'Child Protection' Rankings of Lawmakers Ignore Pro-Life Votes

CNSNews ^ | March 23, 2005 | Susan Jones

[Crackingham]

The Children's Defense Fund has released its annual rankings of U.S. representatives and senators based on their votes on 2004 legislation affecting the lives of children.

But the CDF's measure of "child protection" seems to be money -- and no pro-life bills were included in the rankings.

In fact, the lawmakers who received the CDF's highest child-protection ratings are Democrats who support the legal right to abortion. And lawmakers who received the lowest ratings are mostly pro-life Republicans.

"This is a dangerous time for children in America and we need to know which of our leaders are voting to protect children and which are voting to leave children behind," said CDF Action Council President Marian Wright Edelman.

"We should not be persuaded merely by compassionate words -- we need to look at actions and votes, far too many of which are profoundly unjust to children, who are the poorest age group of Americans," Edelman added.

The 2004 Children's Defense Fund congressional scorecard gives eight Senators, all Democrats, 100 percent ratings: Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Jon Corzine (D- N.J.), Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.).

All of those Democrats scored zero on the National Right to Life Committee's Senate scorecard.

The Children's Defense Fund noted that 16 U.S. representatives rarely, if ever, voted in the "best interests of children." With the exception of former Sen. Zell Miller, a Democrat, this group is all Republican and all received high marks from the National Right to Life Committee.

The lawmakers who supposedly "let children down," according to the Children's Defense Fund, include Wayne Allard (R-Colo.), George Allen (R-Va.), Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Larry Craig (R-Idaho), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), John Ensign (R-Nev.), Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Zell Miller (D-Ga.), Don Nickles (R-Okla.), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), John Sununu (R-N.H.), and Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.).

The CDF strongly opposes "tax cuts for the wealthy."

Edelman, in a press release, called it "morally indefensible to impose more unjust budget sacrifices on poor children to give tax cuts to millionaires while increasing the federal deficit.

"Every senator and representative should vote against extending, making permanent, or giving new irresponsible tax cuts to the wealthy," she concluded.

[MisterRepublican]

One of Hillary Rodham-Stalin's favorite groups.