to initiate its national celebration and to later revive this tradition.

Our accepted convention is that Thanksgiving is about family togetherness and feasting. Surely this is part of it—but perhaps a more refined notion of what this nearly ancient holiday should mean for us today is helpful.

National days of reflection are required to unify the American public in common sentiment. Washington had this in mind in issuing his rightly famous Thanksgiving Day proclamation of 1789.

First begun as a harvest holiday, Thanksgiving predates the founding of our republic. But in this first proclamation of the first year of his presidency, Washington gave a political direction to the holiday. As he said elsewhere, he wanted, through his example, “to establish a national character of our own.”

In doing his part to establish our national character, Washington was aware that we are a people capable of courage and assertion, able to win independence. He was likewise aware of our ability to choose, through representatives, a new constitutional order.

Progressivism’s quasi-religion lacks any understanding of gratitude and humility.

But this holiday is of a different character, as it calls us to develop a capacity for gratitude. The American public ought to be grateful not merely, however, for the immediate circumstance of their lives, but also for the greater blessings of liberty bestowed upon their nation. Our gratitude is directed toward a nonsectarian God—like the God of the Declaration of Independence—which all citizens can worship.

Importantly, gratitude also means acknowledgement of our frailty and the imperfection of our understanding; gratitude implores us to deepen our self-knowledge. Thanksgiving is, therefore, a holiday against self-satisfaction and pride.

At the end of the Proclamation, Washington implores Americans toward modesty regarding our own powers, reminding citizens that we live in an order that may be mysterious insofar as God possesses superior knowledge of what is “best.”

But are all peoples capable of gratitude? In the present time it has become fashionable to espouse if not open atheism, then at least antagonism toward religion. These opinions come forth in various, sometimes obfuscated, forms.

Part of the left’s recent fanaticism originates from the fact that progressivism’s quasi-religion lacks any understanding of gratitude and humility. Progressivism precludes belief in these since progress as an alleged cosmic force is neither merciful nor beneficent, but is merely abstract and all-powerful. As such, it does not encourage its believers toward either humility or gratitude.

Neither does belief in the abstract and inhuman forces of progress require humility on account of human frailty and ignorance. Rather, progress, claiming perfect knowledge of the laws of the universe, leads to fanaticism.

Is the individual, modeled on these assumptions, of the kind required for self-government? Rather, does not self-government require generosity between citizens, which can be the product only of a common recognition of an America inhabited by one people, united in a common cause, with common beliefs, grateful for what has come before us?

What happens to a people when they lose the ability for gratitude? Insolence and impudence rule, while the various factions devour each other, competing for the national stage. Alternatively, one might inquire whether a people is up to the task of ruling itself once gratitude is lost, since then it loses its ideals and the justification for its self-government.

Our nation has produced hitherto-thought impossible prosperity on the broadest scale. “The civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed” has endured as an ideal for many generations. Indeed, many remarkable individuals have fought to secure these blessings for our benefit.

On Thanksgiving this year, perhaps raising our purview above the pleasures of family togetherness, we might think about our nation, the good fortune we have to be its citizens, and the task ahead in preserving it.

COMMENTARY BY

Portrait of Arthur Milikh

Arthur Milikh is assistant director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for Principles and Politics at The Heritage Foundation.

Feminists Own Words Condemn Them

As waves of sexual assault and harassment allegations roll in — and the media, liberals and feminists hyperfocus on the allegations against Roy Moore because of the opportunity to flip a very solid Republican Senate seat — it’s worth revisiting what leading feminists said on the exact same issue in 1998 when it was Democrat President Bill Clinton’s position at stake.

This is important because there are a stunning number of people today who seem to have amnesia about the Clinton years — or young people today who were never taught them.

