8mm
Posted on 04/20/2008 10:48:03 AM PDT by wagglebee
WASHINGTON, DC, April 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A resolution welcoming the Pope to the United States was stalled in the U.S. Senate after Democrats said they would not vote on the resolution unless offending "pro-life language" was removed from it.
The resolution was introduced on Tuesday by Republican Senator Sam Brownback and was co-sponsored by Democratic Senator Bob Casey, both Catholics.
The original text included, amongst a series of statements regarding the Holy Father's biography and accomplishments, the statement, "Whereas Pope Benedict XVI has spoken out for the weak and vulnerable, witnessing to the value of each and every human life."
Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, however, disapproved of the wording of that part of the resolution, and demanded that the last ten words, "witnessing to the value of each and every human life", be removed. Boxer and a number of colleagues delayed the vote for three days. In order to pass using the process of "hotlining," which allows for a resolution or a bill to pass in a matter of minutes instead of weeks, the resolution welcoming Benedict required a unanimous vote.
One senior Republican leadership aide told FOX News, "What's the problem with this? Does Sen. Boxer not value life? It speaks directly to the message the Pope delivered when he arrived here."
Senator Boxer also disapproved of a part of the resolution that mentioned that the Pontiff, " has spoken approvingly of the vibrance of religious faith in the United States, a faith nourished by a constitutional commitment to religious liberty that neither attempts to strip our public spaces of religious expression nor denies the ultimate source of our rights and liberties."
In the end, however, Senator Brownback caved to the pressure from Boxer, and messaged his aides from the Mass at Nationals Stadium on Thursday, telling them to change the language of the resolution to meet Boxer's demands. The bill was passed shortly therafter, reading only "Whereas Pope Benedict XVI has spoken out for the weak and the vulnerable."
The section relating to religious faith in the United States was changed to say that Benedict XVI "has spoken approvingly of the vibrance of religious faith in the United States, a faith nourished by a constitutional commitment to religious liberty."
The passed resolution welcomes Benedict, acknowledging that "millions of Americans have discovered in Pope Benedict 's words a renewed faith in the power of hope over despair and love over hate."
The resolution concludes, saying, "The Senate welcomes Pope Benedict XVI on the occasion of his first pastoral visit to the United States and recognizes the unique insights his moral and spiritual reflections bring to the world stage."
The House passed a less controversial resolution welcoming the Holy Father on Wednesday.
A copy of the original resolution can be read here:
http://www.politico.com/pdf/PPM42_poperesolution.pdf
A copy of the revised resolution can be read here:
http://www.politico.com/static/PPM43_080417_ott08341_xml.htm...
Every FReepers who is pro life should do exactly what the Pope said today. Stand up for life! And the Unborn! Write a letter to the editor of your newspapers and ask they publish your letter of outraage Against Sen B. Boxer and the Dims who refused to publish and approve the first resolution!
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That was my first thought, too. She was inadvertently admitting that the pre-born are living human beings.
We really are rotting from within on so many levels.
That’s a great poster. If you did it...great work.
“demanded that the last ten words, “witnessing to the value of each and every human life”, be removed. ..”
What do Dems have against LIFE? This includes everybody’s life, including THEIRS.
You see, people breathe. When we exhale, he emit CO2. If we want to save the planet, we have to stop brathing. Thus, each and every life isn’t valuable, because living is suicidal.
That’s the enviro-whack Dem logic.
But yet the elites want others to stop breathing, or giving up things, but not themselves.
Boxer barely stopped short of that. I'm surprised she didn't insist that the terms "weak and vulnerable" be removed as well, since they could also be perceived as applying to those she finds inconvenient. I won't hold my breath waiting for the MSM to report this story, though.
Won't happen. The closest we came was when we had Santorum in the Senate and he engaged Boxer one-on-one in a debate that led down this path. She flinched and ran away yelling something like "I'm not going to answer that!". But, now that we've lost Santorum in the '06 debacle, nothing like that will ever happen in the Senate. Casey doesn't give a crap, IMO.
Congress is the most dangerous body in America.
If that’s true, the SCOTUS must be #2.
Well, now, from our founding document - the birth of the nation started with the Declaration of Independence.
“Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”
nope, nope, and nope
“Endowed by our Creator” - BIG nope
“with certain unalienable rights” - nope
“laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them” - another BIG nope
Think about this, folks. If the founders looked at our society today, they’d see that we were being taxed to pay for public education where they teach that the principals of THE founding document of our country are “unconstitutional” by judicial fiat.
I would probably have to go with the Supreme Court over Congress.
If it’s just a bunch of cells, it’s not a “life”, so this reference to “life” wouldn’t apply, eh, Boxer?
I would’ve too, but I wanted to give Mary the benefit of the doubt. ;o)
It’s close. If Congress had the ability to do the damage that the Supreme Court does, they probably would, but fortunately they don’t.
I’ve pledged support to Sen. Cornyn even though I can’t really afford to make donations that aren’t deductible.
It’s important to me to focus now on Congress and the Senate because there are only yahoos running for POTUS.
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