AFA of PA ACTION ALERT: Effort to Silence the Grassroots Begins in the House

AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION OF PENNSYLVANIA

ACTION ALERT

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P.O. Box 1048

149 Summit Drive

Franklin, PA   16323

Phone:  1.814.271.9078   FAX:  1.814.437.5432

http://www.afaofpa.org

 

AFA of PA ACTION ALERT     

 

May 14, 2007

 

1.)    Don’t Forget to Vote Tomorrow

2.)    Effort to Silence the Grassroots Begins in the U.S. House

3.)    Thank Congressman Christopher Carney for voting ‘NO’ on the hate crimes bill

 

2.)  In January the Senate effort to silence the grassroots went down in flames.  But on May 1, 2007 Congressman Martin Meehan (D-MA)- introduced H.R. 2093 which is an amendment to the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995.  This is supposed to require additional reporting for lobbying firms.  Sounds good . . .  except read this:  “`For purposes of a lobbying firm only, the term `lobbying activities' includes paid communications campaigns to influence the general public to lobby Congress.”

 

Click here to read the bill. 

 

Thus, in the sight of Congressman Meehan and Congressman Christopher Shays (D-CT), the co-sponsors of this bill, when the AFA of PA contacts you and you respond by contacting your Congressman you are in fact lobbying!   In essence this bill redefines the words ‘lobbying’ and ‘lobbying firm.’

 

Last week the AFA of PA signed onto a letter asking members of Congress to reject H.R. 2093 – the Meehan Amendment.  This letter was signed by a far ranging group of organizations from both the right and left.  Click here to read the letter. 

 

Mark-up on this bill in the House Judiciary Committee is scheduled for Thursday, May 17^th.  There are no Pennsylvania Congressmen who are members of this committee.  Click here to view the list of members.  

 

Please contact your Congressman and ask him or her to vote “NO’ on H.R. 2093 if it reaches the floor of the U.S. House.  This bill infringes on the First Amendment right of free speech by attempting to regulate the speech of ordinary citizens who are speaking on public policy issues. 

 

3.)  Congressman Christopher Carney was the only Democrat representing Pennsylvania who voted against H.R. 1592 – the hate crimes bill.   Even though the bill passed, he made the right call and withstood pressure from the Democratic leadership to support it.  He deserves our thanks.  The AFA of PA sent him a fax telling him 'thank you' for his bold stand, but I think he would like to hear from others too as I'm sure the Democrat are not please with him right now!

 

ACTION NEEDED: 

 

1.)  Please call your Congressman and ask him or her to vote ‘NO’ on H.R. 2093 if it reaches the floor of the U.S. House.  Part of democracy is being able to contact one’s elected officials about an issue, it is not lobbying.  This bill is an effort to silence the grassroots, by prohibiting pro-family and pro-life organizations from contacting YOU without filing burdensome reports.   Click here for your Congressman’s contact information.    

 

2.)  Please contact Congressman Christopher Carney – even if he is not your Congressman— and thank him for voting ‘NO’ on the hate crimes bill.  It took a lot of courage for a freshman Congressman to go against the ‘advice’ of the Democratic leadership.  Click here for his contact information.  

 

3.)  Don’t forget you can now listen to Diane Gramley’s weekly radio program ‘American Family Focus on PA Issues’ on our website.  Click here. 

 

4.)  Feel free to forward this alert to other concerned Pennsylvanians.  If this alert is being forwarded to you by a friend, please feel free to sign up by clicking here.   Please indicate in which county you live.

 

5.)  Please consider supporting the ongoing work of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania.  Make an online donation.

 

In His service,

 

Diane Gramley

President

American Family Association of PA

 

 

AFA of PA encourages Christians, through education, to become involved in pro-family issues in their community, state and the nation.