The context is that just a few years earlier feminists ardently supported the less-than-credible allegations made by Anita Hill that almost sunk the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court. They jumped in to support Anita Hill ostensibly because any woman alleging sexual harassment or worse must be believed. But in reality, it seems it was only a partisan attack against a conservative justice. Worse for Democrats, a conservative black justice. Thomas was brilliant in his defense, and his labeling it a “high-tech lynching.”

Fast forward to 1998 and Bill Clinton. Please read these in light of how both Anita Hill a few years earlier and the Roy Moore accusers today are treated by some of the same feminists.

⇢ “We’re trying to think of the bigger picture, think about what’s best for women,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation. When conservatives called hypocrisy on the feminists, Smeal said: “It’s a twofer for them. If they can get the president, great. And if they can get feminism, even greater.”

⇢ “It will be a great pity if the Democratic Party is damaged by this,” feminist writer Anne Roiphe told Vanity Fair’s Marjorie Williams in 1998. “That’s been my response from the very beginning — I just wanted to close my eyes, and wished it would go away.”

⇢ “We do not know what happened in the Lewinsky case,” said Kathy Rodgers, executive director of the NOW’s Legal Defense and Education Fund. “The only thing that is clear is that the facts are not clear.”

⇢ One feminist infamously said she would perform oral sex on Bill Clinton as long as he kept abortion legal up to nine months. Some campus extremist? Hardly. Nina BurleighTime magazine’s White House correspondent when Clinton was President. She wrote: “I’d be happy to give him [oral sex] just to thank him for keeping abortion legal.”

⇢ “If anything, it sounds like she put the moves on him,” said Susan Faludi, a feminist author, said of one of Clinton’s prominent accusers.

⇢ Bill Clinton’s “enemies are attempting to bring him down through allegations about some dalliance with an intern…. Whether it’s a fantasy, a set-up or true, I simply don’t care,” said high-profile feminist Betty FriedanOr true.

⇢ After 60 Minutes interviewed Kathleen Willey that Clinton had manhandled her in private when she was seeking a job, Anita Perez Ferguson — president of the National Women’s Political Caucus, said the charges were more “quantity rather than quality, in terms of my feelings…There’s no question that it’s disturbing…. But to come to any judgment now is definitely not something that I think is timely.”

⇢ “What is important for the American people to know is that there is a process in place to deal with these allegations,” said California Sen. Barbara BoxerSo let’s not be Roy Moore-like hasty.

⇢  “Not so many years ago, a woman couldn’t be a White House intern,” Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun said in an an amazing attempt at distraction on Meet the Press.

⇢ And finally Rep. Nancy Pelosi complained that Special Prosecutor Ken Starr was causing “humiliation” by calling Clinton’s female victims before the grand jury.

There is an obvious trend here. Against Republicans, feminists say the accusing female must be believed. Against Democrats, not so much. That’s not a philosophy, that’s straightforward partisan politics. And it makes their words today truly incredible.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in The Revolutionary Act.

VIDEO: Case Against Roy Moore Exposed as a Lie, former Waitress Disproves Accuser’s ‘Facts’

Here is an MSNBC interview with Janet Porter discussing the facts in the Roy Moore allegations:

The Janet Porter Report released the following press release on November 21st, 2017:

Former Olde Hickory House waitress disproves the “facts” asserted by accuser Beverly Nelson, who is represented by abortion-activist Gloria Allred in the effort to defeat Judge Roy Moore for the U.S. Senate.

Rhonda Ledbetter, who worked at the Olde Hickory House from 1977-1979, explained that the “facts” in Nelson’s story are simply untrue:

  •  “First, Nelson said she was 15 years old when she started working there but you had to be 16,” said Ledbetter.
  • “Second, Nelson said the restaurant closed at 10:00 p.m. but I know the earliest it closed was 11:00, though I believe it was midnight,” Ledbetter stated.
  • “Third, the area wasn’t dark and isolated as she described. Rather, the building was right off the busy four-lane highway and people and cars were always around…anyone in the parking lot was visible from the road,” she explained.
  • “Fourth, the dumpsters were to the side of the building, not around the back and there sure wasn’t room to park in between the building and the dumpsters,” Ledbetter said.

