A Busy Week in Washington

I just completed a call with our Office of Government Affairs staff in Washington, DC.  This is going to be a very busy week in Washington.  In fact, Im on my way to our DC office on Tuesday to work on a number of major projects.  First, concerning the Stem Cell Bill, it now appears that a Presidential veto will be necessary in order for this bill not to become law.  The Senate passed a human embryonic stem cell bill last week.  Article I, Section 7, Clauses 2 and 3 of the United States Constitution give the President the authority to veto legislation with which he disagrees.  It then allows for a procedure for the House and Senate to override the veto.  However, in order for the House and Senate to override the Presidents veto, they have to have two-thirds of each house vote in favor of the override. 

According to the explicit language of what is referred to as the Presentment Clause of the Constitution, every piece of legislation must be presented to the President for his approval or disapproval.  President Bush has stated that he will veto the Stem Cell Bill.  As weve discussed on radio and written about extensively, the Senate bill allows for federal funding for the destruction of human embryos.  Our Government Affairs office has already been working with House and Senate leadership to determine if, in fact, there is a two-thirds majority that could override the veto.  It appears that there is a one-vote margin in our favor in the Senate and a 16-vote margin in the House.  This is very, very close.  As I mentioned, I will be in Washington this week in order to work with our Government Affairs staff to ensure that the Presidential veto can be sustained.

I have also asked our Government Affairs staff to look into the status of the lobbying reform legislation. As you will recall, the Senate passed a bill which initially required churches and other grassroots organizations to register as lobbyists.  We were successful in obtaining an amendment to the legislation in the United States Senate in order to defeat this significant restriction on free speech.  The work in the House of Representatives has been extensive on this issue.  We have worked with a coalition of civil liberties groups in order to ensure that the First Amendment rights of churches and other organizations are protected.  The difficulty at this point is determining when, in fact, the lobbying legislation bill will come back up for a vote.  There are reports that it could come up as early as this week.  Things are moving very quickly in Washington, and our Government Affairs staff is working aggressively to protect your constitutional liberties.