Ledbetter’s statements were confirmed by Renee Schivera, who worked at the Olde Hickory House in 1977, and by Johnny Belyeu, Sr., a former police officer with the Etowah County Sheriff’s Department, who was a regular customer at the restaurant.

“As the tangled web of lies unravels, Judge Roy Moore is being proven innocent,” stated Janet Porter, President of Faith2Action, who has known Judge Roy Moore for nearly 20 years.

“If the people of Alabama want to prevent child abuse and sexual assault they will vote FOR Judge Roy Moore and run from his opponent,” stated Porter.

  • “While Judge Roy Moore is a champion for the rights of children in the womb, his opponent supports the ultimate child abuse–taxpayer funded abortion until the moment of birth.” explained Porter.
  • “Unlike his opponent, Judge Moore stands for the Second Amendment so we can defend ourselves against sexual predators,” stated Porter.
  • “Judge Moore will protect our daughters, while his opponent will open the door of your daughter’s bathroom and locker room to every male who claims to ‘identify’ as a girl–literally putting out the welcome mat to predators,” she added.
  • “While Judge Moore wants to protect our borders from those who would enter our country illegally, his opponent said building a wall was ‘too expensive,'”said Porter.
  • “Most importantly, Judge Roy Moore will vote to confirm pro-life judges on the Supreme Court, but, if elected, his opponent will be the deciding vote to block them,” stated Porter.

“If we allow the establishment and the media to steal this election, we are handing over not just a Senate seat, but the Supreme Court along with it,” stated Porter.

EDITORS NOTE: Titles are for identifying purposes only.

After Agent’s Death, Trump Declares U.S. ‘Must Build the Wall!’

President Donald Trump is renewing his demand that Congress fund a wall on the southern border after a U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed from injuries inccurred while working over the weekend in southwest Texas, while his partner was injured.

“Border Patrol officer killed at southern border, another badly hurt,” the president said in a tweet. “We will seek out and bring to justice those responsible. We will, and must, build the wall!”

Border Patrol Agent Rogelio Martinez, 36, and his partner were responding to “activity” in Van Horn, Texas. Martinez died and his partner, not named by officials or in news accounts, is reportedly hospitalized. News reports Monday morning said the government hasn’t confirmed what the agents were responding to.

The cause of death is not known. Jeanette Harper, with the FBI’s El Paso, Texas, office told the San Antonio Express-News: “They were not fired upon. There are so many different agencies working together that we need to come together and develop a timeline.”

“Earlier this morning, I was notified that Border Patrol Agent Rogelio Martinez died as a result of serious injuries suffered while on patrol in the Big Bend Sector of our southern border in Texas,” acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke said in a public statement. The Border Patrol is a division of the Department of Homeland Security.

Duke continued:

Agent Martinez was responding to activity while on patrol with another agent, who was also seriously injured. We are fully supporting the ongoing investigation to determine the cause of this tragic event. On behalf of the quarter of a million frontline officers and agents of DHS, my thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Agent Martinez and to the agent who is in serious condition.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also weighed in.

Portrait of Fred Lucas

Fred Lucas

Fred Lucas is the White House correspondent for The Daily Signal. Send an email to Fred. Twitter: @FredLucasWH.

RELATED ARTICLE: Podcast: The Dangers Border Patrol Agents Face

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Trump Administration’s 2 Priorities for Welfare Reform Executive Order

President Donald Trump is making welfare reform a major priority and will sign an executive order laying out the administration’s goals while also urging action by Congress, a White House official said Thursday.

Trump’s executive order will be twofold, said Paul Winfree, director of budget policy at the White House. The order will state the Trump administration’s principles for welfare reform of empowering individuals and learning from state and local initiatives, and then direct federal agencies to come back to the president with recommendations for implementing the principles.

“Welfare reform is something that is very important to the president,” Winfree said during a panel discussion at The Heritage Foundation’s anti-poverty forum on Thursday. “It’s something that excites him. It’s something that he has a lot of energy about.”

The White House is also working with Congress on reform proposals, Winfree said, but in the short term is looking at what federal agencies can do unilaterally. The federal government has 89 different welfare programs spread across 14 departments and agencies.

Winfree explained the two priorities of Trump’s upcoming executive order.

The first thing it does, it sets out a series of principles for welfare reform that we would like to be a message to Capitol Hill and the direction we want to take. … We want to empower people. We want to learn from the states. We want to learn from local communities.

One of the messages is that I’ve been driving to essentially our staff and our agencies on welfare reform and the direction we are taking is this message that it’s people that help people. It’s not governments that help people.

So, how do we learn from people who are actually in the communities actually helping people and then ultimately empower them by either getting out of the way or redirecting the resources in their direction to essentially reward successes without a unilateral approach or without just kicking it to the states and transition [to] what is essentially a federal role into a state role.

The second half of the executive order, which is yet to be signed, essentially directs agencies to take a look at the principles and then figure out what they can do on their own to start meeting some of the objectives that are out there through changes in regulation and guidance and then to ultimately submit those recommendations to the president for an evaluation.

The last sweeping welfare reform package came more than two decades ago, passed by a Republican Congress and signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton. However, Robert Rector, who helped shape some of the 1996 bill, said new improvements are needed.

“The current welfare system harms the very poor that it’s trying to help,” Rector, a senior research fellow for domestic policy studies at The Heritage Foundation, said. “We need a reformed welfare system that promotes work and marriage, and rewards outcomes rather than simply greater spending.”

The Heritage Foundation is supportive of the principles in several proposals in Congress now.

A bill by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and companion House bill by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, would require all welfare programs to strengthen existing work requirements in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program; and establish a real work requirement in food stamps. Separately, a bill by Rep. Garrett Graves would require work requirements for the food stamp program.

Other members of Congress have talked about saving $15 billion annually by eliminating fraud, waste, and excessive benefits in the earned income tax credit, while making the program more encouraging of work. Others call for removing the marriage penalty with regards to welfare programs.

VIDEO: Alabama Governor Kay Ivey voting for Judge Roy Moore in Senate Race

Multiple media outlets are reporting that Alabama Governor Kay Ivey told reporters that she will vote for Judge Roy Moore in the December Senate election to replace Jeff Sessions.

Governor Ivey said:

Yes, I’m proud to vote [for the Republican nominee Judge Roy Moore]. And I hope every Alabamian will be proud to cast their vote… Everybody needs to make sure they vote on December 12th. I’ll cast my ballot… The United States Senate, in my opinion, has to have a majority of Republican votes to carry the day when they have to consider other major decisions.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Report: Roy Moore Fundraising Surges Since Attacks – Breitbart

Alabama Senate President Del Marsh: Roy Moore Allegations Could Be Part of a ‘Washington Conspiracy’

Alabama GOP stands solidly with Roy Moore

The Alabama GOP released the following statement on U.S. Senate nominee Roy Moore:

Alabama Republican Party Chairman Terry Lathan made the following statement regarding the U.S. Senate election:

“On Wednesday evening, the Alabama Republican Party Steering Committee, comprised of 21 members, met to discuss the events and circumstances regarding the December 12 U.S. Senate race.”

“The ALGOP Steering Committee supports Judge Roy Moore as our nominee and trusts the voters as they make the ultimate decision in this crucial race.”

“Judge Moore has vehemently denied the allegations made against him. He deserves to be presumed innocent of the accusations unless proven otherwise. He will continue to take his case straight to the people of Alabama.”

“There is a sharp policy contrast between Judge Moore, a conservative Republican who supports President Trump, and the liberal Democrat who will fight and thwart the agenda of our president. We trust the Alabama voters in this election to have our beloved state and nation’s best interest at heart. Alabamians will be the ultimate jury in this election- not the media or those from afar.”

“We are very grateful for the multitudes that have reached out to us with support and prayers. We ask God to guide us, politically and personally, with His mighty strength and wisdom. In turn, we also pray that justice and truth will prevail for all involved in this situation.”

RELATED ARTICLE: Ryun on Roy Moore: ‘I Strongly, Strongly Suspect’ McConnell Camp ‘Planted Story’

RELATED PODCAST: Breitbart News Daily – Ned Ryun – November 17, 2017

VIDEO: Will Congressman Vern Buchanan put his morals where his mouth it?

Congressman Vern Buchanan represents Florida’s 16th District. Buchanan is also co-chair of the 27 member Florida congressional delegation. He also sits on the powerful House Committee on Ways and Means including being the Chairman of its Subcommittee on Oversight.

Congressman Buchanan, along with Senator Mitch McConnell and Speaker Paul Ryan, recently called for Judge Roy Moore to step down as a candidate for the U.S. Senate in Alabama after unsubstantiated sexual misconduct allegations appeared in a Washington Post article.

Now it has been revealed that the U.S. Congress has a “secret slush fund” to pay off those who have accused members of Congress of sexual misconduct.  To date according to multiple sources over $15 million of taxpayer dollars have been used to hush up this scandal. Congressman Buchanan because of his Ways and Means position has to know about this “slush fund.”

QUESTION: Will Congressman Buchanan put his morals where his mouth is by exposing his predator colleagues in Congress and call for them to step down?

Laura Ingraham has this report by a former staffer speaking out about Congress’ sexual misconduct:

In a Breitbart column titled “Women on Capitol Hill Tell of ‘Sex Trade,’ ‘Creep List’ of Lawmakers” Kristina Wong reports:

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are so predatory that female staffers are advised not to ride in elevators alone with them, according to accounts compiled by CNN.

Females are also admonished to be careful of male lawmakers who sleep in their offices — another “unwritten” rule that women on Capitol Hill live by, according to the outlet.

The outlet spoke to more than 50 lawmakers, current and former staffers, and other political veterans, who revealed a culture so rife with sexual harassment that there is an informal “creep list” of lawmakers to avoid.

[ … ]

The “creep list” of male lawmakers — mostly in the House of Representatives but also in the Senate — are “notorious for inappropriate or predatory behavior,” according to the story. A female congresswoman said “half are harassers,” of her male counterparts, before quickly adding, only “some are harassers.”

In a June, 2016 Politico column titled “House Ethics Committee finds no wrongdoing by Rep. Buchanan” John Bresnahan reported:

The House Ethics Committee has ended its years-long probe into Florida GOP Rep. Vern Buchanan, finding no wrongdoing by the lawmaker, the secretive panel announced Friday.

The Justice Department and Federal Election Commission long ago stopped looking into Buchanan, the Ethics Committee noted in its report on the case.

Friday’s announcement is a highly unusual one for Ethics as it was not publicly known that Buchanan was still under investigation by the panel, and there was no requirement that a report or statement clearing him be issued.

“I’m very pleased the committee conducted a thorough review of the facts and reached a unanimous and bipartisan conclusion that I did nothing wrong,” Buchanan said in a statement.

Buchanan has been under scrutiny for the last several years after a former business partner alleged that the Florida Republican used straw donors to funnel tens of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions to his 2006 and 2008 campaigns via employees at his car dealerships.

Read more.

When a woman accused of adultery was sentenced to death by stoning, Jesus’ in John 8:7, said, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

There is a proverb which states, “Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.” Perhaps no members of the House of Representatives should cast stones?

Congressional Office of Compliance just released a year-by-year breakdown of harassment settlements and awards:

NOTE: Congressman Buchanan was elected to the Congress in 2006 and sworn in in 2007. In 2007 according to the Congressional Office of Compliance over $4 million was awarded to 25 individuals. Every year since Mr. Buchanan has been in office more and more settlements have been made.

EDITORS NOTE: We have contacted Congressman Buchanan’s offices in Washington, D.C. and Sarasota, FL for comment but have not received a reply at the time of publication of this column. In an email to Congressman Buchanan we asked the following questions:

  1. Will you release the names of every member and demand that they step down?
  2. Will you disclose the names of those abused.
  3. Will you disclose the amount of money allocated to each victim?
  4. Will you disclose the process under which these cases are handled.

If we we receive a statement from Mr. Buchanan we will publish it.

UPDATE 11/17/2017: After repeated calls to Congressman Buchanan’s office we have yet to receive any response.

VIDEO: Bible Speeches Make the Week Strong

Can you imagine if NBC invited Christians on air to read the Bible all day long? Believe it or not, that’s exactly how the National Broadcasting Company wanted to celebrate President Franklin Roosevelt’s first National Bible Week. Unfortunately for the radio station, the 24-hour reading, scheduled for December 7, 1941, never happened. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor did instead.

Although the plans were interrupted by one of the worst attacks on American soil, the National Bible Association adapted. And in between reports of the tragedy, members of the group streamed into the studio to read Scripture that was broadcast across America during breaks in the war coverage.

Now, 76 years later, the country still honors the tradition started during those dark days of World War II. And yesterday, Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) held a special order on the House floor to remind us why.

“There are many places throughout the world, unfortunately, where such freedoms do not exist. Americans have the right, under our wonderful system of government, to respect and study the Bible, or any other system of belief, if they so choose, or even no belief at all. That is the beauty of the American way, and I believe it is founded and goes back to the Bible.

“As we celebrate National Bible Week, we remember the importance of faith in both our private and public lives. We recognize the Bible’s powerful message of hope. We cherish the wisdom of the Bible, and we thank God for providing this Holy Book that has truly been, in the words of the Scripture, ‘a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.’”

Congressman Lamborn was joined by nine members in commemorating the role of the Bible in American life: Reps. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), Kristi Noem (R-S.D.), Mike Johnson (R-La.), Tim Walberg (R-Miss.), Mike Conaway (R-Texas), Ron Estes (R-Kans.), Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), Rick Allen (R-Ga.), and David Rouzer (R-N.C.). To a member, they urged Americans, in this time of intense division, to see the Bible as a tool to unite us. “The statistics,” Rep. LaMalfa pointed out, “are that every home has 2.2 Bibles, on average. It isn’t that there aren’t enough Bibles. It is that people don’t open it often enough.”

Others talked about the deep personal meaning the Bible has. “It’s more than a historic book,” Vicky Hartzler said, “although it is. And it’s more than a collection of wise advice and spell-bounding stories, which it is. It has the audacity to claim something radical and all-inspiring at the same time. It claims to be the Word of God… and, as a result, it changes lives…I want to invite anyone who has never read it to read it and to discover God’s plan and purpose for your life which will give you power and peace. So let this most radical book ever written touch and bless your life.”

Rep. Walberg echoed her sentiment, explaining that the Bible, “changed my life as well [after I admitted] personally that I was a sinner in need of a savior… Now, some might reject this. That’s okay. But most who seek the truth of the Bible are not disappointed.”

Toward the end of the special order, Rep. Johnson reminded Congress that they’re all brought together by this one common belief. “I love the words that are inscribed above the Speaker, where it says in the marble: ‘In God We Trust.’ There’s a reason for that. Our Founders understood that this is our foundation.” And thanks to men and women like these, it will continue to be. We’re deeply grateful for members of Congress who not only value the Bible but look to it in making some of the most important decisions of our day.


Tony Perkins’ Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC senior writers.


Also in the November 15 Washington Update:

Senate Tax Force Aims for Obamacare

U.S. Strayed by USAID

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